Advocacy Professionals Warn Against Complacency at 2024 World Credit Union Conference

Monday afternoon at WCUC features Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ focus engagement, resiliency efforts

Credit union advocacy professionals from around the world on Monday urged their colleagues to show even greater resolve during a time of political uncertainty at the 2024 World Credit Union Conference.

America’s Credit Unions’ President and CEO Jim Nussle told the first general session audience of the conference that every credit union’s future is only successful if advocacy is successful at all levels, especially in a time of such political uncertainty throughout the world.

“This is not a time to get tired of advocacy or even give up on it because politics is messy or frustrating. This is a time to lean into it,” said Nussle.

A Global Look at Advocacy

WOCCU Advocacy Counsel Panya Monford and advocacy professionals from the United States and Ireland laid out some of the regulatory challenges awaiting credit unions at an afternoon breakout session.

Monford advised those in attendance to be aware of one specific area in which the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is taking a renewed interest.

“A lot of credit unions just don’t have the resources right now to assess their corporate governance or risk management needs, but that’s something that you all have to start paying attention to, especially with Basel making that a renewed mission.”

Barry Harrington, Head of Advocacy and Regulatory Engagement for the Irish League of Credit Unions, said credit unions in Ireland and the rest of the European Union are facing a “regulatory tsunami” at the moment, with a new regulation on instant payments taking effect in 2025.

“From January, credit unions or payment service providers—of which credit unions are part—will have to be capable of receiving instant payments, and by October of next year, of being able to send instant payments. We’re very much in favor of it but there is a cost, an investment cost to credit unions, and Ireland in general is a laggard in instant payments across Europe. What you could see is some credit unions decide to step out of the credit transfer space,” said Harrington.

Ann Petros, Head of Regulatory Advocacy for America’s Credit Unions, said a proposed reduction to interchange fees by the Federal Reserve Bank would be onerous for credit unions, but that is still up in the air with the U.S. elections set for November.

WFCU leans into credit union engagement, resiliency efforts

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) used a pair of Monday afternoon breakout sessions to highlight its global engagement opportunities and efforts to boost credit union resiliency efforts in times of crisis.  

Credit union leaders from the United States and Ireland first discussed the education and networking possibilities available through the joint WOCCU/WFCU Global Bridges program.

“The team at the Foundation would go through, not just the process, the framework that’s attached to the Global Bridges program, but in some ways—maybe more importantly—the possibilities, the opportunities that engaging in a meaningful way with this program can deliver for a participating credit union,” said Billy Doyle, CEO of Dundalk Credit Union (Ireland), which is participating in a Global Bridges program with a Ukrainian credit union.

A separate session featured a roundtable discussion on Project Storm Break, an initiative to deliver immediate and long-term support to credit unions dealing with crisis situations. 

Those include the crisis Russia’s ongoing war has caused in Ukraine, and those caused by natural disasters, such as the recent flooding in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and hurricanes in the Caribbean.

“The Caribbean region has been the beneficiary of Worldwide Foundation for many years and many major disasters," said Denise Garfield, President of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions. “The Caribbean has been susceptible to hurricane damage for the last couple years, and so we are grateful to the global community, which has come to our assistance many, many times.”

To learn more about WFCU’s Project Storm Break initiative, click here.

Still to come

The 2024 World Credit Union Conference continues Monday afternoon with the WOCCU 2024 Annual General Meeting, where this year’s Digital Growth Award and Distinguished Service Award will be presented.

Follow conference activities and see daily event photos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram with #WCUC2024.

Presented in collaboration with the America’s Credit Unions, the 2024 World Credit Union Conference runs through Wednesday, July 24.