1,600 Credit Union Professionals Attend First Face-to-Face WCUC in Three Years

Tuesday 23 January 2024

1,600 credit union professionals from 51 countries attended this year’s World Credit Union Conference conference —the first held in person since WCUC 2019 in the Bahamas.

This year, co-hosted by ABCUL, the the four-day event at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow, featured more than 30 keynote presentations or breakout sessions from more than 50 speakers—on topics that included: Digitalisation, Cybersecurity, Regulation & Advocacy, Financial Inclusion and Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Business Strategy & Influence and Sustainable Finance.

Welcoming members to his home city of Glasgow, ABCUL CEO, Robert Kelly spoke to delegates during the opening session giving insight to the GB movement and also outlining his beliefs on the purpose of credit unions. “Cooperation is not actual behavior,” Robert said. “We have to work very hard to work together and bring a bright future to the people we serve today. Let’s make sure we put our members first and double our efforts to help those who need us most.”

World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) President and CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde also spoke at the opening session identifying the strengths of the global credit union industry and issued some challenges to its leaders in her inaugural “State of the Movement” address during Monday morning’s general session.

“If we really want to maximize our potential we have to focus on our strengths, we have to double down on our strengths,” McCarter LaBorde told an auditorium full of international credit union professionals. “There are still 1.4 billion people who are unbanked. And I would argue another three billion, in the data I have seen, who are underbanked, who don’t have good financial choices and affordable credit. And that is where we are here as credit unions, with a business model that truly serves that purpose.”