BON ACCORD, Trinidad and Tobago–The Co-operative Credit Union League and the islands’ credit unions ended their month-long celebrations of International Credit Union Week at Rovanel’s Hotel with President Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona becoming a member of the Palo Seco Credit Union.
Carmona commended the league for keeping its members' performance above board and the Palo Seco Credit Union for the work it continues to do for its members. He added that it is his wish that credit unions on the islands be allowed to cash pension checks to make it easier for its members.
The league’s executive members made the trip to Palo Seco Credit Union to officially welcome President Carmona as a new credit union member.
“The executive committee also took pleasure in endorsing the comments made by His Excellency and congratulated him on his bold step of raising critical and relevant matters on behalf of the League and by extension, the wider credit union movement,” according to local news reports.
With assets of $14 billion and 600,000 members, credit unions in Trinidad and Tobago said they “continue to withstand the economic and other pressures and remain resilient.
“Our credit unions remain a major provider of financial services for their members and we continue to emphasize that credit unions possess unique tools than can assist in poverty alleviation,” the Co-operative Credit Union League said. “They take a different approach to Microfinance than other financial institutions and support small businesses by providing low cost loans and other financial services.
Our communities build their own credit unions, and with the help of the World Council of Credit Unions and other regional bodies, ensure that members gain access to financial building blocks for families and strengthen local economies. Credit unions provide one of the most sustainable solutions in alleviating poverty by the provision of financial services to very low income earners. These also include financial counselling and an environment in which people of all walks of life enter and feel a sense of belonging.”