Breakout Sessions

Financial institutions around the world are facing several disruptions, including increased competition, rapid change in consumer behavior, and new technology, to name a few. This disruption impacts traditional business models, conventional leadership and is even making some economic theories obsolete. In this environment, credit unions need to disrupt, or risk being disrupted out of business. Join three Canadian credit union executives as they discuss how credit unions can be game-changing organizations, potential forces for change in markets, and ways to successfully face disruption head-on.

• Different ways of business disruption
• How potential forces in markets will create change
• How to successfully face disruption

• Importance of youth in our credit unions, economy and society.
• How credit unions can practically support youth.
• Rethinking capitalism and the power of modern leadership.

Learn about the experience of various countries who have embraced digitalization and how it has helped the credit unions in their countries thrive.  This panel will provide perspectives from two very different regions of the world and how digitization help provide modernization and solutions for credit unions.   

• Learn approaches that you can take with your own credit union to modernize and digitize your credit union.
• Understand challenges others have encountered on their digitization journey.
• Get insights into how digitization can help grow and strengthen your credit union.

• To understand the background to international regulators’ (including the Bank of England) policy approach to climate change.
• To understand how institutions’ boards and risk managers assess the financial risks from climate change that affect their firms, and to be able to address and oversee these risks within their overall business strategy and risk appetite.
• To learn about international regulators’ expectations of financial institutions approaches to managing the financial risks from climate change in areas such as governance, risk management, scenario analysis and disclosure.

Insurance is an important element of the global financial market. Insurance often complements the credit institutions offer, because it is used as a form of security.

It is this reason why cooperation between Credit Unions and insurance companies in Poland began to gain momentum.

It brings benefits to institutions, but most importantly to the members of the credit unions. During this session, participants will learn how collaboration with insurance companies affects the Credit Unions development success in Poland. Finally, participants will learn how to shape this cooperation and make it profitable.

• How to effectively sell insurance in credit unions.
• Which elements of the insurance sales model (in SKOK) are the most important to success.
• What IT solutions are most important for combined loans and insurance sale.

• You will be aware about the recent developments in Ukraine and resilience efforts of Ukrainian credit unions amid Russia’s full-scale war.
• You will learn how the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions supports Ukrainian credit unions and their members thanks to donations from the global community.
• find out about the progress and planned activities of the USAID/World Council of Credit Unions’ Credit For Agriculture Producers Project to strengthen Ukrainian credit unions.

• Acknowledge the concept of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), its main characteristics, how it compares to other traditional forms of credit and its rapid growth in the e-commerce market.
• Understand the main risks, benefits and challenges of BNPL.
• Get insight of a real case of BNPL implementation, including the challenges and main milestones.
• Obtain a detailed analysis of how Machine Learning, Early Warnings Signs processes and monitoring of risk models can help address and mitigate some risks of BNPL.

• Predict challenges credit unions face due to digitization of finance and structural changes, such as changes in demographic structure and low growth

• Assess bipolarization of credit unions between those located in big cities and those in provincial areas, especially in terms of asset size, number of members, fund management opportunities, etc.

• Reflect on the role of credit unions in resolving or mitigating rural financial alienation

• Provide ideas for mutual cooperation between credit unions located in big cities and those in provincial areas

• Share Korea’s financial environment and Korean credit union business cases

• The 3 strategic elements of a Cohesion Culture™️ and the importance of greetings.
• How cohesion is a better predictor of behavior than correlational data.
• Why leaders should focus on cohesion instead of engagement.

• Understand the qualities needed to build an inclusive culture.
• Identify key aspects of the organization holding back inclusivity.
• Understand the next steps needed to start taking action.

• Insight into the current economic environment and the role of payments.
• Discuss what’s possible for new ways to pay as payment innovation evolves.
• Explore how  analytics and data-driven solutions can help credit unions, and their members, thrive.
  

Learn how credit unions can collaborate and work together to create economies of scale for various products and services that they offer.  Small credit unions can hit above their weight when they can gain efficiencies in their back offices and contain costs with the benefits of offering services they would otherwise be unable to offer. This session will explore some of those approaches.

• Learn about collaboration strategies that can help your credit union improve services to your members.
• Understand how collaboration and the benefits of economies of scale and shared resources can benefit smaller credit unions;
• Explore opportunities for growth for your credit union.

What is your role as a credit union board member, and how do you execute that role to strengthen the resiliency of your credit union and ensure that it is achieving its purpose? In this moderated panel discussion, you will hear from credit union board members and governance experts on the duty of cooperative board members to act in the best interests of the credit union as a whole while balancing cooperative values/principles and the short term/long term interests of existing and potential new members, the importance of incorporating purpose and the Cooperative Principles in decision-making, and ways to increase diversity at the board table.

• Understand how to act in the best interest of the cooperative
• Importance of the cooperative principles when making decisions
• Learn ways to increase diversity

• Learn how financial education drives membership growth and loyalty.
• Learn how appropriate high-risk pricing offers fair products and services to members, while helping the credit union grow.
• Learn how to get your board and Management team to buy in to financial wellness and education.
• Learn how to create, track, and refine a financial wellness strategy or program that fits your credit union.

• Insights into M&A strategies
• Lessons learnt from a major merger
• The importance of member, employee and regulatory engagement.

• Understanding how our disrupted world is impacting the value investors are ascribing to wealth products and providers.
• Understanding the potential of asset managers and wealth providers to engage and empower investors in a highly disrupted world.
• Articulating a path for asset managers and wealth providers to enhance their future viability and relevance.

Attracting and retaining members is a common challenge shared by many credit unions. The average age of credit union members is increasing, and there is a renewed focus among many credit unions around the world to attract and retain younger members. This moderated panel discussion will explore case studies from credit unions that have successfully implemented digital strategies to attract younger members.

• Benefits of attracting younger members
• How to use social media to attract younger members
• First-hand experience from credit unions on what has worked

Learn effective advocacy strategies that you can use in your country to achieve improved regulatory frameworks for credit unions.  This session will focus on some of the strategies and lessons learned from advocacy efforts from around the world.

• Learn techniques to help improve advocacy with policy makers.
• Understand some of the challenges faced when trying to shape regulatory frameworks for credit unions.
• Develop techniques that can be used to support the credit union cooperative model.

• How to use data to your benefit (where to find it, how to mine it, how to act on it)
• Develop a strategy, from high level down to a campaign
• How to leverage partnerships for expertise (vendors, agencies, etc.)
• How to measure success (ROI, engagement, etc.)
  

• Review state of payments today – biggest challenges and opportunities to payment service providers.
• Educate participants on what is PaaS.
• Share challenges small to mid-sized credit unions face in payments modernization.

Change management is something everyone has had to adapt to, especially in the last three years. This session will look at the impact of structural changes within credit unions as a result of mergers and changing ways of work. The panelists will discuss how mergers are impacting credit unions and their operations and how to maintain a community focus in a hybrid environment.

• Understand how embracing new ways of work can influence productivity
• Maintaining a community focus in a hybrid environment
• Learn the impacts mergers can have on operations

• Evaluate the importance of implementing a digital financial services ecosystem in order to effectively offer financial services to excluded populations, including rural families, women, youth, migrants, indigenous populations, etc.
• Understand the role of credit unions and other financial institutions in supporting the economic empowerment of the most vulnerable populations, by providing financial services that complement sustainable livelihood strategies.
• Demonstrate the need for credit unions to coordinate their efforts with development agencies, local and national governments, and NGOs to achieve greater reach and impact.
• Share the experiences of EIP partners and beneficiaries to demonstrate the need for credit unions to balance social and business goals regarding equity and inclusion.

• Be able to define and understand the importance of a scorecard to evaluate credit union performance.
• Explore key metrics on scorecards and their respective pitfalls.
• Comprehend the relationship between metrics and behaviors.

• How to create a culture that welcomes diverse ideas regardless of role or background.
• How to identify your current decision-making process and ways to optimize it.
• Knowing when to involve others in a decision, delegate it altogether or make it yourself.
• Using pivotal decisions to multiply growth.

• Understand the changing landscape of regulation that is driving the move towards sustainable finance.
• Learn what sustainable finance entails.
• Learn which industries are a focal point for government and regulators.
• Understand steps to be taken for impending regulatory requirements.

This session will explore how to use up to date technology to assist smaller credit unions to optimize the risk management process. With effective techniques credit unions can significantly reduce the time and effort to implement a robust risk management process.  Learn various methodologies to improve the performance of your credit union.

• Explore strategies on managing risk from the viewpoint of a small credit union.
• Learn techniques that can help reduce the time and effort of the risk management process.
• Develop methodologies to improve the performance of your credit union.

Effective board governance is crucial for credit unions. Boards are responsible for organizational success in fulfilling their mission, serving members effectively and using resources responsibly.  Credit union members rely on the board of directors to provide guidance, oversight, and accountability.  The Board of Directors plays a vital role in a successful credit union and worldwide credit union movement. 

Today, credit unions are challenged to find, recruit and develop qualified and engaged directors.  This difficulty comes at a time when consumers financial wants and needs are changing rapidly, competition for consumer relationships is higher than ever, community demographics are changing, and the future pool of volunteer directors is younger and have their own set of values and life priorities. 

This session will address some of the challenges faced by credit unions for recruiting the next generation of volunteers, engaging new volunteers and highlight characteristics of high performing boards. 

• How to improve the recruitment and onboarding process for a new generation of Volunteers.
• How to improve the engagement process for Volunteers.
• Identify the characteristics of high performing Board of Directors.

The Canadian Credit Union Young Leader Award helps identify the best and brightest young Canadian credit union employees. The award is designed to motivate them and publicize their accomplishments to inspire others. Join the five award winners and scholarship finalists as they share their insights and perspectives in front of a panel of judges and a live audience to demonstrate the impact they have made at their organizations and in their communities. One of the five award winners will be selected as the $10K (CAD) scholarship recipient.

• How young leaders foster community involvement in their credit unions.
• The role young leaders play in promoting growth within their credit unions.
• Commitment to credit union values.

Canada’s Open Banking Lead, Abraham Tachjian will be joined by CCUA’s President & CEO, Jeff Guthrie to discuss Canada’s Open Banking journey. With extensive international banking experience, Abraham will provide a comprehensive perspective on Open Banking and what is on the horizon for credit unions both near and far.  Come prepared with your questions for the not-to-be-missed session.

• Canada’s Open Banking Journey to date
• What credit unions can expect in the future
• Interactive engagement with Canada’s Open Banking Lead

•  How to identify and amplify the strengths of your brand’s DNA, and evolve the core elements of your brand to support growth goals.
• How to create brand alignment and an employee culture that delivers the member experience necessary to fuel growth.
• The importance of brand naming and positioning and how to minimize member attrition with the right brand strategy.
• How to use brand as a primary lever to foster advocacy and spark chemistry between your brand and your key constituencies.

• To share the importance of self-regulation to developing countries with minimal government regulation and supervision
• To share the impact of self-regulation to the sustainability and soundness of Co-ops with less legislative supervision
• To empower other developing countries with minimal supervision government framework to self-regulate for the protection of members' resources

• Gain perspective from credit unions that have championed the business case for sustainability.
• Consider practical steps that your credit union can take to begin your journey to sustainability.
  
• Opportunities for credit unions to be a force for transformation.

• Understanding the Evolving Consumer Landscape
• Building a Solid Services Marketing Strategy
• Embracing New Technologies and Channels
• Collaborating with Partners and Stakeholders

• Understand how to create modern onboarding experiences
• Learn scale with service that customers will love
• Deliver personalized advice and guidance

Learn about new international standards that are being developed or changed that will soon reach the national level.  This panel will give insight into what regulatory frameworks will look like in the future.  Issues such as payments, AML/CFT, Sustainable Finance, and others will be covered.

• Learn about key regulations that are under development by the international standard setting bodies.
• Understand how your credit union will be affected by the evolving regulatory landscape.
• Explore how to plan and prepare your credit union for ways in which they could be affected by these changes.

Climate change, rising income inequality, social polarization, the global pandemic, and housing affordability profoundly affect our members, communities, and businesses. As a result, more businesses are adopting a social purpose as the reason they exist to be relevant in this new context and create value for their stakeholders. How are credit unions responding? Three Canadian credit unions will share their approach to social-driven service to gain competitive advantage, create new opportunities to strengthen local communities, and share examples of building financial empowerment for Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, and underserved communities.

• Identify the market trends impacting credit unions
• Understand the business case for defining your credit union’s social purpose
• Learn how to remove barriers to foster financial inclusion

• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of using open banking for credit assessment.
• Learn what open banking reveals about financial exclusion.
• Evaluate how open banking can support product development.
• Find out what’s next for open banking.