Worldwide credit union membership has topped 260 million consumers in 117 countries, according to the World Council of Credit Unions’ latest
Those figures reflect 42 million new memberships between the end of 2013 and 2017, with the U.S. adding 12 million members, while Latin America and Africa added 11 million each, along with 7 million new members in Asia and 1 million in Europe.
WOCCU released the report on Monday, the start of International Credit Union Week.
“This year we can celebrate as a global community,” WOCCU President and CEO Brian Branch said in a statement. “We have realized our vision of reaching 250 million members by the year 2020. We see that membership growth continues to reflect the important role that credit unions have in providing economic empowerment to people worldwide.”
While North America boasts the overwhelming majority of credit union memberships – including nearly 113 million in the United States alone – other continents’ membership numbers aren’t insignificant. Specifically, African credit unions now boast about 29.6 million members; Asia has some 50.8 million members (including 20 million in India alone); Europe has 9.3 million members; Oceania (which includes Australia) has 4.8 million members; and Latin America has 39.2 million members.
No matter their location, said Branch, credit unions continue to face three primary challenges: advocacy, disruptive technology and membership growth.
“For 2019, we will launch the logical next step and take on the second global challenge, which is disruptive technology,” he said. “We are gearing our efforts toward digitization, including access to core services by online and mobile channels, automation of internal processes and connection to local payments and electronic ecosystems. If we want to continue growing and competing in tomorrow’s disruptive markets, we take on this challenge, make it our own and market the advantage to serve the underserved.”
