PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - The Florida Credit Union League (FCUL) and Confederação Interestadual das Cooperativas Ligadas ao SICREDI (SICREDI), a trade association for 130 Brazilian credit unions, have signed a partnership agreement in an effort to improve services to member CUs in both countries.
The partnership brings to 27 the total of World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) international partnerships between U.S. states or Canadian provinces with credit union movements in developing countries.
“This partnership is singular in that SICREDI and the Florida Credit Union League come from developed credit union movements, which isn’t always the case,“ said Victor Miguel Corro, manager of WOCCU’s International Partnerships Program. “It will be interesting to see the interaction of two peers in advancing their respective credit unions to deliver enhanced products and services to their members.“
Five Florida credit union and league representatives travelled to Porto Alegre, Brazil to meet with SICREDI executives and discuss areas of cooperation.
The partnership will focus on advanced objectives such as international shared branching, reducing the cost of remittances between the United States and Brazil and staff exchanges between the two organizations in the areas of technology, marketing and efficient management of investment and liquidity at central financial facilities.
At SICREDI’s Porto Alegre headquarters, Florida representatives heard presentations on the Brazilian organization’s unique infrastructure and how it serves its members.
SICREDI’s business model differs from U.S. league structures in that the association owns a cooperative bank that provides back-office support and services to its 130 member credit unions, WOCCU noted.
SICREDI credit unions also share the same branding, look and feel in each of their service centers. Though collectively part of the same network, every credit union has its own governance structure and management.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
