PLANO, Texas–A delegation of U.S. credit union executives has returned from a trip to Moldova, where they were working to bolster CUs in the country.
Located just east of Romania and south of Ukraine, Moldova has a population of approximately three-million people and remains one of the poorest in Europe.
Since its 1998 financial crisis, Moldova has made substantial progress toward financial stabilization – but financial infrastructure is still in its infancy, according to Brad Ganey, senior vice president and COO of Catalyst Corporate.
Ganey, along with Shane Berger, president and CEO of Beehive Federal Credit Union in Pocatello, Idaho and Todd Christensen, senior vice president of marketing at CapEd Credit Union in Boise, Idaho, visited the country with the goal of bolstering its marketing initiatives, developing a strategic plan to help its Savings Credit Associations (SCAs) move forward and exploring payment options.
“A few years ago, the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) suggested partnering with Moldova,” said Berger. “It’s a country with fledgling credit unions that needed some assistance. The Idaho Credit Union League decided we’d give it a try, and it’s been a success. The Moldovans have a huge desire to learn.”
The recent visit marked Berger’s third trip to the country since 2015, but it was Ganey’s first. After Berger’s last visit, the Moldovans expressed interest in developing a different type of payment system. So, this time, Berger asked Ganey to join him.
“There are about 300 SCAs in Moldova right now, but they’re set up to be cash-only operations,” said Ganey. “SCAs lack elements foundational to a credit union’s operations, such as credit bureaus for loans and central deposit insurance funds. We want to provide education and tools to help move their payment services into a place of safety and soundness.”
Currently, the Moldovan banks have access to all payment systems, but SCAs do not. In the last few years, the SCAs petitioned the government to grant them access, but were denied because the request was too broad.
The desire to grow remains, according to Ganey. “These SCAs are seeking more education on payments and assistance going forward. They want to be able to petition successfully and satisfy the parliament and regulators. We want to provide that education – what it means to provide payment services, the baselines in the United States, and the reasons for those baselines.”
Berger said he is seeing significant changes already. “In Soroca, we met with a credit union that was breaking ground for a new credit union building – the first built from the ground up,” he said. “We were told that this movement was inspired by their visit to U.S. credit unions a few years ago.”
Moldovans are also beginning to market their SCAs based on recommendations made on some of these trips, he said.
While Ganey explained that Moldova will not be able to structure its SCAs identically to credit unions in the U.S. (mostly due to legacy procedures already in place), the goal is to provide them with a strong understanding of consumer and business behavior, according to the U.S. delegation.
“It’s a pretty big shift to move from cash into payment systems in place today, said Ganey. “It’s going to be a step-by-step process.”
Added Berger, After multiple visits, you become very close to the people. It’s a rewarding experience to know someone on the other side of the world and have such affection and respect for one another.”