BARCELONA — It may not be the normal way to design a new credit union, but Luis Pastor, president/CEO of the Latino Community Credit Union in Durham, S.C., never had a business plan.

But since his is the fastest growing credit union in the U.S., he must be doing something right. He was part of a panel on how to attract new markets to a credit union held at WOCCU's Annual Conference here.

His credit union was opened to immigrants, legal and illegal, as a response to the murder and robberies of many immigrants for the money they carried with them because they were unable to open bank accounts. By joining the credit union, immigrants had access to checking, lower-priced remittances and ATMs so they carried less cash. The program was so successful that the Charleston police contacted Latino Community and asked if the credit union would open a branch in their city, which it did.