The Global Credit Union Podcast World Council of Credit Unions

One year ago, Donore Credit Union in Dublin, Ireland established the Donore Area Sustainable Community (DASC), a community group dedicated to playing its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of the natural environment in the local area.
Part of that process was a learning journey for the credit union itself, both in terms of the response from members, and how they should proceed with initiative moving forward.
David McAuley, CEO of Donore Credit Union, talks about that as the featured guest on Episode 36.
We also take a look at why moving forward on climate often requires a certain boldness for credit unions, because many central banks and other regulators aren't providing many guidelines for them. Hear where different central banks rank on the issue of climate regulations.

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America’s Credit Unions’ Governmental Affairs Conference took place in early March in Washington, D.C. Better known simply as GAC, it is the largest annual gathering for credit union professionals in the United States. But each year, more and more international credit union professionals make the long journey to GAC as well, because they learn so much to take back home to implement in their credit unions overseas.

On this month’s episode of the podcast, we feature conversations with credit union professionals from the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Africa and even New Zealand, about why they make such a long trip to meet with and learn from
American credit union professionals.


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February is Black History Month in the United States and Canada, and we use that as a jumping off point for a discussion about the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) movement taking hold at credit unions on a number of continents.

Renee Sattiewhite, President and CEO of the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) and Board Director for Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, speaks about the DEI movement in the United States.

We also hear from Alexnadre Englert Barbosa, Executive Director of Sustainability, Administration and Finance at Sicredi about how their Brazilian credit union system views DEI as part of their greater sustainability efforts.

And Ruksana Kauser, a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited’s (ABCUL) Inclusivity Group, talks about her experiences as a Muslim young credit union professional in the UK and how ABCUL is trying to recruit more diverse board members, as we examine how credit unions are building more diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations from the branch to the board room.


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If technological innovations are going to truly boost financial inclusion worldwide, international standard setting bodies and national-level regulators must consider the institutions offering digital financial products and services as much as they examine how those deliverables are offered when contemplating new compliance requirements. Were regulations to be written only for the large international banks as innovation and new technologies evolve, credit unions and other community-based cooperative institutions will be excluded from key aspects of the financial services market.

That’s the overriding theme of World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2024 Global Regulatory Update, which stresses how important it is for WOCCU and other credit union associations around the globe to advocate for fair, proportional treatment from the policymakers developing our digital regulatory environment.  

On today's episode, Erin O'Hern, World Council of Credit Unions' International Advocacy and Regulatory Counsel, and Andrew Price, World Council Senior Vice President and International Advocacy and General Counsel, discuss that premise and the ways regulators are looking at how international standard setters in 2024 are viewing other issues, such as payments, cybersecurity, sustainable finance and AML/CFT.


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We wrap up 2023 by taking a look back at how World Council succeeded this year in making credit unions more relevant in key strategic areas, such as climate resilience, digitalization and the financial inclusion of migrants, refugees, women and youth.

Our professionals also talk about how World Council put on a record-setting 2023 World Credit Union Conference, expanded our membership base and scored major advocacy victories on behalf of our members. Plus, we look ahead to what should be another promising year in 2024. 




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Thom Belekevich, World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Director of Member Services, helped open the door of WOCCU membership to more credit union associations, and even some individual credit unions for the first time in 2023. He joins the podcast on Episode 31 to talk about the specific changes to our membership categories and why they should enrich our organization even more moving forward. Anyone interested in learning more about membership with World Council can email Thom at tbelekevich@woccu.org.

Thom also led the data collection for World Council’s 2022 Statistical Report, which shows the global credit union movement is now more than 400 million members strong. We discuss where that growth is occurring and why.


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