CUNA International (USA) undergoes basic restructuring during its annual meeting, resulting in the formation of World Council. Shortly after the meeting, U.S. Credit Union National Association, Inc. (CUNA), the National Association of Canadian Credit Unions (NACCU) and the Australian Federation of Credit union Leagues, Ltd. (AFCUL) were accepted as members of World Council. New regional federations were also forming in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Far East.

World Council of Credit Unions is incorporated in November 1970.

On Jan. 1, World Council of Credit Unions officially begins operations at the Filene House in Madison, Wis., USA, representing 40 million members of 56,000 credit unions in more than 70 countries.

The Texas Credit Union League becomes the first U.S. league to support a WOCCU program in Mexico.

Herb Wegner becomes managing director (1972-75)

First use of "WOCCU" in publications.

WOCCU commits to "stimulating credit union development where the potential for technical or financial assistance looks favorable." Priorities are to extend credit union services through directed agricultural production credit programs and a global interlending system between credit unions.

A.A. "Paddy" Bailey, a Jamaican, becomes managing director (1975-83)

CUNA International Foundation becomes Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions.

WOCCU attains United Nations observer status, giving credit unions a voice among the U.N. General Assembly.

WOCCU relocates to its current location at the Credit Union Center in Madison, Wis., USA.

WOCCU sponsors a two-part program on women entrepreneurs and credit during the World Conference of the U.N. Decade for Women in Copenhagen.

CUNA's Global Projects Office and staff in Washington, D.C., merge with WOCCU, fully integrating resources and centralizing management in Madison.

Howard Helman becomes CEO (1981-82)

Al Charbonneau, a Canadian, becomes CEO (1983-93)

WOCCU drafts 10 international credit union operating principles based partly on the Rochdale principles, which guided the first financial cooperatives in England.

A USAID-funded Guatemala program spawns WOCCU's model credit union building approach, which emphasizes institutional building through savings mobilization rather than the infusion of credit and share-based lending.

WOCCU publishes its first book, The Central Finance Facility, a guide to developing and operating a "credit union for credit unions."

WOCCU helps develop credit unions in the Islamic country of Niger, beginning with basic literacy and numeracy training for credit union staff.

WOCCU responds to a request from the Solidarity movement to develop credit unions in Poland and adopts a Central European Policy for development in the region.

PEARLS monitoring system debuts, the first in a series of WOCCU financial tools for credit unions.

WOCCU's triennial forum held in Madison, Wis., the first time in the United States. Attendees are hosted in local homes.

Chris Baker, an integral player in WOCCU's early development  as part of the Global Projects Office, becomes CEO (1993-2000)

WOCCU brings its model credit union building approach to Africa.

A "Content Guide" in English, Spanish and French provides the first international framework for credit union legislation. It is the precursor to Model Law for Credit Unions, first published in 2000.

The People-to-People program comes to life, connecting credit union professionals through international internships and volunteer assignments. It is the forerunner to WOCCU's International Partnerships Program.

PEARLS and Business Plan tools integrate into a computerized software package.

WOCCU establishes its first "worldwide web homepage."

A program in the Philippines fuses the model credit union building approach with financial education to bring credit union outreach to the very poor. Forms of the methodology are later transferred to Ecuador and Peru.

IRnet^® debuts, making low-cost international money transfers possible through credit unions. It is WOCCU's first for-profit venture through the newly established WOCCU Services Group (WSG).

WOCCU creates the first credit union rating agency in Guatemala.

Arthur Arnold becomes CEO (2000-04)

WOCCU Supporters Program formalizes at the Credit Union Forum in Nashville, Tenn., USA. Credit Union Executive Society becomes the first WOCCU Supporter with a donation of US$10,000.

At WOCCU's initiative, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision convenes financial cooperatives for the first time to discuss the new capital adequacy framework proposed for Basel II.

WOCCU's Young Credit Union People (WYCUP) program begins, honoring young credit union leaders on an international stage.

Credit union field officers begin trekking into remote, marginalized communities to bring financial services to the poor through WOCCU's new Semilla Cooperativa [cooperative seed] methodology.

WOCCU helps establish an advocacy office in Brussels and organizes the European Network of Credit Unions in 2009.

WOCCU's Afghanistan program becomes its first venture into Shari'a-compliant Islamic finance.

Pete Crear, a long-time CUNA executive, becomes president & CEO (2005-11)

The annual International Leadership Institute and triennial Credit Union Forum become the inaugural World Credit Union Conference in Rome, Italy.

More than 20 financial cooperative regulators form the International Credit Union Regulators' Network.

Credit unions first use personal digital assistants (PDAs) to improve financial service delivery in rural Mexico.

South Africa and Kenya become the first English-speaking African countries to pass credit union-specific laws.

World Council established the Global Women’s Leadership Network to tackle our industry’s gender gap while also leveraging resources to strengthen the economic security of women and their families. The Global Women’s Leadership Network is the industry's only international platform dedicated to addressing and facilitating greater gender balance among leadership positions. 

WOCCU establishes the first credit union-owned data services bureau for small credit unions in Kenya.

Executive Vice President & COO Brian Branch, a 21-year WOCCU veteran, becomes president & CEO