| World Council of Credit Unions | |
|---|---|
| Formation | January 1, 1971 |
| Location | Madison, Wisconsin, USA |
| President & CEO | Brian Branch |
| Website | www.woccu.org |
The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is an international trade association and development agency for credit unions headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Members of the WOCCU include regional and national credit union associations, cooperative associations and business service organizations in 97 countries throughout the world. WOCCU's member associations account for over 54,000 credit unions with 186 million members worldwide.[1]
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WOCCU was founded on January 1, 1971 as the global trade association for credit unions. WOCCU has worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) to build Islamic Investment and Finance Cooperatives in Afghanistan.[2] In 2006, WOCCU received a $6.7 million grant from the Gates Foundation to develop credit unions in Africa and Latin America.[3]
WOCCU supports the development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world by working with national and regional credit associations.[4] WOCCU raises the awareness of credit unions, facilitates the exchange of information and ideas about financial cooperatives, and works with policymakers to improve the legal and regulatory environments for credit unions.
WOCCU's work focuses on:
International Credit Union Day has been celebrated by the World Council of Credit Unions on the third Thursday of October, since 1948. The day is set aside to reflect upon the history of the credit union movement and to promote the achievements.[5]