Mutual Support with U.C.I.S your Christian Financial Institution

Taking your church or organisation forward is easier with Mutual Support.

Your supporters’ investments with U.C.I.S can help your church pay off a loan faster or earn an extra income.

How it works

Your supporters invest their savings at U.C.I.S in support of your church, and choose to earn no interest on their investment.

Instead, your church receives regular, quarterly benefit payments, based on the total amount of supporting investments.

This acts as an extra payment on your church loan (saving you interest costs!) or as an extra source of income.

Your Mutual Support Coordinator receives a quarterly report on the amounts invested and benefit payment generated.

What’s so good about Mutual Support?

Supporters’ investments are held in their name—it remains their money, accessible at any time.
Benefit payments are based on the collective total of supporting investments—so the more people that get involved, the better Mutual Support works.
Supporters’ investments are working harder—the interest costs an investment saves the church loan is usuall higher than the interest it could generate in a high yield personal savings account.

What next?

Want more info? Download the Coordinator’s Handbook

Want Mutual Support in your church? Download the scheme application form

For help promoting Mutual Support in your church, call U.C.I.S Marketing on 1300 655 653.

Mutual Support resources

U.C.I.S has a variety of communication resources available to help you encourage people in your church to get involved with Mutual Support.

We’ve created these materials to answer common questions about Mutual Support that can be asked by different groups of people in your congregation.

And because every church is unique, we’re happy to help you tailor them to your specific requirements or create new resources to assist you. To discuss the possibilities for your church, call U.C.I.S Marketing on 1300 655 653.

Newsletter or website articles
Simply copy and paste the article and insert your own details where applicable.

Mutual Support Loan scheme

Switch your savings to Mutual Support
Switch your savings to a Uniting Church Investment Service (U.C.I.S) Mutual Support investment and you’ll be helping us save interest costs on our loan for <project name>. Simply:
1. invest a lump sum with U.C.I.S instead of another bank
2. forego the interest on your investment
3. <Church or organisation name> instead receives a quarterly benefit payment to our loan.

The more people who are involved, the more effective Mutual Support will be. You’ll be helping us to pay off our loan faster and direct more money to mission.

Talk to <contact name> for more information or an application form or contact U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653.

Would you like to increase your pension?
Invest your funds in a U.C.I.S Mutual Support investment and you may be able to increase your pension entitlements.

That’s because investments with the Uniting Church Investment Service (U.C.I.S) are deeming exempt. What that means is you’re only assessed for the interest that you actually earn on your investments, not a notional amount of interest that the government deems you to be earning on your investment.

And when you open a U.C.I.S Mutual Support investment and choose to earn no interest, <church name> instead receives a benefit payment to our loan with U.C.I.S. That helps us to save interest costs and pay off our loan faster. And while you’re earning no interest for yourself, you may even see an increase in your pension entitlements.

To find out more, or for an application form, talk to <contact name> or contact U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653.

Your Mutual Support investment is secure
When you open a Mutual Support investment with the Uniting Church Investment Service (U.C.I.S) you can rest assured that your investment is safe.

That’s because all investments at U.C.I.S are underwritten by the overall funds and assets of The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (Q.).

Your money always remains your money and you have at-call access to your funds when you need them.

While your money is in a Mutual Support investment, you’re helping <church name> to save interest costs on our loan and direct more money to local mission.

To find out more, or for an application form, talk to <contact name> or contact U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653.

Mutual Support Credit scheme

Switch your savings to Mutual Support
Switch your savings to a Uniting Church Investment Service (U.C.I.S) Mutual Support investment and you’ll be helping us to receive an additional income. Simply:
1. invest a lump sum with U.C.I.S instead of another bank
2. forego the interest on your investment
3. <Church or organisation name> instead receives a quarterly benefit payment.

The more people who are involved, the more effective Mutual Support will be. You’ll be helping us to direct more money to mission and invest in new ministry projects.

Talk to <contact name> for more information or an application form or contact U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653.

Would you like to increase your pension?
Invest your funds in a U.C.I.S Mutual Support investment and you may be able to increase your pension entitlements.

And when you open a U.C.I.S Mutual Support investment and choose to earn no interest, <church name> instead receives a benefit payment from U.C.I.S. That helps us to fund ministry activities. And while you’re earning no interest for yourself, you may even see an increase in your pension entitlements.

To find out more, or for an application form, talk to <contact name> or contact U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653.

Your Mutual Support investment is secure
When you open a Mutual Support investment with the Uniting Church Investment Service (U.C.I.S) you can rest assured that your investment is safe.

That’s because all investments at U.C.I.S are underwritten by the overall funds and assets of The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (Q.).

Your money always remains your money and you have at-call access to your funds when you need them.

While your money is in a Mutual Support investment, you’re helping <church name> to earn an additional income and direct more money to local mission.

To find out more, or for an application form, talk to <contact name> or contact U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653.

PowerPoint presentations
Simply click on the image to download the template and insert your own details where applicable.

Mutual Support Loan scheme

Mutual Support Credit scheme

Website graphics
Simply right click on the graphic to save it and place it on your website. Link it to one of the resources displayed or to the U.C.I.S website http://www.ucis.com.au.

Special invitation letter
Simply copy and paste the articles and insert your own details where applicable.

Mutual Support Loan scheme

Dear <name>,

We have a special project at <church name> that we’d like you to be involved in. We’ve commenced the process of acquiring a new manse as a home for our new minister.

To do that, we’ll need to borrow money from the Uniting Church Investment Service (U.C.I.S). If you’re not aware, U.C.I.S is a financial institution for Uniting Churches, organisations and their supporters, providing services such as investments, loans and direct debit giving.

Because they’re part of the church, they understand that every dollar directed towards repaying a loan is a dollar that can’t be used for mission. So U.C.I.S has developed a unique way of helping us to save interest costs and repay our loan faster.

Mutual Support is a way that you can be involved in saving us interest costs on our loan. Here’s how it works:

You invest a lump sum of your money with U.C.I.S instead of at another bank.

You forgo the interest on your investment.

Instead, U.C.I.S pays <church name> a benefit payment each quarter that acts as an additional payment on our loan, thereby saving us interest costs.

The more people who are involved, the better Mutual Support works. With enough investments, we could completely cover the interest costs on our loan!

So we’d like you to help us. Please consider investing some of your funds with U.C.I.S so that we can direct more money to mission.

More information and application forms are enclosed. Or if you’d like to discuss it with someone, please contact our Mutual Support Coordinator <contact name> or U.C.I.S on 1300 655 653 for more information.

Yours sincerely,

Name
Signature

etc.