The scheme could help tenants whose low incomes and poor credit ratings have prevented them from opening current accounts or borrowing from high-street banks.
It could be up and running by the end of the year.
Mercian's tenants backed the plan: in a survey completed this week, more than a third said they would like a loans service and 23% wanted a savings scheme.
The survey showed that 28% of tenants did not have access to a bank account and 48% had borrowed in the past two years, mainly through doorstep lenders and credit cards.
The association has previously offered Woolwich OpenPlan bank accounts, which allow customers to save but not to borrow. This helped increase the number of Mercian bank account-holders from 980 to 1330 of its 3500 tenants.
Nigel Wilson, Mercian's director of housing and communities, said: "We have been looking at how to take this a step further.
"We will report to the board on Thursday. Once we have their support, we will push forward with starting the scheme."
Bank of Scotland provides a similar service for Prospect Community Housing in Scotland and hopes to start similar schemes with more RSLs (HT 16 January, page 15).
Source
Housing Today
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