The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has this week released its newest Statistical Report, which provides membership and financial data as of December 2017 from credit unions and other financial cooperatives worldwide. This year’s report includes information from 89,026 credit unions serving over 260 million members in 117 countries.
The global credit union family is also celebrating the 70th anniversary of International Credit Union Day today, Thursday 18 October. Throughout October the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, the charitable arm of the World Council of Credit Unions, has been encouraging credit unions everywhere to expand the footprint of their efforts to improve member’s lives at home and abroad through a new initiative: the 2018 ICU Day Challenge.
The most notable global changes seen in the Statistical Report from the end of 2013 to 2017, said WOCCU, can be seen with 12 million new members in the US, 11 million each in Latin America and Africa, 7 million in Asia and one million in Europe.
“This year we can celebrate as a global community. We have realized our vision of reaching 250 million members by the year 2020,” said Brian Branch, World Council President and CEO. “We see that membership growth continues to reflect the important role that credit unions have in providing economic empowerment to people worldwide.”
“The three primary challenges we hear from credit unions everywhere are advocacy, disruptive technology and membership growth. For 2019, we will launch the logical next step and take on the second global challenge, which is disruptive technology. We are gearing our efforts toward digitization, including access to core services by online and mobile channels, automation of internal processes and connection to local payments and electronic ecosystems. If we want to continue growing and competing in tomorrow’s disruptive markets, we take on this challenge, make it our own and market the advantage to serve the under-served.”
World Council reports data based on country responses to its annual survey and does not make estimates for non-reporting countries. The Statistical Report provides the most comprehensive data on the global credit union movement available and is cited widely by governments, international institutions and analysts as an expert resource.
Download the 2017 Statistical Report here.
The World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development platform 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. The World Council is a member of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF).
World Council has implemented 300+ technical assistance programs in 89 countries. Worldwide, 89,026 credit unions in 117 countries serve 260 million people. Learn more about World Council’s impact around the world at www.woccu.org.
