WOCCU Partnership Hosts Bolivian Dignitaries

Ohio Credit Union League with Bolivian Delegation

Madison, WI-Through a World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) People to People partnership—formed between WOCCU-Bolivia, Corporate One Federal Credit Union and the Ohio Credit Union League—two high-level officials from the Bolivian Superintendency of Banks, Mr. Efrain Camacho, Bolivia's deputy director of the Superintendency and Waldo Salina, Bolivia's head of Non-Bank Financial Institutions traveled to Ohio to learn about credit unions. The partnership welcomed the opportunity to acquaint their guests with the corporate system and the services provided by second-tier credit union entities in the United States. They also encouraged WOCCU-Bolivia's efforts to establish a Central Finance Facility for supervised credit unions in Bolivia.

During their visit, the staffs of Corporate One and the Ohio Credit Union League apprised Camacho and Salinas of their services and also had the opportunity to meet "regulator-to-regulator" with Kent Buckham, director, Office of Corporate Credit Unions at the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Ken Roberts, deputy superintendent of the Division of Financial Institutions at the Ohio Department of Commerce.

"One of the great challenges for Bolivian credit unions is reaching greater efficiencies and achieving greater outreach to bring the vast number unbanked citizens into the financial system. A Central Finance Facility would greatly further these efforts, now we just have to find the appropriate mechanism within the regulatory framework," said Julio Fernandez, Bolivia project director for WOCCU. "Having the support of both Corporate One Federal Credit Union and the Ohio Credit Union League is invaluable to helping us to set up a Central Finance Facility," he added.

On the final day of the visit, the Ohio Credit Union League accompanied their Bolivian colleagues for a look at the Western Credit Union and Core One Credit Union to give them first-hand experience with the benefits credit unions receive as a result of having access to corporate and league services.

For the partnership's next activity, representatives of Corporate One will travel to Bolivia to assist with designing the technology network for the second-tier entity and conducting feasibility studies to ensure financial sustainability. The partnership is unique in that Corporate One is the first corporate credit union to enter directly into a partnership as a signatory.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.