WOCCU Conference concludes with a vow to cooperate

The four day World Credit Union Conference 2019 organized in the Bahamas ended vowing increased interaction among members to fight off what they call technological challenge before small credit co-ops.

More than 1,200 credit union professionals across the globe who attended the event underlined the ability of cooperatives to share the cost of investing in and providing expensive technology. The idea of high-skilled human technical resources to provide credit unions across the country with digital technology, was also deliberated.

In his remarks, WOCCU President Brian Branch said, “It’s difficult for small financial institutions to be able to afford the technology. And so that’s one of the advantages we see across the globe in cooperative systems.”

Indian participants including Nafcub President Jyotindra Mehta, Director Uday Joshi, Kantilal Patel and others shared conference updates on social media continuously. Posing for photo ops, Mehta wrote, “At WOCCU-2019 international conference held at Bahamas, Caribbean islands with Prof Udayji Joshi, Shri Kantilal Patel and Shri Kalpak Maniar, Sahakar Bharati representation”.

The Conference which is said to be a huge success was attended by over 2,100 attendees from 61 countries. It was held from 28th to 31st July 2019 at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas

There were many take-aways from the conference. WCUC 2019 featured 29 keynote presentations from more than 50 speakers on topics that included Digitization, Cryptocurrency, Cybersecurity, Financial Inclusion and others.

WCUC 2019 also featured 35 exhibitor booths from industry partners and sponsors who offered credit union products and services, as well as fun activities in the Solution Center.

Besides, five young credit union professionals from four different countries were given scholarship that includes an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles for the 2020 World Credit Union Conference.

The World Council of Credit Unions’ Board appointed two new Directors on the occasion. They are Allison Chaytor-Loveys (Canadian Credit Union Association) and Charles Murphy (Irish League of Credit Unions). Loveys takes the seat formerly held by Kevin Sitka and will serve a two-year term, while Murphy will finish out the final year of Brian McCrory’s term.

Next year, World Council will host WCUC 2020 in conjunction with the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) in Los Angeles, July 19-22.