I find it quite interesting learning about credit unions in other countries. International Credit Union week led my thoughts to credit unions in Chile as that is where my mother is from.
Coopeuch is Chile’s largest credit union. It was founded in 1967 by a group of employees at the University of Chile. Their field of membership started off only being for University of Chile employees, but they eventually opened their field of membership to Chile’s major metropolitan area and then spread out to some other outerlying areas.
One interesting service that international credit unions and Chilean credit unions offer is microcredit which is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, stable employment, credit history and cannot meet the qualifications to gain access to traditional credit. Microcredit has successfully enabled extremely impoverished people to engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and exit poverty.
I find microcredit to be a great example of how the credit union philosophyis truly about “People helping people.”
Have you visited or researched a credit union outside of the U.S? What caught your attention?
