WOCCU Chair Strives for Greater Global Unity

Melvin Edwards: CUs can gain greater influence by speaking as a single global body. Watch an interview with Edwards now.

Credit unions' ethical leadership has given them both integrity and strength during the current financial crisis, according to Melvin Edwards, World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) chair and representative from the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions to the WOCCU board.

But credit unions can gain even greater influence by speaking as a single global body, he adds, supporting credit unions in developing countries and increasing the movement's influence worldwide.

“Credit unions are engines of social and economic development, and too many governments have missed the value of their influence,“ says Edwards, a native of St. Kitts & Nevis whose two-year term as WOCCU chair concludes in July at WOCCU's World Credit Union Conference in Barcelona, Spain. “Credit unions everywhere need to recognize that we exist as a global movement, and we need to speak in one voice.”

Much of credit unions' strength is based on their financial transparency, not-for-profit cooperative natures and focus on member service, aspects that set them apart from many for-profit financial institutions. Their emphasis on education helps financially strengthen not only the credit unions, but also the members they serve, Edwards says.

In the end, credit unions' “people helping people“ philosophy enables them to play a vital role in growing the movement in developing countries and in honing individual members' and their own capabilities to weather economic storms like the ongoing global financial crisis.

“We need to invest more, not only in educating ourselves, but also our members, correcting their assumptions about easy credit and refocusing them on increased savings and safe investments,” Edwards adds. “The more members know about managing their own funds, the easier it will be for them to keep their credit unions safe, accountable and honest.”

* Watch an interview with Edwards now.