World Council of Credit Unions has been invited to comment on aG-20 proposal to increase financial services access to the world'spoor.

The Access Through Innovation sub-group of G-20's FinancialInclusion Expert Group, created during the 2009 Pittsburgh summit,will examine and recommend new financial services methodologies forthe world's poor. The sub-group's co-chairs have asked for WOCCU'sinput on the draft principles for innovative financialinclusion.

“After consulting with our members, we believe the draftprinciples don't go far enough to ensure that credit unionsworldwide can access critical payment systems, card networks,central bank lending facilities and deposit insurance systems tooffer innovative and inclusive products,” said David Grace, vicepresident of association services.

“WOCCU's work to expand access to financial services byproviding reloadable debit cards, ATMs and mobile banking servicesto credit unions would be significantly streamlined if creditunions could access these core central banking services,” hesaid.

In a letter to the sub-group's co-chairs, Grace stressed severalchanges to the proposed nine principles, which focus on technology,education and responsible oversight as ways to increase consumeraccess to financial services. WOCCU said its recommendations betterarticulate the opportunity for credit unions to participate inproviding these services.

Grace recommended that principle two, which focuses on diversityof products, also contain the following clarification to promotediversity of institutional types and credit union involvement:“Implement policy approaches that provide incentives forsustainable financial access through various types of financialinstitutions and usage of a broad range of services (savings,credit, payments and transfers, insurance).”

WOCCU also recommended the inclusion of a tenth principle, whichwould provide equality for all prudentially supervised institutionsto directly access payment systems, lender-of-last-resortfacilities, deposit insurance and card networks. Such access wouldenable both banking and nonbanking financial institutions to offera broad set of services to the financially excluded.

“The addition of this principle will ensure that nonbankingfinancial institutions, which often are the primary providers ofservices to the financially excluded, can offer safe and soundservices comparable to those offered by the banking sector,” Gracewrote in the letter.

The Access Through Innovation sub-group will present the finalprinciples for consideration by G-20 ministers of finance when theymeet June 25-27 in Toronto.

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