World Economy Affecting Funds
MADISON, Wis.-Hunger, poverty and other issues in developing countries has led the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) to become more aggressive with its Directors' Action Fund, it is reporting. The Fund is designed to solicit financial support from credit union volunteers as a way to keep development programs alive while the U.S. and other countries struggle to stabilize their economies.
Contributions to the fund will be even more critical this year as economic challenges will likely reduce development assistance funding from other sources, said WOCCU CEO Pete Crear, pointing to reductions in foreign aid by many countries.
CU Legislation Gets Stalled
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES- Revised legislation designed to strengthen appropriate regulatory oversight of financial cooperatives in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent & the Grenadines has stalled in the country's legislature, in part due to for-profit sector efforts to reclassify cooperatives under bank regulatory oversight, according to the World Council of Credit Unions.
WOCCU Chairman Melvin Edwards joined a contingent of local credit union officials to boost the case for credit union-appropriate regulation. Passage of the Harmonized Co-operative Societies Bill, first introduced in 1995, will enable credit unions to grow through a more competitive framework based on more clearly defined compliance requirements that preserve credit unions' distinctive cooperative features, according to Edwards.
N.C. CUs Host Suriname Reps
RALEIGH, N.C.-Two representatives from Godo Credit Union in Suriname visited CUs in North Carolina. Head Teller Felicia Eijk and MSR Corinne Hooplot focused their time and attention on improving efficiency on the front lines, while at the same time getting feedback on deepening existing member relationships, according to the World Council of Credit Unions.
The pair noted that Godo has grown rapidly over the years, and the membership mix is changing. "When the credit union got started, the membership tended to be older," said Eijk, "but over the years as younger tellers started working there, younger people started joining the credit union."
As a result of the membership getting younger, the pair were seeking ideas about how to deepen relationships across the board. Among the CUs visited: American Partners FCU, Carolina Postal CU, Latino Community CU, State Employees‚ CU and Truliant FCU.
Certification Program Debuts
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala-More than 70 participants from seven countries in Central and South America assembled at Hotel Vista Real here for World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) Manager Certification Program. The two-year program, which focuses on training current and aspiring managers in the global CU movement, was held concurrently with WOCCU's Latin American Regional Forum for the second consecutive year. Session instructors taught first-year participants how to use historical trends, the regulatory environment, competition and appropriate product pricing to better forecast and drive the growth of their own financial institutions.
$1.5M To Expand Columbia's CUs
BOGATA, Columbia-With backing from the Colombian government's Banca de Oportunidades program, WOCCU has launched a $1.5-million, two-year program to strengthen Colombia's credit unions and introduce new technologies to expand service to underserved communities. Columbia, whose government created a specialized supervisory unit and guarantee fund for the credit union sector, has more than 200 CUs and serves 6% of the economically active population.
WOCCU said it will also work with the existing WOCCU Services Group (WSG) office in Colombia, SumaRed S.A., to expand products and services to credit unions in Colombia.
Peru Launches Shared Branches
LIMA, Peru-A national shared branching network has been launched in this country as part of a joint venture between the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and FENACREP, Peru's national credit union federation. CUs participating in the network, called Kuskanet, are Finantel in Lima, San Francisco in Huanuco and San Martin de Porres in Tarapoto. The credit unions have a total of 13 points of service across four "departments"-Peru's equivalent of states. The network expects to add at least four more CUs by the end of the year.
Kuskanet, which comes from the indigenous word kuska, meaning "together," will enable members from its affiliated credit unions in Peru to perform transactions and access their accounts at any of the credit unions' branch offices. ATMs and debit cards are to follow.
Inaugural Pacific Congress Held
NADI, Fiji-Nearly 160 participants turned out here for the inaugural Pacific Credit Union Technical Congress, where the agenda included developing credit union bylaws, conducting a successful credit union meeting, and operational basics. The meeting was co-sponsored by WOCCU, the Fiji Savings and Credit Union League and Credit Union Foundation Australia.
The purpose of the congress, the first comprehensive meeting of its kind for the Pacific region, was to bring together CU movements, leagues, federations and government regulators from developing and developed nations in the Pacific region to share information and learn from each other, according to WOCCU. Attendees included credit union volunteers and professionals from Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, the United States and Vanuatu.
Europeans Feel U.S. 'Ripple'
BUCHAREST, Romania-The economic issues in the United Statates are getting the attention of credit unions in other countries, as well. During the World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) European Credit Union Technical Congress, here, much of the attention anticipated "ripple effect" of the larger crisis in the U.S. The meeting, which included about 150 delegates from 10 countries along with representatives of the Romanian government and central bank, was told economies in Europe and elsewhere will likely feel the effects of a slow economy into 2010.
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