Jeanne Kucey remembered the day when a Cuban immigrant walkedinto the lobby of JetStream Federal Credit Union in Miami Lakes,Fla., armed with questions about financial services.

“He worked for one of our select employee groups and had justarrived from Cuba,” Kucey, president/CEO of the $169.9 millioncredit union, said. “He had never had a bank account, never had acar loan and needed someone to teach him about financialservices.”

Kucey's staff, more than half of whom are of Cuban descent, werehappy to help. But the experience reinforced the critical rolecredit unions could play in improving the lives of Cubanimmigrants, an issue that may soon apply to the 11 millionresidents of Cuba itself.