The Global Credit Union Podcast

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many credit unions around the world to lose the face-to-face contact they had with members in their branches. That was especially difficult for credit unions without widespread digital capabilities, because those same members were then unable to process transactions virtually. It was under those circumstances that led the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) to reach out for assistance from the National Credit Union Federation of Korea (NACUFOK), which has one of the most digitally forward credit union systems in the entire world. Their conversations led to a World Council of Credit Unions' and Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions' Global Bridges engagement to have NACUFOK assist CCCU with digital growth, which has now come to life with Caribbean IDEAS. CCCU General Manager Denise Garfield is the guest on Episode 37 to discuss where they are starting with improving their digital capabilities and why NACUFOK has been the perfect partner for them. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

One year ago, Donore Credit Union in Dublin, Ireland established the Donore Area Sustainable Community (DASC), a community group dedicated to playing its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of the natural environment in the local area. Part of that process was a learning journey for the credit union itself, both in terms of the response from members, and how they should proceed with initiative moving forward. David McAuley, CEO of Donore Credit Union, talks about that as the featured guest on Episode 36. We also take a look at why moving forward on climate often requires a certain boldness for credit unions, because many central banks and other regulators aren't providing many guidelines for them. Hear where different central banks rank on the issue of climate regulations. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

America’s Credit Unions’ Governmental Affairs Conference took place in early March in Washington, D.C. Better known simply as GAC, it is the largest annual gathering for credit union professionals in the United States. But each year, more and more international credit union professionals make the long journey to GAC as well, because they learn so much to take back home to implement in their credit unions overseas. On this month’s episode of the podcast, we feature conversations with credit union professionals from the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Africa and even New Zealand, about why they make such a long trip to meet with and learn from American credit union professionals. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

February is Black History Month in the United States and Canada, and we use that as a jumping off point for a discussion about the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) movement taking hold at credit unions on a number of continents. Renee Sattiewhite, President and CEO of the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) and Board Director for Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, speaks about the DEI movement in the United States. We also hear from Alexnadre Englert Barbosa, Executive Director of Sustainability, Administration and Finance at Sicredi about how their Brazilian credit union system views DEI as part of their greater sustainability efforts. And Ruksana Kauser, a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited’s (ABCUL) Inclusivity Group, talks about her experiences as a Muslim young credit union professional in the UK and how ABCUL is trying to recruit more diverse board members, as we examine how credit unions are building more diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations from the branch to the board room. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

If technological innovations are going to truly boost financial inclusion worldwide, international standard setting bodies and national-level regulators must consider the institutions offering digital financial products and services as much as they examine how those deliverables are offered when contemplating new compliance requirements. Were regulations to be written only for the large international banks as innovation and new technologies evolve, credit unions and other community-based cooperative institutions will be excluded from key aspects of the financial services market. That’s the overriding theme of World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2024 Global Regulatory Update, which stresses how important it is for WOCCU and other credit union associations around the globe to advocate for fair, proportional treatment from the policymakers developing our digital regulatory environment.   On today's episode, Erin O'Hern, World Council of Credit Unions' International Advocacy and Regulatory Counsel, and Andrew Price, World Council Senior Vice President and International Advocacy and General Counsel, discuss that premise and the ways regulators are looking at how international standard setters in 2024 are viewing other issues, such as payments, cybersecurity, sustainable finance and AML/CFT. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

We wrap up 2023 by taking a look back at how World Council succeeded this year in making credit unions more relevant in key strategic areas, such as climate resilience, digitalization and the financial inclusion of migrants, refugees, women and youth. Our professionals also talk about how World Council put on a record-setting 2023 World Credit Union Conference, expanded our membership base and scored major advocacy victories on behalf of our members. Plus, we look ahead to what should be another promising year in 2024.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

Thom Belekevich, World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Director of Member Services, helped open the door of WOCCU membership to more credit union associations, and even some individual credit unions for the first time in 2023. He joins the podcast on Episode 31 to talk about the specific changes to our membership categories and why they should enrich our organization even more moving forward. Anyone interested in learning more about membership with World Council can email Thom at tbelekevich@woccu.org. Thom also led the data collection for World Council’s 2022 Statistical Report, which shows the global credit union movement is now more than 400 million members strong. We discuss where that growth is occurring and why. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

This month, we are taking time to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of International Credit Union Day, celebrated on October 19, 2023. Each year since 1948 our global movement has taken time out on the third Thursday of October to celebrate the spirit people helping people. ICU Day, as its commonly known, is recognized to reflect upon the credit union movement's history, promote its achievements, recognize hard work and share member experiences. The ultimate goal is to raise awareness about the tremendous work that credit unions and other financial cooperatives are doing around the world and give members the opportunity to get more engaged. But how did we get to the point we are celebrating a 75th anniversary? We take a look back at the origins of not just International Credit Union Day, but the entire credit union movement. We'll also hear what this annual celebration means to so many credit union professionals around the globe. Please enjoy this special edition of The Global Credit Union Podcast! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

Chimgee Nergui, Partnership Specialist at the Mongolian National Confederation of Credit Unions, and Violet Ndungu, CEO of Muki SACCO in Kenya, are the Global Women’s Leadership Network’s (GWLN) 2023 Empowerment Grant recipients. Both women join the program this month to discuss being awarded $10,000 each to implement projects aimed at helping rural farmers and agricultural producers earn more income—and do it in a more climate resilient way—through credit unions. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

Eleonora Zgonjanin Petrovikj, CEO of FULM Savings House (North Macedonia) and Patrick Rico, External Affairs Manager at ACDI Multipurpose Cooperative (Philippines), join the podcast to discuss being recipients of the inaugural 2023 WOCCU Fellowship. WOCCU in April launched the first Fellowship nominations to encourage credit union leaders under the age of 40 and women of any age to apply to serve as “observers” on the WOCCU Board of Directors. Zgonjanin and Rico were selected from a pool of 52 applicants from 12 countries. They will attend and participate in three WOCCU Board meetings over a one-year period, beginning in fall of 2023. Their travel expenses, including airfare, hotel and local transportation, will be covered by WOCCU, including registration to attend the 2024 World Credit Union Conference. As observers, they will receive all material information provided to members of the Board but will not have formal voting rights during the Board of Directors’ meetings. They will also receive mentorship from members of the WOCCU Board, or from members of the WOCCU or Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ staff. Learn what they bring to the table and what they hope to accomplish over the next year as they look to lay the foundation for future WOCCU Board Observers to follow. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

Herpin Jateng, Acting Chief of Party for the USAID Cooperative Development Program (CDP)/World Council of Credit Unions' Technology and Innovation for Financial Inclusion (TIFI) Project, is the featured guest on Episode 27. He discusses how the TIFI Project has worked to grow small-and-medium enterprise (SME) lending efforts at credit unions in three African countries: Kenya, Burkina Faso and Senegal. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

Brian Harris, President and CEO of Interior Savings Credit Union in Vancouver, Canada—home to next month’s 2023 World Credit Union Conference—joins the podcast to talk about the vibrant city and all it has to offer the more than 3,000 credit union professionals who will be converging on it from July 23-26. Plus, with Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions and its Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) and WYCUP programs hosting more events in conjunction with a World Credit Union Conference than ever before, Mike Reuter, Executive Director of the Worldwide Foundation, joins GWLN Director Lena Giakoumopoulos and WYCUP Manager Ari Farrell to preview those activities. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in May 2023 extended the flagship project of its Venezuela Regional Response Program through May 2026, awarding $14 million to World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) to continue implementation of the Economic Inclusion Project (EIP) in Peru and Ecuador on a much larger scale. Abby Cohen, WOCCU Program Manager for Latin America, and Oscar Guzman, Chief of Party for the Economic Inclusion Project, join the podcast to discuss EIP's successful first phase, and what they hope to add as new objectives in phase two of the Project. Launched in June 2020, the first phase of the Economic Inclusion Project helped Venezuelan migrants and vulnerable local residents in Lima, Peru, and Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador, achieve socioeconomic security by gaining greater access to financial products and services, entrepreneurship and employment programs, and services focused on the prevention of gender-based violence. Those objectives will continue to be a focus over the next three years, but phase two of EIP will also prioritize:   More programs and strategies that allow for the inclusion of youth and LGBTQI+ communities. Capacity-building for credit unions and other local organizations. Climate change adaptation and mitigation through the promotion of green entrepreneurial businesses, jobs and financial products. You can read more about the Economic Inclusion Project here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

We take a deep dive into World Council of Credit Unions’ strategic focus on climate resilience and sustainable finance this month. We start at Sicredi Pioneira, a credit union based in Nova Petropolis, Brazil that is leading the way on solar energy. You’ll hear all about how they are helping members access financing for solar projects, and how they are leading by example as well—powering many of their own credit unions with 100 percent clean energy from the sun. World Council wants to help more credit unions get to where Sicredi Pioneira is today. Thom Belekevich, World Council Director of Member Services, shares more on our strategy to promote climate resilience and sustainable finance across the global credit union movement. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) joined the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8. And since this is also Women’s History Month, WOCCU is focusing this episode on the ways our organization helps women in the global credit union community through our programs and projects, and how we’re doing in terms of gender equality within our own organization. We’ll hear from a variety of voices, including the women who lead WOCCU, a woman who has made strides to become the leader she is today because of the Global Women’s Leadership Network, the women who have assisted on WOCCU international projects focused on women’s initiatives, and even from one of the men in our organization who has led on women’s issues. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

With February 2023 marking the somber one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we look back on how several projects and entities have worked with Ukrainian credit unions to keep them resilient and open to members.  That includes the World Council of Credit Unions/USAID Credit for Agriculture Producers' (CAP) Project, which works with partner credit unions to ensure their member farmers have loans, so they can continue producing food during the war. Ivan Vyshnevskiy, a Ukrainian citizen who serves as Deputy Chief of Party for the CAP Project, talks about how project staff have not only helped those credit unions continue to lend, but to even help agricultural lending outperform every other credit union loan sector since the war began. Plus, Mike Reuter, Executive Director of Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU), discusses the response from credit union leaders around the world who have donated nearly $2 million to WFCU's Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund. More than $600,000 from that fund has already been sent to Ukraine to help credit unions maintain operations and to provide needed support to the farmers themselves. Finally, Anatoli Murha, Senior Vice President of Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union and a member of the Ukrainian-American Credit Union Association, discusses the massive outpouring of financial support from the Ukrainian-American credit union sector, and the difference that has made in Ukraine.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

2023 nominations are now open for a pair of World Council of Credit Unions’ annual awards. The Digital Growth Award recognizes one or more member credit union associations or member credit unions for implementing digital solutions that promote financial inclusion, innovation and scalability. Diana Cazacu, a financial inclusion and digitalization expert who will serve as a Digital Growth Award judge for the second straight year, explains some of the things she and the other judges will be looking for when they review nominations this spring. Nominations are also open for the Distinguished Service Award, which World Council has handed out since 1986 to recognize individuals or institutions for outstanding contributions to credit union development outside their home country. World Council Executive Communications Manager Laura Mihm discusses the Distinguished Service Award nomination process and why it is so unique in the credit union industry. Recipients of both awards will receive complimentary registration to the 2023 World Credit Union Conference in Vancouver, Canada, where the respective awards will be presented. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

After an optimistic start to the year, the global credit union movement was hit with multiple crises, including Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and soaring inflation worldwide. In this final episode of 2022, we look back at how World Council of Credit Unions helped its members navigate those pressures, while still offering education and networking events and managing to boost the livelihoods of vulnerable populations in Ukraine and elsewhere. We also look ahead to 2023 with plans based on a new strategy focused on growing credit union digitalization, climate and sustainability solutions and building resilient livelihoods.   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

We’re focusing on Canada this month through interviews with: · Jeff Guthrie, President and CEO of the Canadian Credit Union Association(CCUA) and the newest member of World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Board of Directors. · Mani Sheppard-Luangkhot, Manager, Financial Access Programs, Assiniboine Credit Union (ACU) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jeff Guthrie joins the podcast to discuss both of his roles, which are new in 2022, and how he hopes to bring his expertise in payments to help the global credit union movement. He also discusses CCUA co-hosting the 2023 World Credit Union Conference in his hometown of Vancouver next July. Mani Sheppard-Luangkhot has one of the coolest and perhaps most impactful jobs in our entire movement. She discusses her role at ACU, which focuses on the financial inclusion of indigenous, migrant and other underserved populations—and why she hopes her interview will inspire more credit unions to add positions like hers. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support

Despite year-to-year growth in overall membership and total assets for the global credit union movement, World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2021 Statistical Report shows major gaps in key product and service offerings have resulted in different priorities and risk concerns for credit unions in different parts of the world. As of December 31, 2021, there were a total of 393,871,631 members of 87,914 credit unions worth $3.48 trillion in assets across 118 countries. Along with providing statistics on members, assets, savings and loans, the 2021 Statistical Report also features first-time data sets on credit union: Strategic priorities. Risk Concerns. Access to various products and services. Taxation. On Episode 18 of the Global Credit Union Podcast, we take a deep dive into the data with Steven Rick, Chief Economist for CUNA Mutual Group, and Dalia Mehiar, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Program Manager for World Council. We discuss some the regional differences and disparities, trends and surprises that come out of all those numbers. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/woccu/support