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September 8, 2008
There are 177+ million people in 96 countries belonging to credit unions with close to a trillion US$ in savings and almost as much in loans. Credit unions are member-owned, co-operative financial institutions where profits are returned to the members in various ways. Some countries such as Ireland, the US, Canada and Australia have highly developed credit unions supported by a strong legal structure with billions invested sometimes within a single credit union. Other countries have developing credit union movements where a $10 loan to buy fruit to make juice, is the start of financial independence for a family. The World Round-up looks at activities in different countries and updates its overview about every six weeks. Canadian subscribers, however, receive Canadian news on an average of four times a month.
AUSTRALIA
Falconbridge - Bike Ride to Teach Financial Literacy Tony Schesser tackled a 250km mountain bike challenge to help fund Cambodian children learn how to save and invest money. Sponsors will make donations and those funds will be given to the Credit Union Foundation Australia which underwrites the financial literacy program.
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Sydney - Bopo VISA Card Disappears CUSCAL (Credit Union Service of Australia, Ltd.) is dealing with the disappearance of the bopo VISA. CUSCAL issued the card owned by Bill Express. They have reassured cardholders that the value stored on bopo cards will be returned to them. CUSCAL recommended all bopo cardholders spend or withdraw funds via ATM or EFTPOS transactions by 5 p.m., 15 August 2008. On that date, the bopo platform ceased operation and cardholders were required to access all funds through this reimbursement process managed via Cuscal which has established a process to facilitate reimbursement of funds stored within bopo card accounts. CUSCAL says it will not be materially impacted. What has happened is not an adverse reflection on the prepaid category, rather it is a regrettable consequence of the financial position of bopo’s parent company, Bill Express.
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Casuarina NT - Traditional Credit Union Wins Award Traditional Credit Union (TCU), Australia’s only Aboriginal-owned banking institution, the 2008 Reconciliation Australia Indigenous Governance Award for an organisation established for more than 10 years. The credit union services aborigines in outlying regions.
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Sydney - ABACUS Supports More Comprehensive Reporting Credit unions and mutual building societies welcomed the recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to expand the credit reporting information that can be held by credit reporting agencies. The recommendation was part of the ALRC’s report, For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice and noted that “it was hard to justify the present, artificial limitations, which do not accord with standard practice in the rest of the industrial world.” The Report recommended that the credit reporting regime should be expanded, but only after an adequate framework imposing responsible lending obligations had been implemented. “Credit unions and mutual building societies lead the field in terms of responsible lending –access to enhanced credit reporting information will improve our ability to make the right lending decisions for our members” said Louise Petschler, CEO of Abacus, the Australian industry body for credit unions, mutual building societies and friendly societies. It has 169 members that collectively have more than AUS$70 billion in assets under management and provide services to more than 6 million members.
BAHAMAS
Nassau: Credit Union Transfers Part of Mortgage Book The National Workers Cooperative Credit Union (NWCCU), The Bahamas’ largest credit union, is transferring partof its $7 million mortgage book to commercial banks. They hope to free up some $5 million to make way for new mortgages.
BANGLADESH
Dhaka - Credit Union Experts to Look at Global Socio-Economic Trends The 2008 Asian Credit Union Forum, hosted by the Cooperative Credit Union League of Bangladesh, Ltd. will be held September 27 and 28th. This annual event brings together leading credit union experts and participants from a broad range of fields, to give a fresh look at growth strategies enabling credit unions to present better choices, better organizations and better society to members and their families. Topics will include: * A fresh perspective on global socio-economic trends to appreciate the need for credit unions to grow in number and quality * A contemporary framework to guide growth plans for 2009 and beyond * A well-developed line-up of marketers and expertise whose unique strategies can potentially add innovation and vitality to credit union financial services The fight against poverty is the credit union original mission. The Forum is a great opportunity for to re-examine how credit unions have lived the mission established by founding father F.W. Raiffeisen in 1846.
GUATEMALA
Guatemala City - Certification Program Enrolment in Latin America Exceeds Capacity More than 69 participants from seven countries in Central and South America assembled at Hotel Vista Real for the World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Manager Certification Program. The two-year program, which focuses on training current and aspiring managers in the global credit union movement, was held concurrently with WOCCU’s Latin American Regional Forum for the second consecutive year. Attendance exceeded expectations and surpassed the program’s original capacity. 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. Second-year students showed significant progress after having put first-year lessons into practice, according to Mark Cifuentes, senior vice president and head of WOCCU’s global technical services efforts who facilitates and teaches the program together with other WOCCU staff. The next Manager Certification Program will be held in conjunction with the Pacific Credit Union Technical Congress, scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 3 in Nadi, Fiji. Subsequent programs will be held in October in Banjul, The Gambia, and in November in Bucharest, Romania. For more information and to download a registration form, visit www.woccu.org/events/mcp or contact Nicole Bice at nbice@woccu.org.
IRELAND
Bishopstown - Credit Union First to Offer Debit Card The Bishopstown Credit Union is the first Cork credit union to offer debit cards to its 24,000 members. Bishopstown is working with DCT Strategies which has a loyalty points system called Trucash that rewards card usage. The Irish financial system is trying to reduce cheques and has the goal to make them obsolete by 2016. Some two million people are members of 420 credit unions and they hold savings of €12.3+ billion. Almost every town in Ireland has at least one credit union.
NEW ZEALAND
Christchurch - NZACU AGM and Conference Features Jim Anderton The annual Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Association of Credit Unions has captured Jim Anderton, Minister for Economic, Industry and Regional Development, Associate Minister of Health and the leader of the Progressives, the minority coalition partner in the Labour Progressive Government as a major speaker. Anderton is supporter of credit union values with his interest in economic development and in helping all New Zealanders reach their full potential, and to control their own economic destinies. The AGM will be held in late September.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Two Credit Unions in Liquidation The 350 members of the The Neal and Massy South Credit Union, which has been in liquidation since November 2007 will receive their deposits up to $50,000 from the Credit Union Stabilisation Fund. The Hindu Credit Union (HCU) was also put into liquidation by the Commissioner of Co-operatives which froze assets and ordered Ernst & Young to audit the credit union. They are not one of the 120 Trinidad and Tobago credit unions in the Stabilisation fund.
USA
Washington DC - NCUF, WOCCU Launch New International DE Program The National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) and the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) have launched a new international designation in its popular Development Education (DE) program. The new program will certify its first class at the WOCCU 2009 World Credit Union Conference next July in Barcelona, Spain. Charles Sim, a director with Scotwest Credit Union in Glasgow, Scotland, plans to be among the first to receive this designation. The retired firefighter and longtime credit union volunteer views the new program as a way to promote and enhance global credit union development, as well as further extend the DE program’s reach to other countries. "After seeing WOCCU’s field work ‘at coal face,’ as we say in Scotland, I value the importance of WOCCU’s programs to the developing world," said Sim. "I am looking forward to being in the first group to receive this certification and I’ve already begun work on my independent study project." The DE program, which links U.S. credit union advocates with the movement’s philosophical roots through interactive group presentations and experiential learning, has always supported credit unions’ global initiatives through volunteer projects and international exchanges. Now by formally expanding the U.S. DE program to include international opportunities, the partnership with WOCCU will build on the program’s foundation of cooperative values as U.S. DE participants gain more exposure to fellow students and credit union movements from other countries. "This is a wonderful opportunity for all DE students, past and present, to enhance their philosophical education," said Tom Decker, NCUF’s director of social impact management. "It’s a logical extension to where the DE program has been. We greatly appreciate WOCCU’s continued support in helping direct the program’s future on the international front." International candidates are required to complete four steps to achieve an international DE designation: 1) Complete their local DE program to build a solid foundation 2) Attend WOCCU’s Hispanic Marketing Immersion Program 3) Attend either WOCCU’s World Credit Union Conference, scheduled for next July in Barcelona, Spain, or participate in another country’s DE program. In addition the U.S. DE program, other affiliated programs include those operating in the United Kingdom, in the Philippines and through the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions, WOCCU’s Asian affiliate organization headquartered in Thailand. 4) Complete an independent studies project appropriate to the learning objectives of the same programs.