VIENNA, Austria–The new chairman of the World Council of Credit Unions said credit unions in attendance should take a look around at the “finery” and “five-star” hotels in which they are staying and remember that more than half of credit union members around the world can’t imagine such luxuries.
He also offered a unique viewpoint on the much-discussed concept of “disruption.”
Brian McCrory, who hails from Ireland, accepted the chairmanship of the World Council at the group’s World CU Conference here saying he was “humbled” by the role while reminding credit unions that they must remain humble themselves, as well.
“I must confess that sometimes I come to these credit union conferences and it creates a little sense of personal discomfort,” McCrory told the World Credit Union Conference here. “I know that there are many developed systems in the world and many of us exist in economies that are vastly richer than other parts of the world. Even in Ireland, a first-world country, the average deposit and loan tend to be in the low and modest thousands. Many of our people are still suffering because of the global financial crisis. Approximately 65% of (Ireland’s) population are credit union members, and many of those people are simply saving or repaying loans at 20 or 30 euros a week.
“Sometimes, when I come to these conferences and I look around and see us resplendent in our suits and finery and five-star hotels, in many instances it’s beyond the widest experiences of many of our members, and that leaves me uncomfortable,” continued McCrory. “It may be common in developed countries, but for half of our worldwide membership, that is not attainable for them.”
McCrory acknowledged his view of credit unions and the real purpose CUs can play was shaped when he was young.
“My first encounter with credit unions was as a school boy. Unbeknownst to me, my primary teacher had us doing what he called ‘real world math’,” McCrory shared. “What we didn’t know was he was treasurer of the credit union, and we were simply adding the coins up. He instilled in many of us a passion for volunteering. It wasn’t until many years later when I encountered credit unions again that I understood what he had instilled in his students and how our behavior can impact the lives of others.”
It was individuals like his teacher, who McCrory called the “founding fathers and mothers” of credit unions, who he said were the true visionaries—and it’s a role CU leaders today must fill as well, he said.
“They were the disruptors of their time and they passed on to us a legacy not just to maintain but to grow and develop,” he told the WOCCU meeting. “The term ‘disruptor’ has become fashionable, but it frustrates me somewhat, as if it were a new phenomenon. All advances in human society have come as the result of disruption. All advances are disruptive. All had consequences that far exceeded the disruptors’ and inventors’ expectations. It is nothing new. We, too, must embrace and leverage whatever changes we can for our product delivery and co-owners (benefit). I believe that is what we are all charged with. That is what our members rightly expect of us. Evolutionary science tells us if we don’t adapt, we run the risk of becoming extinct.”
McCrory called on credit unions to remember that their very make-up is different and to never cease talking about it.
“We need to continue to sing this loudly and repeating the message that our DNA is different,” he said. “We do have the danger of looking the same as (other financial institutions), so we must redouble our efforts to those who are unfamiliar with what we do about the differences in our DNA. We must not ape the banking world, we must be different.”