Malcolm in Bangladesh - Day 1

As expected, my trip to the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka was very long. My journey started at 5:30 am with a pick up at my home and after a couple of stops to pick up other travelers I arrived at the airport around 7:15 am, checked-in and cleared security before heading towards my departure gate to meet up with my travelling companion Derek Cameron from the CCA. Our flight to Hong Kong left at 9:30 am and lasted about 16 hours and with the exception of some turbulence about three hours out of Hong Kong was relatively uneventful. Upon arriving in Hong Kong I enjoyed a short rest and shower in one of the airport’s traveler’s lounges, had some dinner and made a few phone calls before boarding the Dragon Air flight to Dhaka. This was a short four hour flight and it seemed like a breeze after the 16 hour marathon of earlier in the day. Got to Dhaka at about 1:00 am local time, took over an hour to get through customs and to claim my luggage and I arrived at my hotel just before 3:00 am.

Got a wake-up call for 8:00 so that I could attend the first conference presentation at 9:00 and begin my workshop at 10:00. The opening session was very interesting and had speakers from the ACCU and from the Bangladesh Credit Union League. They talked about the system and the economy and it was a real eye opener for me. Bangladesh has a population of 150 million people, making it the eighth most populous country in the world and with its relatively small land mass it has a population density of over 950 people per square Km. It is also an extremely poor country with a national average annual per capita GDP of only US$ 599. I expect that poverty and its alleviation will be a recurring theme at this week’s sessions.

My workshop topic for today was “Understanding the Youth Market” and from my perspective the session went very well considering cultural and language barriers with 22 people from 8 countries represented. It was interesting to me that Credit Unions around the world share a similar challenge…that of being relevant to the next generation of members. We talked about segmentation and tried to understand what drives the youth market (defined as under 35) in making purchase decisions and for signing up for Credit Union membership. We will continue the session tomorrow and on Wednesday we will create a marketing plan that will be endorsed by ACCU and rolled out to its member nations.

So far so good. Feeling good, although a little tired now that the day is done. Going to have some dinner in the hotel before turning in for an early night.

HCCU in Bangladesh

In the world of Credit Unions, an accusation that is so often tossed around is “You’re becoming more like a bank everyday!” but what does a statement like this mean? What it usually means is that the Credit Union has lost that personal touch. They’re no longer a friend to the member and begin to nickel and dime their “customers” every chance they get. More so they’ve lost the spirit of what a Credit Union is all about – Providing financial assistance and solutions to further community development. In other words, to help out his fellow man, which is why it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Hamilton Community Credit Union’s CEO, Malcolm Stoffman, as he prepares to travel across the globe to achieve exactly this.

A few words from our CEO….

From September 20 – October 1 I have accepted a Technical Assignment that was offered to me by the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) in partnership with the Asian Confederation of Credit Union (ACCU). The assignment is made up of two parts; firstly, I will be working with a group of approximately 25 marketing managers and youth marketing experts (from all over Asia) in a three day workshop to help develop strategies and plans to increase their market share with this important demographic. Secondly, I will be addressing ACCU annual meeting on the topic of “Strategies that Build Credit Union Futures”. The meetings and workshops take place in Dhaka, the Capital of Bangladesh. Asian Credit Unions face many of the same challenges that we face here in terms of remaining relevant to the next generation of Credit Union members in addition to the challenges of rapidly changing culture and modernization as a result of the developing nature of their economies. The CCA and the ACCU have a long standing partnership and Canadians have played an important role in helping the countries to develop their co-operative and Credit Union sectors.

I will be leaving Saturday morning from Toronto, flying to Hong Kong, spending several hours there before flying to Dhaka for arrival at approximately 1:00 am local time (30+ hours later). I am in Dhaka from the 22nd until the 28th when I do the reverse trip home. I plan on posting regular updates (including pictures) on the experience to the HCCU Blog so check back often for info and updates.

If you have any questions I am happy to answer them in the comments section below.

Thanks for your support.

Malcolm Stoffman

I know I look forward to hearing about his progress and success.

About the CCA

CCA supports its members and the co-op sector through the provision of services in three core areas - development, government affairs & public policy, and common table.

Development

For over a quarter century, CCA has assisted co-operatives of all types and descriptions in over 40 countries through their International Development Program. Wherever the CCA is active - in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Eastern Europe – our their development projects are designed and managed with the complete involvement of local co-operative partners. Through co-operatives, CCA works to reduce poverty. Their work helps people to provide themselves with food, with education, with shelter, and with higher levels of income.

Technical Assignments

Each year CCA recruits experts in technical fields such as Credit Union management, sustainable agriculture, co-op legislation and policy, project evaluation, micro-finance and micro-insurance to take on overseas assignments to strengthen local Credit Unions, co-operatives and their federations.

About the ACCU

Since its birth in 1971 the ACCU has served more than 16,000 Credit Unions with 20.5 million individual members in 26 countries in the region along with 17 affiliates promoting Credit Unions in Asia. Membership to ACCU is open to national credit union leagues/federations or other national cooperative financial or similar organizations that follow international Credit Union operating principles and with membership of at least 20,000 individuals or one percent of the population of the country where the organization operates.

Vision

Sustainable Credit Unions in Asia

Mission

ACCU works in partnership with its members to strengthen and promote credit unions as effective instruments of socio-economic development of the people.

ACCU is affiliated with the following international organizations of credit unions/cooperatives:
World Council of Credit Unions

• International Raiffeisen Union
• International Cooperative Alliance
• United Nations

HCCU Has Been Nominated

Once again this year Hamilton Community Credit Union is being recognized for going above and beyond the communities expectations by being nominated for a Readers’ Choice Award presented by the Hamilton Spectator.

What sets this nomination apart from other awards is that it is not your typical acclamation from a fellow Big Business. This is recognition from you our members in the community we serve.

Truly being recognized by our fellow membership for a job well done is something HCCU is proud of, but in order to secure our place a top the list of Bank/Credit Unions we need your vote.

Follow THIS LINK to the Hamilton Spectator’s Readers’ Choice nominee’s page and make your vote count.

Last year HCCU was awarded the Diamond Award, let’s make this the year we bring home the gold.

Ti-cat Tickets

The Ti-cats have arranged for 100 (more if we want) ticket vouchers to be made available to us to sell for 25$ each. No money is needed up front but I will be signing for vouchers so I will be responsible for them. They are good for a bronze section ticket to any regular season home game. These tickets are worth $35 plus a service charge and they are good seats. 10 dollars for each voucher sold will go to the Smith fund. There are 4 home games left this year so I hope we can move quickly to get the word out to ATU members who might be able to move some vouchers and perhaps all City of Hamilton employees who may buy vouchers. I will have the vouchers by Friday PM. The remaining home games are, Sat. Sept.6 @4pm, Fri. Sept. 19 @ 7:30pm, Sat. Oct. 4 @ 4pm and Fri. Oct. 24 @ 7:30pm. If you have any questions regarding the program call me or Brian King @ 905-547-2287 X307. To purchase vouchers call 905-387-8361 or 905-741-4872.

Debit Card Plan – Continued….

The Mob has spoken, even if the mob is only made up of 15, and they’ve come to a decision that we here at the HCCU are behind 100%.

With that I’d like to introduce to you…….drum roll please……..

The Debit One Plan



Yes, Debit One took the election with 53% of the vote, no need for a recount, no need for a run off, and all ready we’ve had an outstanding response from our membership.

I’ve been testing the product for the last couple months and have seen the positive results, not only in my balances, but in the clarity of my statements. If you feel you’re prone to swiping, I suggest you give this product some thought.

It Works for Me, it could Work for You too.

HCCU Prepares to launch its first Debit Card Plan

Hamilton Community Credit Union has always been proud of our commitment to no or low fees. Since our creation we have never charged monthly fees for savings accounts, chequing privileges, cheque printing, cashing of cheques, or monthly statements. We charge zero fees for withdrawing or depositing cash and even with the adoption of new technology we’ve never nickel and dimed our valued members on payroll deposits, bill payments, online banking, or Automated Fund Transfers.

Over the years our members have come to rely on this excellent pricing to keep their money where it belongs – Growing in their accounts. And for the most part our members don’t pay a single penny for our services unless using their Debit Card to withdrawal money at another institution’s ATM’s or making purchases in a store.

We’ve passed on the charges of $1.25 per withdrawal and .30c per purchase for use of this convenience.

That said many of our members enjoy the convenience provided by their debit cards, but were beginning to notice that convenience could get expensive. That is why HCCU will soon offer the option to pay a small monthly charge to be able to use your debit card as much as you’d like without worrying about the fees. Here’s how it works:

$8.50 a month will enroll you in the plan as long as you have a payroll deposit coming in to your account or a valid student card. This allows for unlimited POS purchases, and four (4) withdrawals from other institutions ATM, and of course the ATM’s located at our two branches will remain free for unlimited use.

We think this will be a real value added service for those members that enjoy the freedom and convenience that a Debit Card can provide. Members that only use their Debit Card in emergencies will not need to enroll in the plan and can continue paying on a per use basis.

The only issue HCCU has now is what to name this plan, and this is where you come in. Below is a few options we’ve come up with and we’d like you to choose what’s best. Have another idea? Leave it in the comments and we’ll give it a gander as well.

poll by twiigs.com

We’ll be running this survey until July 31st so that we’re ready to launch the product at the beginning of August. Regardless of the name we’re sure this will be a competitive product that allows you, our members, the freedom youdesire all while sticking to the philosophy of keeping your money where it belongs.

As Juliet said, what’s in a name?

Smith Girl's Trust Fund

Account #3196800 Transit #2115 Branch#828

For Madison & Genna Smith
(age 9 & 3)

An account has been opened here at the Hamilton Community Credit Union by the ATU Union in response to a traffic accident that claimed the lives of an HSR driver, Bill Smith, his wife, Sandra Smith, and their seven year old daughter Kaylee on Thursday June 26th. This account was created for the surviving daughters, Madison & Genna.

For more informaiton you can contact either of our branches.