A.TRADITIONAL LOANS.

• Classic loans–2-3 times the members funds, depending on the members history and creditworthyness.
• Traditional loand within the limits of the share account – guaranteed with the shares account, no endorsements needed;
• Exceptional classic loan - up to 5 times the shares account, for members with more tha 3 years seniority and a clean reimbursement history;
• Refinancing loans – for the members with temporary payment difficulties ;

B. OPTIONAL LOANS.

• Very short term loans (1,2,3,4 weeks), short and medium term loans (3,6,12 months) and long term loans.
• Optional loans for a term–awards 3000 lei for newly enrolled members;
• Special optional loan-awarded to members who already accessed two loans. Depends on the members income, creditworthyness and the history of reimbursements.

The advantages of being a credit union member reside in the social aspect: low cost of the credits, the acces of members with low incomes to the loans, the burrial aid that successors receive in case of the members death (recently extended to family members too).

CAR Lonea appeared in 1955 as an appendix of the workers union of the Lonea Mine. At the time the law established that both the credit union activity and it's management are subordinated to the national association of the workers unions. As an entity functioning beside the Lonea Mine, the members were also exclusively employees of the mine.

In the first years, CAR Lonea operated on a low level, in 1974 had only 281 members. The increasing importance of the mining industry and the growth of the Lonea mine attracted increases in the mutual aid activity too. The members numbers increased as the result of the the growing number of the mine employees, a full time accountant was hired and she was voluntarily assisted by an important team of contributors that helped fulfilling the social and financial goals of the association. In 1985 CAR Lonea had already 1603 members, a large majority of the mines employees.

The early 1990's brought important changes in every aspect uf CAR Lonea's activity. The law established credit unions as independent institutions, no longer attached to workers unions, so CAR Lonea registered as and independent not-for-profit association, affiliated to the countywide association, the UTCAR Hunedoara. It gradually expanded the activity outside the mine, maintaining in the meantime good relations with the mine and its employees. The financial records have been computerized, the credit union was fitted with modern computers and office equipments. All these changes kept CAR Lonea on the ascending trend.

After 1997 the decreasing interest of the goverments in the mining industry started to create problems in the monoindustrial Jiul Valley. The collective dismissals that started in 1997 created problems to CAR Lonea just as they did to the entire population, so the management of the credit union accelerated the process of expanding outside the mine. This lead, among other decisions, to the purchase of an office space outside the mine, to serve as new main office.

1997 was also the year when new law of credit unions appeared. CAR E.M. Lonea renewed it's status as a not-for-profit association based on the free consent of present and former employees of Lonea Mine, with the goal of developing ties of solidarity and mutual material support through loans. In 2003 a new legislative change cemented the status of credit unions as professional credit institutions, set up a precise institutionalized framework designed to ensure the safety of the credit unions assets and funds, in order to ensure mutual support of members.

In 2006 CAR E.M. Lonea took over a small credit union of 350 members from Petrila, as part of the UTCAR policy of merging smaller entities to the powerful ones. This way an agency appeared in downtown Petrila. At the end of 2006 in order to be in compliance with the new laws of non-banking financial institutions, the credit union changed it's name into CAR. Lonea IFN, and got registered at the National Bank of Romania.