Vermont & Peru Meet for the First Time

(CU Visit to VT State Employees CU. Back Row: Rocio Miyashiro (ABACO CEO), Verónica Miyahira (ABACO Marketing Manager), Victor Corro (WOCCU Int'l Partnerships Manager), Miguel Zeballos (AELUCOOP CEO), Liliana Valdizán (FinanTel CEO), Jorge Zevallos (FENACREP Chairman), Joe Bergeron (Association of VT CUs President). Front Row: Manuel Rabines (FENACREP President & WOCCU Treasurer), Steven Post (VT State Employees CU CEO), VT State Employees CU Board Member

The Association of Vermont Credit Unions hosted six leaders of the Peru credit union movement the first week of November. This first meeting between the two potential partners served to acquaint the movements and provided an opportunity to identify areas in which they are able to work together to enhance their movements. The Peruvian delegation found interesting Vermont’s legal and regulatory structure for credit unions, as well as technological services such as home banking, ATM networks, and shared branching.

During their three day visit, Joe Bergeron and Bryan Kent (President and Vice President of the Association of Vermont Credit Unions respectively) took Manuel Rabines (President of FENACREP and WOCCU Treasurer) and five Peruvian credit union CEOs to the Credit Union of Vermont, Heritage Family CU, Vermont State Employees CU, Central Vermont Medical Center CU, and Caswell CU where they were able to meet the credit union managers and build acquaintances for future reunions. These credit unions vary in size and gave visitors an opportunity to identify trends and the differences between larger and smaller CUs in Vermont. They also visited the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration where they were given a presentation on credit union regulatory practices. WOCCU was represented by Dr. Brian Branch, COO, Victor Miguel Corro, International Partnerships Manager, and Michelle Kramer, International Partnerships Assistant.

To view more photos from this visit, please click here.

Written by Michelle Kramer

Second Partnership Briefing and Hike the Hill during ICU week

Washington, DC—World Council of Credit Unions held an International Partnerships meeting Friday, October 20, in Arlington, Virginia. Twenty-six credit union leaders from United States leagues and World Council shared the progress of their individual partnerships and used the meeting as a forum for best practices.
Representatives from Connecticut, Washington, DC, Missouri, Texas, California, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, Iowa, Alabama, and North Carolina reported on successes in 2006 and gave an overview of planned activities for 2007. The case study for this year’s briefing was the Ohio Credit Union League, Corporate One Federal Credit Union, WOCCU-Bolivia and the Bolivian Credit Union System and World Council. This international partnership focused on technology and connecting credit unions in Bolivia with a shared branching system.

In addition to the partnership briefing, World Council of Credit Unions and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) celebrated International Credit Union Day at a reception on Capital Hill in Washington, DC. Over 60 representatives from congressional offices, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors and state leagues involved in World Council’s International Partnerships participated in the event.

Click on link for press release on ICU day and partnership briefing.

For lots of pictures of both events click here