International Partnership Delegation at OCTFCU

Caja Popular Mexicana And WOCCU-Mexico Visit With OCTFCU

The Caja Popular Mexicana (CPM) and the World Council of Credit Unions-Mexico (WOCCU-MX) visited Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union (OCTFCU) on August 1-2.

The first day's meeting focused on visiting with executives at the main office, including spending time with CEO Rudy Hanley and a visit to the Santa Ana branch. On the second day, members of the joint delegation visited two additional branches, Garden Grove and Anaheim, plus the call center and IT Department at the Operations Center.

The two-day event started with Vice President of Development Darin Woinarowicz welcoming and introducing the visitors. Woinarowicz presented an overview of OCTFCU, including background history. Vice President of Marketing Bruce Hart presented the delegation with the marketing perspective, covering department structure, campaign development, public relations, marketing to members, and branch merchandising. Vice President of Strategic Planning Linda Hanson discussed research and product development, member surveys, and data mining, to name a few topics.

Following lunch, Vice President of Treasury Services Michael Faulwell spoke on product pricing and cost analysis. The ending sessions included presentations from Director of Training and Development Cathy Fletcher and a tour with Director of Branch Operations Jim Hale along with Santa Ana Branch Director Susie Silk. The second days events were held at the Garden Grove and Anaheim branches, and the Operations Center. The group met with VP of Branch Operations Dana Shuller, Assistant Garden Grove Branch Manager William DeLeon, and Anaheim Branch Manager Israel Frias. The visit concluded with a tour of the Operations Center where the group visited the Call Center with Director of Telephone Services Robert Martinez, and the IT Department with VP of Information Technology Nancy Powers.

CPM Director of Corporate Administrative Services Alfonso Garcia Moreno commented,"La visita a OCTFCU ha resultado ser una gran experencia; la filosofia de servicio y su orientacion a los miembros me ha dejado sorprendido. Estoy contento por encontrar una cooperativa dirigida a satifecer las necesidades de sus miembros y no preocuparse por tener mas capital. Felicidades y gracias por compartir su conocimiento." [Translation: The visit to OCTFCU was a great experience; their philosophy of service and orientation to the members left me surprised. I am pleased to find a credit union focused on satisfying the needs of its members and not putting emphasis in having more capital. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your knowledge.]

WOCCU Mexico Project Leader German Lopez commented, "El trato que recibimos de los directores fue fantastico, nos mostraron en una junta la filosofia de la CU, y como trabajan los departaments de mercadotecnia, finanzas, capacitacion. Visitamos el call center y sus instalaciones del servidor. Definitivamente la visita fue una experiencia enriquecedora que nos mostro una nueva forma de hacer el negocio de las CUs. Hay muchos nuevos conocimientos que aplicar ahora en las CUs de Mexico." [Translation: The treatment we received from the executives was fantastic. They explained the philosophy of the credit union and its functions in marketing research, finances, and training. We visited the call center and the IT department. Definitely the visit was an enriching experience that demonstrated new ways to condust business in credit unions. We have gained new knowledge to apply to credit unions in Mexico.]

Caja Popular Mexicana is the largest credit union in Mexico with 331 branches in 22 states, $919 million in assets, and more than 835,000 members. In addition, CPM has approximately 200,000 youth accounts.

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.