MADISON, Wis.—The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) closed out its first-ever virtual World Credit Union Conference with a celebration of its 50th anniversary.
The week-long event concluded with a video featuring outgoing WOCCU President and CEO Brian Branch talking about the value credit unions provide people of all income groups, the history of the organization’s mission to improve lives through credit unions, and the relevance World Council must provide to members going forward when it comes to regulatory burden, digital transformation and young membership growth.
“I think what’s key is the fact that World Council has always been a member-driven organization since the very beginning,” said Branch. “And that means that the World Council has constantly been in communication with credit union systems around the world and is able to share the experiences, the lessons from one country—across borders—to other countries.”
On Aug. 16 Elissa McCarter LaBorde will succeed Branch as president and CEO of WOCCU.
2021 Distinguished Service Award
Meanwhile, the World Council presented the 2021 Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to Cameron Dickey, president and CEO of Cy-Fair FCU in Houston.
WOCCU said Dickey has been involved in the global credit union movement since the early 2000s, always “encouraging broader involvement in World Council initiatives to his credit union peers, industry partners and employees of his organization.”
"As my family, friends and credit union colleagues will attest, I often say that the World Council of Credit Unions embodies the best attributes of credit unions and the people helping people mantra of not-for-profit financial cooperatives," said Dickey.
WOCCU’s Distinguished Service Award is the industry's top global honor for worthy individuals and organizations that have “shown great contributions to further the credit union movement outside of their own countries.”
The Final Keynote
The World Credit Union Conference closed with a keynote from Bonin Bough, described by WOCCU as “one of the foremost-awarded marketing executives in the world.”
Bough said the future of marketing is in personal, one-on-one digital messaging.
“Right now, less than 10% of our (marketing) time is spent where people are spending 90% of their time,” said Bough, who relayed statistics which show that more people text than use toothpaste or deodorant.
As a result, Bough believes customer/member service has the ability to transform businesses more than any other department through direct digital messaging to learn member needs and wants, and develop new products to serve them, according to WOCCU.
The 2022 Meeting
WOCCU said it plans to return to an in-person even for its 2022 World Credit Union Conference. To be held in conjunction with its direct member in the United Kingdom, the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL), the meeting is scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland, July 17-20.
For info: www.wcuc.org/glasgow.