Barbados’ Credit Union movement must adapt to a rapidly changing financial environment or risk losing ground to emerging financial technology companies and other competitors, first vice-president of the Barbados Co-operative and Credit Union League (BCCUL), Hally Haynes, has warned.
Haynes, addressing the League’s annual general meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre recently, said the movement was facing significant challenges from developments in the financial marketplace, as well as changing expectations among its members.
He identified emerging financial technology companies, unregulated money lenders and the demand for faster financial services as important considerations for credit unions as they seek to maintain their position in Barbados’ financial sector.
Haynes told delegates from the island’s 21 credit unions: “We as a movement must also grapple with the changing needs of our members who are demanding instant products and services hitherto never experienced.”
His comments come at a time when the delivery of financial services is undergoing significant technological change, placing increasing importance on the ability of financial institutions to provide convenient and responsive services.
For the credit union movement, one recent development has been the participation of three of the country’s largest institutions in BimPay, the national instant payments system.
Haynes reported that the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited, City of Bridgetown Co-operative Credit Union Limited and AffinityPlus Co-operative Credit Union Limited now had the ability to send and receive funds in real time across participating financial institutions.
The development followed collaboration between the League and the Central Bank of Barbados.
Haynes said the initiative was another significant achievement for the movement, adding: “This was indeed another big win for the credit union movement – many thanks, team BCCUL and team Barbados credit union movement.”
However, the introduction of faster payment services is taking place against a background of other pressures confronting credit unions, including the cost of regulatory compliance, cybersecurity
and financial sustainability.
Haynes identified several of these challenges in his address, including ongoing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance and the high costs associated with compliance; conformance with Financial Services Commission (FSC) corporate governance guidelines; the FSC Legislative Reform Project; cybersecurity; financial sustainability; and sector consolidation.
He said the movement would have to strengthen its collective response if it was to withstand
these pressures.
“To stave off these headwinds . . . and those that are yet to come, advocacy, advocacy, advocacy, must continue to be our main arsenal in the fight to preserve and maintain the credit union difference,” he said.
Haynes, who recently returned from a World Council of Credit Unions (WCCU) board meeting in Washington, United States, said the challenges confronting Barbados’ credit unions were also being experienced by institutions internationally.
He pointed to the international representation secured by the WCCU, noting that the organisation now had a seat at the table at several financial standard-setting bodies, including the Financial Stability Board, Financial Action Task Force, and Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. (PR/SC)
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