ACCU’s 39 Annual General Meeting

The 39^th Annual General Meeting of the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU) was held online on 24^th September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-opBank’s Chairman Nguyen Quoc Cuong, members of Board of Directors and Boards of Management and managers of related departments at Co-opBank’s headoffice were present at the meeting.

At the meeting, ACCU Chairman Kim Yousik reported on ACCU’s activities from September 2019 to July 2020. According to his report, the Covid-19 pandemic which started in early 2020 has had tremendous impacts on ACCU’s action plan. It has quickly adapted to the “new normal” and adjusted its activities from onsite to online to maintain supporting activities to its members.

The most highlighting activities in the year have been the establishment of the Stabilization Fund for the savings and credit co-operatives system in Nepal and Laos Association of saving credit unions. Besides, ACCU joined as a speaker at the SACCO summit organized by the African Confederation off Co-operative Savings and Credit Association (ACCOSA) in Mombasa, Kenya… Many online forums and webinar where members can discuss and exchange ideas were organized on various topics such as: responses to Covid-19 pandemic, shared payment platform, network integration, gender equality and climate change and etc…

According to ACCU’s CEO Elenita V. San Roque, the credit unions movements in Asia have been facing with 4 main strategic issues. First issue is their inability to balance credit union principles with business goals. The internal issues in credit unions can be attributed to the decline in the practice co-operatives values. In many credit unions, building the institution seems to be a more important priority than building the lives of the members they serve. The mission of credit unions should be the anchor of every decision or service for members. The second issue is a lack of an enabling regulatory environment- which has remained a major issue in the credit union system in Asia for many years. It is prevalent that many credit unions do not observe prudential disciplines and operational standards. It makes the credit unions system in Asia very fragmented and unsustainable. Poor governance and non-conformity with safety and soundness practices has led to poor market image of credit unions. Thirdly, credit unions are facing with huge completion from Fintech companies who are virtual Internet-based and who can easily provide quick, easy and consumer- friendly financial products and services via mobile third-party payment application at low rates. The final issue is the fact that credit unions’ members are aging. According to ACCU’s statistics, majority of members are 40 and above while the total number of members is falling each year. Besides, credit unions have not been able to attract many members of young generations.

Leaders of Co-opbank attend the 39th Annual Meeting of ACCU 2020 in online form.

In order to solve these problems, credit unions in Asia should strengthen their integration nationally and regionally through the implementation and compliance of regulations, standardization in their operations, investments in technology while maintaining co-operatives’ principles and core values.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant impacts on world-wide economic and social situation. This is an important point in time that credit unions should be there for their members by providing support to help them overcome difficulties.