U.S. Congressional Delegation Learn About CU Development at WOCCU Project

Local television news TV AZTECA covered the Caja Popular Mexicana headquarters visit, interviewing WOCCU Senior Manager Mark Cifuentes (middle) and staff member Ben Cardenas (right) from the office of U.S. Representative Grace Napolitano.

LEON, Mexico-Caja Popular Mexicana, Mexico's largest credit union with nearly a million members, welcomed Tuesday the U.S. Congressional staff delegation in Mexico this week to learn about international credit union development. The group, organized and co-sponsored by the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU), Credit Union National Association (CUNA), and the Arizona, California and Texas credit union leagues, visited a branch office after morning meetings at Caja Popular Mexicana headquarters.

The WOCCU Caja Popular Mexicana project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Microenterprise Development.

During the afternoon branch office visit in Apaseo El Alto, three credit union members and microentrepreneurs met with the group to describe their experiences with credit unions, banks and predatory lenders in Mexico. The Caja Popular Mexicana Apaseo El Alto branch experiences the largest volume of remittances-wire transfers from family members living in the U.S.-in the Caja Popular Mexicana branch.

Late Tuesday, the group traveled to Queretaro, where they will visit Caja Libertad Wednesday.

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.