This week marks a special milestone for us at Serve and Protect Credit Union. On Wednesday, 15th October 2025, we proudly celebrate ten years of providing dedicated armed forces support to service personnel, reservists, veterans, and their families.
It’s a decade defined by our commitment to improving the financial resilience of those who serve and have served our country. We are honoured to be the largest credit union available to the military, serving over 16,000 members across the armed forces community.
Our journey in armed forces support
The story began in 2015 when the Ministry of Defence selected Serve and Protect, as part of the ‘Joining Forces’ initiative, to offer financial services to the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Our mission was clear from the start. To provide an ethical and affordable alternative to high-cost lenders. We set out to build a foundation of financial wellbeing for the armed forces community, ensuring they have access to fair and supportive financial solutions.
This partnership was built on a shared goal to enhance the financial resilience of military personnel. We understood that the unique demands of service life can bring specific financial challenges. Our role was to provide reliable armed forces support that personnel and veterans could count on.
A commitment to financial education
We quickly learned that true financial support goes beyond just products and services. In 2018, we launched our Financial Resilience Programme. This became a key step in our commitment to armed forces support.
We listened carefully to the armed forces community, worked closely with units and regiments, and surveyed our members to understand the financial pressures they face. This insight allowed us to develop and deliver targeted educational sessions on a range of important topics, in the form of inputs to recruits, regiments and online webinars. So far in 2025, we have delivered over 50 in-person sessions at military establishments.
Our highly commended financial education offering provides the tools needed to navigate complex financial decisions with confidence. We cover subjects such as:
- Budgeting and saving effectively
- Understanding credit and borrowing wisely
- Planning for major life events
- Building strategies to cope with financial emergencies
By equipping our military members with this knowledge, we empower them to take control of their financial journey.
Making saving simple and borrowing affordable
A key part of our offering is making it easier for our members to build financial security. Regular saving is the cornerstone of financial health, but it can be difficult to get started.
We offer a simple and sustainable way for members to save. Through payroll deduction, a small monthly savings contribution is automatically transferred to their savings account each month. This “pay yourself first” approach makes saving effortless and achievable. Plus reducing reliance on credit for unexpected expenses, providing peace of mind.
Sheldon, a member from the British Army, commented: “The credit union has helped me in a major way. I have problems saving. I’m just not disciplined when it comes down to saving. It definitely helps me because it comes directly out of my salary at the end of the month, so I don’t even realise that it’s out of my pay.”
When savings aren’t quite enough to cover a large expense, our affordable loans are there to help. Life is full of unexpected turns. And our members know they have a reliable place to turn for support.
Our 2025 Financial Resilience Survey found that 35% of military respondents had been denied a financial service before joining us. This can often reduce an individual’s confidence of being approved in future. As a credit union, we provide fair and transparent lending, helping our members get the support they need without the stress of high interest rates or hidden fees.
Strengthening our commitment to the military community
Our dedication to armed forces support is a key part of our organisation. We formalised this commitment by signing the Armed Forces Covenant in 2016 and re-signing it this year, reinforcing our pledge to support the military community.
We are also incredibly proud to be Gold Award holders of the Employer Recognition Scheme. This award recognises our efforts to support defence personnel and provide meaningful employment opportunities. We hope it inspires other organisations to do the same.
We understand the value that service leavers, reservists, veterans, and military spouses bring to the workplace. That’s why we have established supportive policies, including a flexible reservist policy, to ensure we are an accommodating and welcoming employer for the entire armed forces family.
A decade of impact
As a credit union, we are owned by our members and exist solely for their benefit. We believe in strengthening the entire military community by backing initiatives that matter to our members. In recent years, we have broadened our support to champion causes and events that are close to their hearts.
Through Friends of Serve and Protect – a small friendly society set up to support community initiatives for our Serve and Protect family – we have been able to fund projects that make a real difference. For example, we were delighted to help fund new fridge-freezers for the welfare houses at RAF Brize Norton. This has helped to improve daily life for personnel and their families.
We also take great pride in supporting the spirit of competition and teamwork within the forces. We were thrilled to sponsor teams for the prestigious Navy Field Gun competition in both 2024 and 2025. Additionally, we have been proud supporters of the British Army Taekwondo team. These sponsorships reflect our deep respect for the dedication and skill shown by service personnel in all their endeavours. It’s just another way we show our appreciation and give back to the community we are so honoured to serve.
A word from our team
Rob Lovesey, our Business Development Manager, shared his thoughts on this significant milestone: “We feel immense pride in supporting those who serve and have served our nation. Over the years, connecting with the armed forces community has given us real insight into the financial challenges faced by service personnel and their families. This has helped us shape the range of financial education we deliver, pushing us to create even better solutions to help improve the long-term financial resilience of our members.
The most rewarding part is hearing from individuals whose lives have been positively changed by our support. That’s what keeps us going, as we remain committed to being a safe, reliable place for service personnel, reservists, veterans and their families to turn to when they need financial support.”
Looking to the future
As we celebrate this ten-year anniversary, we will continue to listen, learn, and adapt to provide the very best armed forces support. Thank you to every member of our armed forces community for placing your trust in us. We are honoured to be your financial partner and look forward to serving you for many more years to come.
