President of the BPWCCUL, Raphael Holder, speaking to the media yesterday.
The first customer to be served at the BPWCCUL’s Mile And A Quarter branch was Rev. Selven Lowe, Priest-in-Charge of the All Saints’ Anglican Church, who also blessed the new building.
IN spite of the economic challenges facing the island, the largest credit union on the island is reporting that business remains relatively good.
That’s the word from President of the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited (BPWCCUL), Raphael Holder. Speaking to members of the media on the heels of the opening of its newest branch at Mile And A Quarter, St. Peter, Holder said while business is going well, there is still concern about members’ delinquency with respect to loans. He disclosed that this is their major concern, but he said they are working on managing the issue by offering persons options to restructure their debt.
“In spite of the prevailing conditions which are a little unstable at the moment, we still think that we would do a good job in managing and controlling any eventualities,” he stated.
Holder’s remarks came as he said more persons are being proactive and are inclined to seek assistance when they first start to experience financial challenges, rather than waiting for the situation to get out of hand.
“Once upon a time there was a certain stigma being associated with falling onto hard times, but people are now coming forward and saying, ‘I am having difficulties with handling my debt, so I need some help.’ We are having more opportunities to consolidate debt because people are borrowing from other institutions as well, so we are taking advantage of that and consolidating and putting people on firmer footing.
“Life is about cash flow, so if you are indebted to numerous institutions it could be tough at times, so to consolidate is probably the best way,” he said.
He added however that in as much as delinquency is a factor, persons are also saving more and being more cautious with their money, even making investments. This reality, he revealed, has been seeing their deposits trending upwards. His comments came as he noted that the commercial bank’s decision to lower interest rates on deposits has definitely been of benefit to the credit union, which has seen an increase in members and he believes the credit union movement continues to be on sound footing.
“Right now this particular credit union, we have assets of $1.2 billion; the movement in general has at least 185 000 people, that is about 70 per cent of the island. Those numbers in itself are proof that there is high confidence in the movement,” he stated. (JRT)