MADISON, Wis. - The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has begun work on a $24.8 million program to further expand rural credit union development in Mexico. The “Rural Microfinance Technical Assistance Project“ builds upon two recent WOCCU programs that established 48 rural credit union branches and helped capture more than 83,000 new members in the states of Veracruz and Michoacan, according to WOCCU. The Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Food (SAGARPA) provided funding for the three programs.
WOCCU reported the three-year Rural Microfinance Technical Assistance Project will open new branches and points of service in rural communities of less than 15,000 people across 16 Mexican states. WOCCU will employ and enhance its proven outreach methodology called semilla cooperativa [cooperative seed] to extend rural outreach through 72 credit unions. “Semilla cooperativa is an innovative group delivery approach to providing financial services, whereby field officers bring the credit union’s full range of products to communities in outlying villages at least once a month,” WOCCU said.
Just 32% of Mexico’s economically active population has access to formal financial services, compared to about 80% in developed countries. In Mexico’s rural areas, the figure drops to 5%.
SAGARPA awarded WOCCU the largest amount of four organizations that received funding to expand financial services to a total of one million people living in rural areas. Besides savings and loans, the program will explore a host of innovative products and services to help bring credit union access to the underserved.
