quarterly publication of the association of asian ... › upload_images › publication... · where...
TRANSCRIPT
Quarterly Publication of the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions
www.aaccu.coop
ACCUnewsVol: 47
Issue No.: 7January - March 2016
ACCU Payment Platform (APP)
The Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions operates as a regional representative
organization of credit unions and similar cooperative financial institutions in the region of Asia. ACCU
is representing 45 million individual members from more than 32,635 credit unions in 22 countries in
Asia. ACCU works in partnership with its member organizations to promote and strengthen credit unions as
vehicles of communit development and socioeconomic development of people.
3 APP - A Step Forward to Co-operative Technological Evolution of the Future 4 CULOCC Underscores Responsible Lending Practices in Credit Unions 5 Bangladesh & Thai Regulators Exchange Experiences on Credit Union Development 6 PFCCO Organize the First Cooperative Managers Conference; HCSCC 20 Life Coaches Certified by PFCCO; Koop King Multi-purpose Cooperative’s Exposure Program in Thailand
7 ACCU Recognizes CPD & CAD’s backing; CULT International Credit Union Day Celebration in Supanburi
8 Sister Society in Thailand Visited ACCU Office; Inauguration of the new Sister Society in Philippines 9 Unprecedented Growth Seen in ACCESS SACCOS in Nepal; Credit Union Promotion in China: The First Stage
10 Progress of SACUDIL
11 Myanmar Highlights
CONTENTS
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
APP - A STEP FORWARD TO CO-OPERATIVE TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF THE FUTURE:
NEPAL IS NOW READY FOR
THE ACCU PAYMENT PLATFORM
ACCU has identified Temenos as a business solutions partner that provides its members and affiliates with the ability to make electronic payments independent of their choice of back office core banking.
Individual credit union networks would benefit from a cloud hosted and subscription based service jointly provided and managed by Temenos and its business partner. The cloud based hosted service will provides the ability for credit unions to connect to an on-line payments network.
ACCU members would be encouraged to cooperate to provide a regional standard for and electronic payments platform to interoperate between local existing and other 3rd party back office credit union MIS systems. This would allow ACCU members to determine pricing and services delivery of a national or regional mobile payments service to improve credit union operational efficiency with electronic payment’s independent of local Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) or private banks’ offering payments from their infrastructure.
Primary societies and tertiary level cooperatives will be able to facilitate member payments for services such as electronic payments between members, electronic payments form members to non-members on cards based payments (EFTPOS), ATMs proprietary and 3rd party on Mobile phone top-up payments, bill payments with direct settlement with payees or through payment aggregator services, and domestic and international remittances.
The service will be based on an e-wallet that a member can load value into either in-branch using a web based instruction whereby a member can pay in money to the credit union from his/her account or in cash, or through a mobile phone or some other mobile device or PC.
The APP is set to kick off with the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) and Philippine Federation of Credit Cooperatives (PFCCO), being the most prepared federations among ACCU members. The first intensive Configuration Workshop held in Manila, Philippines on December 1 to 3, 2015 provided NATCCO and PFCCO an in depth study of the business model.
Attended by Managers and Directors of 8 cooperatives at PFCCO Visayas League, on December 28, 2015 in Dumaguete City, Philippines, Ms. San Roque and Mr. William Hackett of TEMENOS presented the benefits of APP. The presentation was proven successful as the audience agreed to subscribe to the APP and some have seriously considered investing in the platform.
The NATCCO and PFCCO group with Temenos and Software Group convened again on January 28, 2016 in Manila where questions on the service agreement were clarified. “We are very excited to have all the documentations signed marking the official launching of the APP,” ACCU CEO Ms. San Roque said.
ACCU PAYMENT PLATFORM (APP)
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
CULOCC Underscores Responsible Lending Practices in Credit Unions
From February 15 - 20, 2016, ACCU organized the Credit Union Loan
Officer Competency Course (CULOCC) following the guidelines given
under the 17th ACCU Credit Union Business Solution.
Attended by the Board of Directors, Credit Committee Members,
and Loan Officers from 4 respected cooperatives in Malaysia and
Bangladesh, the course engaged participants through various
interactive activities and practices emphasized on the standard duties
and responsibilities of the credit committee and loan officers to
ensure credit unions are adhering to responsible lending practices.
The facilitators of ACCU, Ms. Elenita V. San Roque and Mr. Ranjith
Hettiarachchi allowed moments for intensive discussions and sharing
of experiences between participants. Throughout each session of the
workshop, the participants were able to identify the shortcomings
and successful loan management practices currently being
implemented by cooperatives. Participants took away with them a
template on Responsible Lending Guidelines which will retool credit
union lending management.
“There is a need for loan officers and credit committee to ensure that loans is 99% collectible when it’s granted to members,” Mr.
Ranjith Hettiarachchi, Chief Technical Officer of ACCU
As rigorous as the course might be, ACCU proudly presented its
certificates to every graduate of the Credit Union Loan Officer
Competency Course on February 19, 2016 to guarantee the
completion of the course as well as to certify the participants’ abilities
to contribute to the effective loan management of their respective
credit unions.
On February 20, 2016, the participants, accompanied by 2 ACCU
staff, traveled to Petchaburi Province in Thailand to visit 2 primary
cooperatives – Baan Nong Kratum Patana Credit Union Co-operative
Ltd. and Nong Khanang Credit Union Co-operative Ltd. The field visit
had offered the attendees an insightful opportunity to incorporate
and apply their knowledge gained from the course to the real world
context.
Besides classroom training, ACCU also offers four online competency
courses for Directors, CEOs/General Managers, Audit Committee and
Loan Officers. For more information, please contact accumail@aaccu.
coop.
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
Bangladesh & Thai Regulators Exchange Experiences on Credit Union Development
On the morning of February 19, 2016, ACCU was honored to
welcome the Md. Mofizul Islam, Director General and his officials
from the Department of Cooperatives in Bangladesh at its office in
Bangkok.
During the visit, Ms. Elenita V. San Roque and Mr. Ranjith
Hettiarachchi shared an in-depth presentation emphasizing
various topics including cooperative identity, benefits of network
integration, and potential achievement of cooperative success
if strong collaboration between cooperative societies, national
federation and government sector – the supervisory body – continue
to be cherished.
In the afternoon, Ms. May Srithanes – the new Member Service
Officer of ACCU – accompanied the group to the Cooperative
Promotion Department (CPD) and the Cooperative Auditing
Department (CAD) in Thailand. The coherency of the CPD’s stated
mission to build a peaceful country through cooperative movement
had inspired all the attendees as well as several observers of the
meeting. Mr. Vinaroj Supsongsuk, the Director General of CPD
expressed firmly his optimism and vision of the development
progress in Thailand, “Thailand is very hopeful for the formulation of
the new policy that would better enable cooperative movement to
eradicate poverty in the country.”
In return, Md. Mofizul Islam – responded with a sincere consent,
“We look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Cooperative
Promotion Department (CPD) in Thailand to foster a better world
where members can apply self-sufficiency economy principles and
achieve self-reliance, thus leading the people toward a sustainable
socio-economic development.”
Afterwards, Md. Mofizul Islam and companies along with an ACCU
representative visited the Cooperative Auditing Department (CAD).
With a warm welcome from the honorable host, Ms. Chirasap
Plodkratoke – the Director Office of Planning and Special Projects,
the visitors had learned various innovations that the CAD has taken
to advance the auditing system in Thailand including the accounting
software provided to cooperatives in Thailand.
On February 20, 2016, Mr. Vivit Chareonsin – the Secretary/Program
of ACCU – and Mr. Seksan Seenil – Office Assistant of ACCU – assisted
the group during the field visit to the 2 primary cooperatives in
Petchaburi Province in Thailand, Baan Nong Kratum Patana Credit
Union Co-operative Ltd. and Nong Khanang Credit Union Co-
operative Ltd. The purpose of the visit is to provide our guests hands-
on opportunity to acquire new ideas of the best practices currently
being implemented by two well-recognized primary cooperatives in
Thailand.
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
ACCU & WOCCU/ILCUF to Support Rebuilding of SACCOSS in Nepal
PFCCO Organize the First Cooperative Managers Conference
Following the 360 Degrees Financial Literacy Training Module, PFCCO
in the Philippines trained the staff of the Holy Cross Savings and Credit
Cooperatives (HCSCC) as Life Coaches.
A total of 20 branch managers and front liners received their
certifications on December 6, 2015.
In addition, a keynote speaker, Ms. Elenita V. San Roque the CEO of
ACCU, addressed the need for a deeper sense of commitment from the
cooperative staff to help members achieve financial independence.
“The staff passion to serve members is crucial. Members can feel the
authenticity of the staff in every interaction they experience with the
credit cooperative,” Ms. San Roque underscored. She added that the
Life Coaches have to earn the trust of members to gain access into the
financial lives of members, thus, life coaching begins.
From December 4 – 5, 2015, Ms. Elenita V. San Roque – the CEO of ACCU and a distinguished guest of the Philippine Federation of Credit
Cooperatives (PFCCO) – was invited to attend the first Cooperative Managers Conference in Philippines.
Attended by more than 180 managers, Ms. San Roque presented the 22 Credit Union Business Solutions as tools managers can use to grow and
to transform their credit union as safe and sound financial institutions. Ms. San Roque also emphasized that the credit union solutions uphold
adherence of credit unions to its mission of helping people improve lives.
HCSCC 20 Life Coaches Certified by PFCCO
Koop King Multi-purpose Cooperative’s Exposure Program in Thailand
On January 23, 2016, coordinated through the National
Confederation of Cooperatives in Philippines (NATCCO), ACCU truly
appreciates the visit of 10 participants from the Koop King Multi-
purpose Cooperative to ACCU office in Bangkok, Thailand. Ms. San
Roque gave a short presentation about ACCU in addition to sharing
her wide-ranging of knowledge regarding cooperative practices,
systems, and the prospect future.
Through its members, ACCU warmly welcomes visiting credit unions
in Thailand. ACCU takes advantage of every opportunity to share our
experience and perspectives on credit union development.
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
The belated celebrations of the International Credit Union Day along with His Majesty’s King
Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday were successfully organized by the Credit Union League of
Thailand (CULT) on December 12, 2015 in Suphanburi Province. Over 10,000 credit union
members across the country attended the festive gathering.
The International Credit Union Day offers an excellent opportunity to promote credit union
while telling members and potential members about the worldwide impact credit unions have
on people’s lives. This year’s theme is ‘People Helping People.’
As a regional organization representing credit union movement in Asia, ACCU is proud to see
the strong network of credit unions in Thailand during this special moment and hope CULT
will continue to keep up its excellent work!
CULT International Credit Union Day Celebration in Suphanburi
ACCU Recognizes CPD & CAD’s backing
ACCU Team including Ms. Elenita V. San Roque (CEO), Mr. Ranjith Hettiarachchi (CTO), Ms. Nutchakarn Tosha (Administrative Officer), and
Ms. Rapeeporn Srithanes (Member Service Officer) met with Mr. Vinaroj Supsongsuk, the Director Generals of the Cooperative Promotion
Department (CPD) and Mr. Sompong Inthong, the Director General of Cooperative Auditing Department (CAD) in Thailand on January
26, 2016.
With a great honor, the team humbly congratulated both honorable chiefs on their new appointed positions and hope ACCU long
history working alongside the CPD and CAD in promoting strong network of cooperatives in Thailand will continue to strengthen the
root of “People Help People” financial institutions.
Hoping to share best practices that cooperatives in Thailand currently employ, both CPD and CAD Director Generals offer to provide
necessary support such as study visits and technical knowledge to ACCU and its members.
The future prospect that CPD, CAD, and ACCU envision doesn’t concern only with the development of cooperative systems and members
in Thailand, but all also emphasize the sharing of knowledge with cooperatives in neighboring countries including ASEAN members.
Since ACCU office was moved to Thailand in 1982, CPD continuously provides back up support, in particular the issuance of
recommendation letter to Immigration Bureau and Labor Department for the Visa and work permit of ACCU foreign staff.
Sister Society in Thailand Visited ACCU Office on December 21, 2015
ACCU is delighted to announce that there are now 6 different Sister Societies meeting in 5 regions of
Thailand including: Sister Society—East, North East, South, Central, and North. Since the number of
members in Phetchaburi Province alone is as many as the other Sister Societies, the committee has
decided to separate the Sister Society – Phetchaburi from the main Sister Society in the Central Region
located in Bangkok.
ACCU appreciates the devotion and commitment to empower women through the use of credit union
movement. The act is not only inspiring, but also essential to the community development.
“A woman is like a tea bag—you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
Nevertheless, it is also important to understand that supporting a woman personal and
financial independence does not mean convincing her to suppress the authority of a
man. On the other hand, her self-determination demonstrates only the desire to show her
competency in addition to becoming an equal entity that deserves the same respect as a
man.
PMPC Inaugurated the 2nd Sister SocietyThe 2nd Sister Society was organized at Paglaum Multi-purpose Cooperative (PMPC),
making it the 2nd group for PMPC, the 3rd group in the Philippines and the 10th group
in Asia.
The Paglaum Sister Society - Pagadian was inaugurated on February 16, 2016 and
ACCU is delighted to cheer them on as more women in Asia are being empowered
through the credit union movement as the result.
Through the use of ACCESS Branding, SACCOS in Nepal has been experiencing unprecedented growth in
assets mainly due to the increase in savings.
Despite the significant progress, the subsequent concern is how SACCOS can efficiently utilize the savings in
a way that would allow the institution to effectively invest back to its members and community.
During ACCESS verification on January 5-16, 2016, Ms. Elenita V. San Roque—the CEO of ACCU concluded
her recommendation stating that SACCOS can create suitable demands for loans without jeopardizing
responsible lending principles by providing entrepreneurial training to members.
Under the widely-accepted concept that the desire for loans by members is less when skills and information
on business start-up—such as entrepreneurial skills and basic market knowledge—is limited, if the current
practice will not undergo a proper reform to resolve members’ lack of skills, then SACCOS will not grow
in a sustainable manner and its loan market will remain stagnant. Therefore, providing proper trainings
and members-SACCOS interactions could certainly take SACCOS to the next level as an excellent financial
institution for the people. In addition, the CEO also recommended preparing an Assets and Liability
Management reports and credit risk analysis on a monthly basis to ensure that risk concentration and
balance of investments are monitored.
Working in partnership with a national federation in Nepal, ACCU will be receiving monitoring reports and
updates of the SACCOS financial performance from NEFSCUN. However, following the basis of the ACCESS
accreditation, ACCU will, by itself, evaluate the audited financial statement submitted¬¬¬¬ by NEFSCUN and
present the branding during the 2016 Asian Credit Union Forum in Korea.
Unprecedented Growth Seen in ACCESS SACCOS in Nepal
The First Stage of Credit Union Promotion in China: The Training of Credit Union Promoters
Attended by 12 participants from the China Association of Microfinance (CAM), Kunming Women
Federation and Micro-finance Institution (MFI) in China, the 3-day training of credit union promoters
has ended successfully on February 26, 2016. ACCU would like to give special thanks to the trainers –
Mr. Andrew So and Ms. Teresa Tao – for their hard work and dedication and for making this happen.
Since 2015, ACCU has been supporting the project by channeling necessary materials for the
training such as, but not limited to manuals on “Initial Policy for Start Up a Credit Union” and “Steps
in Organizing Credit Unions” as well as “360 Financial Literacy Guide” to the trainers.
During the workshop, the forerunners including Mr. Bai and Ms. Zhu from the China Association of
Microfinance, 6 others from Kunming Women Federation headed by Ms. Feng – the Director, and 3
MFI leaders from Shangxi Province enjoyed the opportunity to work through the goals and action
plan, which will be incorporated in the plan of CAM for the purpose of restoring the credit union
system in China.
At this point, Kunming Women Federation has proposed to recruit a full time employee who will
be in charge of credit unions in Yunnan. To ensure his or her competent ability, he or she will
receive training from ACCU in May 2016 together with an additional person from Kunming Women
Federation and another from CAM.
The training team in China anticipates the 5-day training to happen in June and is very optimistic
about the disposition to inaugurate the official credit union in July 2016.
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
SACUDIL:WHERE WE ARE NOW As requested by the Bank of Lao PDR (BOL), ACCU conducted a two day
workshop for the staff of the Microfinance Institution Department on
monitoring and supervision of savings and credit unions on January
27-28, 2016.
The opening program of the workshop was graced by the BOL’s Deputy
Director of the Microfinance Institution Department, Mr. Viramit, who
emphasized the importance of monitoring and supervision of SCUs to
protect the interest of members. The workshop helped BOL develop
monitoring and supervision tool and provide guidelines for the
restructuring of SCUs.
As the information regarding the PEARLS system offered to BOL by the
SACUDIL project becomes available, both institutions are anticipated to
work together on development projects that can put sustainable smiles
on the faces of SCUs’ members in Laos.
From now on, ACCU is obligated to work closely with BOL, the regulatory
body for credit unions in Laos, to register and supervise SCUs.
During the conference on Microfinance in the Rural Areas held on December 10, 2015, the Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (RDPE)
office sought support from SACUDIL (Savings and Credit Union Development in Laos), one of ACCU development projects in the region, to
merge Village Development Fund to SCUs under the Bank of Laos regulation. SACUDIL is currently working with RDPE to transform VDFs to
savings and credit unions in Luang Prabang located in the north of Laos.
As the result, the SACUDIL team initiated the trainings for Provincial and District government officers from December 14 – 21, 2015 having
two main objectives: to stress the value of savings and to improve the accounting skills. So far, Mr. Choua Va Xiong (SACUDIL Project Manager)
successfully trained the first group of participants consisted of 9 district government officers and 11 representatives from VDF in Phoukhun
district. Likewise, Mr. Beelor Daneng (Promotion Officer in Luangprabang) was responsible for the trainings of the remaining groups in
Viengkham and Phonthong districts.
SACUDIL’s Help Sought to Build People’s Organizations in Laos
Monitoring Audit/Supervisory Workshop for Bank of Lao PDR Staff
ACCU
news
- Ja
nuar
y to
Marc
h 20
16
The third round of cooperative organizing got into full swing as thirty-
nine (39) community leaders participated in the advance training
on cooperative organization and management in separate events in
Ayeyarwaddy and Bago on January 14-15 and 19-20, respectively.
Some of the agreements during the workshop include recruitment of
1,000 members until December 2016, raising the volume of business to
50 million Kyats, hiring of full-time Manager, setting of office in strategic
location in the village, more importantly, the regular weekly shares and
savings of the members.
3rd Round SCC Leaders Attended Advance Training on Cooperative Organization and Management
Twenty SCC Managers and Assistant Managers hone their skills in Basic
Computer and the proper data entry in CUBIS Software last January
26 to 30, 2016. Participants from 9 SCCs eagerly executed setting up of
computer from unboxing to powering up, building on typing speed,
knowledge on basic word processing and spreadsheet. Three SCCs -
Ngwe Toe San, Thirikittayar and San Htwa - are already in parallel run,
that is, manual and CUBIS Accounting Software are running at the same
time.
SCC Managers Undergo Job Training on Basic Computer and CUBIS Software
1st and 2nd Round SCCs Review 2015 Progress; Plans for 2016
The Review Meeting of 24 SCCs of the 1st and 2nd Round was conducted
in two separate events in Ayeyarwaddy and Bago on January 12 to 13
and 19 to 20, respectively.
A total of one hundred one (101) participants evaluate their performance
on membership growth, profitability, liquidity reserves and loan
portfolio.
The biggest challenge is membership where some SCCs only have below
300 members versus the agreed one-year target 750. Another critical
issue is that most members do not regularly contribute Shares and
Deposits.
Combined membership target of the 1st and 2nd round SCCs for the
year 2016 is 27,235.
Monetary Union Seen to Continue the Strengthening of Newly Established SCCs in MyanmarAs exit strategy, Union of Monetary Cooperatives (UMCL) or the
federation will play a role in strengthening and promoting credit
cooperatives. To prepare the federation for its role, ACCU Myanmar
facilitated the UMCL’s Board of Directors Training – focusing on
the development of skills and competence their skills to effectively
discharge their functions. The training emphasized the analysis of
financial statements, preparation and implementation of strategic
and activity plans, crafting, review and revision of policies on all
areas of governance and operation such as Policy on Membership,
Auditing, Internal Control, Training and Education and Inter-
lending.
Besides its resourceful training, the UMCL held its General Meeting
for the fiscal year 2015-2016 last February 24, 2016 in UMCL Office
in Yangon. During the General Meeting, the members approved
the 2016-2018 Strategic Plan which provides, among others, the
massive membership and promotion campaign, and the shift to
two-tier cooperative system where primary financial cooperatives
can directly affiliate with UMCL.
ASSOCIATION OF ASIAN CONFEDERATION OF CREDIT UNIONS 8th Floor, U Tower Building, No. 411, Srinakarin Road, Suanluang, Bangkok 10250, ThailandTel: (66) 2 704 4252 to 54 Fax: (66) 2 704 4255E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.aaccu.coop; www.aaccu.asia
accunews
Air Mail
Roberto EstoconingSecretary - Philippines
Elenita V. San Roque - Chief Executive Officer
Ranjith Hettiarachchi - Project Manager/Chief of Technical Team
Nutchakarn Toscha - Administrative Officer
Rapeeporn Srithanes - Member Service Officer
Vivit Chareonsin - Secretary/Programs
Seksan Seenil - Office Assistant
Rishi Raj GhimireBoard Member - Nepal
Board of DirectorsDr. Chalermpol Dulsamphant
President - Thailand
Editorial Staff
Dr. Moon, Chul Sang 1st Vice-President - Korea
Elenita V. San RoqueCEO - Ex-Officio
Romanus Woga 2nd Vice-President - Indonesia
Be the Certified Director, Manager, Loan Officer and Audit Committee!
The First E-learning Course dedicated to Credit Union’s professionnals in Asia
Professionals build quality credit unions acui.aaccu.coop
FOUR COMPETENCY COURSESCredit Union CEO’s
Competency Course
Credit Union Audit/Supervisory Committee’s
Competency Course
Credit Union Loan Officer’s Competency
Course
Asian Credit Union Institute, ACUI, is the E-learning
platform developed by ACCU in order to provide
knowledge, information, skills and social networking
within the course to develop skillful credit unions’
Director, CEO, Audit / Supervisory Committee and
Loan Officer who is able to cope with current dynamic
environment and market encountered nowadays.
Credit Union Director’s Competency
Course