Credit Unions on the island are not be doing as well as they should in terms of members per capita, according to President of the Dominica Credit Union League, Dexter Ducreay.
He made the revelation when he addressed a Family Fund Day in Portsmouth organized by the League last weekend
According to Ducreay, Credit Unions need to step up their game because there is a significant drop in number of members per capita in Dominica compared to other territories with credit unions.
“It is critical that we as credit unions be aggressive in our marketing approach because I have news which is not very pleasant. Our penetration per member capita has dropped significantly,” he said.
Ducreay attributed that drop to two things.
“Either our membership is not growing at the pace that it should, or we are losing customers to you know who. Therefore we need to step up and market ourselves properly,” he stated.
Ducreay has not provided statistics on the matter.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Representative for the Portsmouth Constituency Ian Douglas, told the event that the credit union movement in Dominica is about social development.
“They have been making a tremendous contribution to the socio-economic development of Dominica for more than 50 years and will continue to do so,” he said.
According to Douglas, the quality of life that Dominicans enjoy is partly due to the work of the credit union movement in Dominica.
“It affords us the ability to provide for ourselves, our families and develop our children and to plan and program for our future,” he explained.
Douglas said Dominica’s economic landscape would not be visible without the credit union movement.
I knew a Mr. and Mrs. Ducreay at Goodwill. Very nice people as I recall them. I also knew the children. As a reflex, wasn’t he involved in politics?
I am wondering if you are one of the younger sons or grandson.
there are certain laws in the co-operative which need to be amended the are retarding the movement,secondly the movement should have a powerfull lobby also their marketing departments & strategies are very weak.
The customer service at some Credit Unions have become scary. You even afraid to ask a question because if you do not know the individual they will not furnish you with advise if your transaction cannot be done. Sad but True it still come to who you know and who know you especially with NCCU its amazing.
DD said that we are losing customers to you know who … do we, or are we to speculate that it could be to the Red Clinic!!!
I’m in the US and I’m contemplating in taking up a major project in Dominica with a loan from the credit union. I’ve been a member since the early nineties but hearing this makes me think a bit
“Not for profit, not for charity, but for service” is the motto of the credit union, but is the credit union living up to this motto? I think it should be now reversed to “NOT FOR CHARITY, NOT FOR SERVICE, BUT FOR PROFIT” because the way the credit union (staff members) treats members is even worse than the bank. It is no longer the ordinary person’s financial institution, especially in Roseau. The credit union has got so big that not even at meetings, members have the time to express their concerns because the “Any Other Business” agenda item for members to air grievances most times are not taken up. I agree the credit union must be viable and profitable to be alive and running, but the things the credit union asks for just to open an account, sometimes the bank is more accommodating. The credit union has to first take the service to members to what it used to be, change the way of doing things to accommodate members (if it means asking the government to modify the law, if that may be the reason not delivering) and stop acting like the financial banks or worse. It is our credit union and we would like to see it continue to succeed.
Credit Union has changed a lot of policies…..presently the economy is bad, persons do not have the kind of money….and they are making things just more pressuring on the public….it is to help poor persons who need assistance….when you take a loan and cannot pay and they sell the land, you still have to continue to pay ….free up the people..
The Credit Union needs to stop operating as a Bank, if it continues, then we will continue to move to the Banks.
Mr. Dexter
You guys needs to revisit that ‘permanent shares’. Because the Credit Unions are demanding that ‘members’ purchase certain number of shares when applying for loans and using other services that could be a turn off. This is not the case with other commercial banks.
I used to like credit unions but with the introduction of the permanent shares it has made me to dislike what use to be the poor people’s bank.
I all ready to move my loans. They need to be more attractive. I might as well just go to a bank.
“It is critical that we as credit unions be aggressive in our marketing approach because I have news which is not very pleasant. Our penetration per member capita has dropped significantly,” he said.
He needs to tie in his statment with that made by Ian Douglas. The Credit Union needs to remember why they started. If they have become like a bank, it stands to reason that people will just turn to the bank.
in addition the cooperatives need to educate their members, make them feel and believe that the credit union movement is their business, not just a few people thing.
Great point
The Credit Union movement has lost its way.
Too many user-unfriendly policies. For instance, trying to keep long-standing members committed under 60% of their income. It’s clear that salary increases at a snail’s pace in Dominica and yet people still need loans to do their business. How about if the Credit Union take decisions on a case by case basis, instead of making these arbitrary across the board decisions?
Times change and so do enterprises in which they conduct their business. As other businesses, they need to improve their business policy. Therefore, do not blame the credit union.