by JULIE WILSON

ONE BILLION DOLLARS in assets and growing.

That's the positive report being made today by the credit union movement in Barbados.

Tony Pilgrim, general manager of the Barbados Co-operative Credit Union League, the umbrella body, said yesterday that this landmark had recently been achieved by the 37 active credit unions.

Additionally, membership in the credit union movement now stands at 146 000, making it one of the largest
mass-based organisations on the island.

Assets

The majority of the assets are held by the Barbados Public Workers' Co-operative Credit
Union and the City
of Bridgetown, with Barbados Workers' Union, Barbados Shipping
& Trading, and teachers' co-operative credit unions being significant players.

Pilgrim said this achievement coincided with two significant milestones; the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Shamrock Credit Union, the genesis of the movement, and the 50th anniversary of the league.

Growth

The substantial growth in the movement, he added, was not surprising, as the functioning credit unions had been positioning themselves
for the expected growth in membership and assets.

"The members, over the years, have positioned themselves to grow and now we have surpassed the billion-dollar mark.

"It is nothing that surprises us because the large credit unions particularly have been putting systems in place
to grow their institutions, to spread the credit union word and recruit additional members," he told the SUNDAY SUN.

Aggressive

Speaking to the success of the movement, Pilgrim said it had made tremendous gains in the past two decades through aggressive marketing and improvement to its loans, mortgage terms
and other products.

He also noted that
a significant number
of those in the labour force belonged to credit unions.

These developments come at a time when the credit unions have moved to put systems in place
to enhance their compliance systems and prudential standards.

Some have also embarked on greater investment in technology and also plan to spread their branch network,
all in an effort to make access easier for members.

Pilgrim also spoke
of more improvements
to the overall credit union movement through
the establishment
of an institutional strengthening project.

Tony Johnson,
an economist, is to lead the institutional strengthening scheme's project unit based at the league's headquarters.

He said this four-year broad-based project would strengthen operations of the credit unions and the league as well as introduce new products, monitor the regulatory process and improve its financial and risk management.