Performance measurement and accountability in a British credit union: case study evidence

British credit unions have played a key role in the UK government’s long term approach to widening access to financial services. The changes that have accompanied credit unions’ involvement in the financial inclusion agenda have implications for issues of performance measurement and management control. As credit unions face the potentially conflicting accountability requirements of a diverse set of stakeholders that includes members, partners, funders and regulators, they have to demonstrate how effectively they use resources and create value to meet multiple objectives. This paper adopts a case study approach to examine and evaluate the practices adopted by a large credit union to widen access to financial services and measure social and financial performance. The study finds that the financial inclusion agenda has contributed to a more formal approach to performance measurement. Yet recent efforts to emphasise economic goals as a foundation for achieving social goals and to incorporate this in performance measurement could override considerations of making social performance transparent, leading credit unions to take their social credentials for granted