BRUSSELS —The European Parliament Credit Union Interest Group, a caucus for members of the European Parliament, met with credit union leaders at the European Parliament's Espace Leopold to discuss how digital credit union services can provide European consumers with greater access to loans, savings and payments services at fair rates.
European Parliament Vice President Ryszard Czarnecki of Poland, MEP Marian Harkin of the Republic of Ireland, and MEP Richard Howitt of the United Kingdom, the co-chairs and vice-chair of the Interest Group, respectively, spoke to attendees about how increasing consumers' access to credit union services through electronic platforms like mobile banking apps presents a pivotal opportunity for increasing financial inclusion in Europe.
Members of the Interest Group also discussed the challenges of digitalization, such as high technology-related costs, and how credit unions can overcome these hurdles using shared platforms like the Cornerstone Mutual Services credit union service organization being created by the Association of British Credit Unions (Abcul), as part of the United Kingdom’s Credit Union Expansion Project.
In addition to the parliamentary speakers, Philippe Pellé, deputy head of the retail financial services and payments unit of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, made remarks concerning how recent developments in the European Union's regulatory environment on payments services is helping to pave the way for increased consumer access to digital financial services.
Michael Edwards, vice president and general counsel with the World Council of Credit Unions, also spoke about credit union digitalization projects in Columbia and Mexico and how similar efforts in Europe can significantly increase the financial inclusion of unbanked individuals, especially in rural areas where it is often not cost effective for credit unions or banks to establish a branch office.
Representatives from the European Network of Credit Unions, the Association of British Credit Unions, Ltd., the Estonian Union of Credit Cooperatives, FULM Savings House of Macedonia, the Irish League of Credit Unions, the National Association of Co-operative Savings and Credit Unions of Poland, and the Ukrainian National Association of Savings and Credit Unions also participated in the European Parliament Credit Union Interest Group event.