BELFAST, Northern Ireland–If core values are a competitive strength, then Ireland’s credit unions should be among the world’s high-performers, as there are few countries where the principals of credit unions are so highly valued.
And yet the country’s CUs have admittedly been struggling, especially since the financial crisis.
But what one Irish CU rep understatedly described as “challenges in Ireland” hasn’t deterred its CUs from sticking to their path.
“Core values are a strategic imperative,” said David Matthews, head of Monitoring with the Irish League of Credit Unions, in remarks to WOCCU’s World CU Conference here. “We have had challenges in Ireland that impact our ability to live our values. Our key to long-term success is this credit union difference. It’s what gives us our competitive advantage. We are not banks, and our mission and values should reflect what we are and where we came from. We may have similar products and services, but we deliver products and services in a different way with a different motivation.”
Among those challenges faced by Ireland’s CUs:
- The balance between “business needs” and “member needs” is sometimes in conflict.
- A CU’s priorities aren’t always the priorities of members. “The financial crisis has changed the landscape,” said Matthews. “Capital is the focus of our regulators, but how much is enough? We have stricter assessment criteria around lending, and a maximization of income at the expense of fairness. We have had expenditure cost controls at the expense of a quality member service.”
One other challenge for credit unions in Ireland—but also the rest of the world, according to Matthews: “Finding new people who can also identify with the old culture.”
Matthews said Ireland’s CUs have sought to find solutions through a vision and values consistent with its ethos and which is accentuated in strategy and everyday actions.
“This has to be communicated to members and we must remind them at every opportunity,” he said. “At strategic planning sessions, we must emphasize skills AND credit union ethos in the people who are managing our credit unions.”