World Council of Credit Unions signed a cooperation agreement this week with two of its most dynamic members to facilitate the exchange of best practices in credit union development.
Poland’s National Association for Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions (NACSCU) and Sicredi, the largest credit union system in Brazil, agreed to exchange products, services and strategies in the areas of:
- Digital Transformation – including the sharing of digital platforms;
- Corporate Governance – to explore the relationship between a credit union and its members, and to provide training for young leaders; and
- Sales – including the discussion of sales methodologies and the delivery of financial products and services.
WOCCU will provide backing, monitoring and support to bolster the efforts of the two organizations.
“This is a time when we cannot travel to engage and share in person. Yet our technology makes the world a smaller place and a world in which it is easier to connect virtually. Sicredi and the Polish National Association have led the way for many years now. They have led the way in best practices for credit union management, branding, system networking and building shared platforms. Today, they lead the way in digitization, which is the future for credit unions,” said World Council President and CEO Brian Branch.
The signing ceremony took place during a virtual meeting attended by executives from all three organizations.
"First of all, it is important for me that we sign the agreement not only as parties or partners, but also as friends," said NACSCU President Rafał Matusiak, who also serves as Chair of the WOCCU Board of Directors.
Sicredi was represented by Manfred Alfonso Dasenbrock, Chair of Sicredi Participações and a WOCCU Board Director, and Sicredi CEO João Tavares.
“International cooperation is a foundation of the cooperative model, which postulates mutual support. We are exceptionally proud to be showing Polish cooperatives a little of what we’ve learned here in Brazil, while we also benefit by what we will learn from them. We are certain that this partnership will bear positive fruit on both ends—and it is important to reiterate that this connection was only possible thanks to WOCCU, which links credit unions together from all over the world,” said Dasenbrock.
