MADISON, Wis. — America's struggling banking system is contributing to worldwide credit union growth, said Dave Grace, WOCCU's vice president of strategic services.
Grace said quite a few of the 48 countries represented at WOCCU's recent World Credit Union Conference in Hong Kong said they are seeing a spillover effect in their own banking systems due to problems in the U.S. In particular, banks in AustraliaUnited Kingdom made bad U.S. investments. and the
Just as recent U.S. bank losses have resulted in a renewed interest in the safety and soundness, credit unions worldwide also tend to prosper when bankers' chips are down.
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"Credit unions can take a long-term view of things, because they don't have Wall Street analysts asking, 'what's your financial position going to look like in next 90 days?' Credit union ownership structure allows for the longer view, and that's really important during tough times," Grace said, adding, "that doesn't mean that credit unions are impervious to market conditions, but they can react differently to short term shocks."
Grace continued, saying that when times are tough, consumers always pick safety over rates. WOCCU released its 2007 Statistical Report earlier this month, and reported an all-time high of 177 million credit union members.
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