Credit unions get seat on the Social Partnership

The credit union movement has officially joined Labour, Government and Business in the Social Partnership that was created to manage wages and price levels in the country.

Now as an informal advisory council on the economy and social landscape of Barbados, the group has added the Barbados Co-operative Credit Union League (BCCUL).

In a statement following his return to the helm of the credit union umbrella body at its annual general meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, president Hally Haynes described the BCCUL’s accession to the Social Partnership as a singular achievement.

He suggested the development acknowledged the impact of credit unions and their more than 200,000-strong membership on Barbados’ financial landscape.

“I believe the Government has recognised that there has to be a space for the credit union sector and having us as part of the social partnership is a critical intervention strategy by the Government,” he said.

Among priority talking points for the credit union movement in the Social Partnership is the imminent end of the banking community’s use of CarIFS payment system.

The Caribbean Integrated Financial Services Inc. (CarIFS) network links customers to financial institutions, giving them 24-hour access to cash from their bank and some credit union accounts, via automatic banking machines, and make payments via point-of-sale terminals.

Haynes said: “The first priority is the [planned] repurposing of CarIFS.

“It essentially has the capacity to compromise ten years of credit union growth.

“We have over 100,000 credit union members who enjoy the 3, 000 point-of-sale machines across the island.

“If CarIFS is repurposed, then we will not have access to that network in the way it currently operates.

“It means that we would have to use the international VISA card in order to have access and that is going to cause some strain on the island’s foreign reserves because it will result in foreign exchange leaving this country.

That is one of the urgent matters that we need to address at the level of the social partnership.”

Haynes also said he intends to carve out a more proactive role by cooperatives in industries.

The BCCUL president also paid tribute to veteran trade unionist Cedric Murrell for his years of lobbying for the movement’s inclusion in the Social Partnership.

The league has so far attended one meeting of the partnership, at which Haynes said the movement’s representatives were warmly welcomed by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mia Mottley.