CCA to Implement WOCCU's PEARLS Development Tool

Toronto, Canada—At the special development session of the Canadian Credit Union Central Annual conference, the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) announced its commitment to cooperating with fellow cooperatives in the area of credit union development. In a joint presentation with the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) areas of future cooperation for the organizations were outlined.

One of the most significant announcements was that CCA would begin utilizing World Council's PEARLS Monitoring System in its development projects, adding PEARLS to their "tool box" of credit union development tools. The organization recently purchased WOCCU's patented technology and will soon begin utilizing PEARLS in their projects.

PEARLS is a financial performance monitoring system designed to offer management guidance for credit unions and other savings institutions. Credit unions, leagues, national association and regulators in both developed and developing countries currently use the system. WOCCU created PEARLS in the late 1980's and utilizes PEARLS with all of the credit unions participating in development projects around the world. PEARLS is attributed as one of the factors in the long-term sustainability of WOCCU's development projects and widely recognized by the development community as well as legislators and regulators around the world.

Arthur Arnold, WOCCU president and CEO noted, "We believe that sharing technology to build stronger credit union systems benefits everyone. WOCCU's goal is to provide quality credit unions for everyone and we feel that goal can only be reached through cooperation. CCA's willingness to use WOCCU's PEARLS system is a step forward in the international development of credit unions."

Jean Yves Lord, CCA executive director echoed similar comments, "WOCCU and the Canadian Co- operative Association are two of the leading credit union development organizations in the world. We share a common goal – to improve the lives of poor people around the world. It just makes sense that we should work together. "

Other joint activities between CCA and WOCCU include co-hosting World Council of Credit Unions Regional SACCA Congress, which will be held in Swaziland, October 11-15 and cooperatively bidding on credit union development projects together in the future.

World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.

World Council has implemented more than 290 technical assistance programs in 71 countries. Worldwide, 51,000 credit unions in 100 countries serve 196 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.