Saint Lucia joined the global community in celebrating International Credit Union Day on Oct. 18.

The day is recognized to reflect upon the credit union movement’s history, promote its achievements, and share member experiences.

Zepherin Francis, president of the Saint Lucia Civil Service Credit Union and the Saint Lucia Credit Union League, said Saint Lucia’s credit unions have been growing rapidly, and now have a collective asset base of over $876 million.

“In Saint Lucia we have 16 credit unions. Whether we need all of them is relative, the importance is that they serving a purpose. Credit unions are community-based or occupational and we even have religious credit unions. So it means that we cover a wide spectrum. The credit union movement in Saint Lucia now is in excess of 92, 000 members. We are growing rapidly and we are becoming something that people are beginning to watch, because in Saint Lucia alone the credit union movement has in excess of $876 million dollars. That says a lot, and when people hear you have that kind of money they’re going to start checking on you.”

The ultimate goal of International Credit Union Day is to raise awareness about the tremendous work that credit unions and other financial cooperatives are doing around the world, and give members the opportunity to get more engaged.

Mr. Francis said credit unions were formed out of a means of assisting the underprivileged with their finances—and that remains true today.

“A credit union is a great thing but we seem to keep the secret to ourselves, we do not bring it out to the public. A lot of the public hear about credit unions and have an idea, but have not fully understood the credit union principle. The credit union principle is founded on a cooperative principle, and I believe that cooperative is the way to go, if you want to grow your economy, if you want to reach the last little section of people. In principle credit unions are doing what we expect them to do, which is helping people in their community to grow. Credit unions don’t just handle savings, loans and deposits, credit unions are into education, they take care of their members, students, and also volunteer.”

Credit unions are celebrating 70 years under the theme “Find Your Platinum Lining in Credit Unions.”