CUCC Events

Upcoming Events

This section provides details on upcoming CUCC events such as Quarterly Working Groups, Regional Clinics and the Annual Conference.

Please note that most CUCC events are for subscribing credit unions only; any public events open to all credit unions in the list below will be clearly marked as such.

Event Details

CUCC ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017

A STRATEGIC FOCUS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

Date: Tuesday, 3rd October 2017

Venue: Croke Park, Dublin

The theme this year’s CUCC Annual Conference was “A Strategic Focus in a Changing Environment”. We had a number of excellent speakers on the day.

Presentations

LEONARD MCAULIFFE - KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

LEONARD MCAULIFFE – KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

Factor	Description	Ranking
Credit Union Mergers and the Common Bond	Short-term Same concerns as Q4 2016 remain in that mergers across the sector are opening up a wider range of strategic options available to credit unions due to increased scale. Registrar has indicated that expected cost savings and economies of scale have yet to materialise in some post-merged credit unions. Urbanisation impacting on rural common bonds means some credit unions are losing-out on potential members. Credit unions may find opportunities to expand into under-serviced common bonds through the merger process.	5 –
Credit Union Mergers and the Common Bond	Long-term Smaller standalone credit unions may find themselves at a competitive disadvantage if operating a common bond over-lapping with larger neighbouring credit unions created through the merger process. Where credit union members satisfy multiple common bonds, high-calibre potential borrowers are likely to gravitate to the larger credit unions with a wider range of services, higher levels of convenience and more competitive rates. Pressure to re-define the concept of the common bond may intensify as the expanding geographical / industrial reach of credit unions test the viability of the common bond in its current form.	5 –

Factor	Description	Ranking
Social changes & consumer preferences	Short-term As previously indicated, millennials & generation Y present a key challenge for credit unions in how to become relevant to these consumer segments by delivering suitable products and services. The credit union strategy should consider the investment the main banks have undertaken and are continuing to undertake in developing their communication/advertisement channels on social media and also in their development of internet based loan application processes.	9 –
Social changes & consumer preferences	Long-term Millennials and generation Y have arrived as the core borrowing demographic of credit unions. Credit unions must attract this segment in delivering basic, convenient suitable products and services. This is a business priority in many credit unions. Failure to capture significant market share within these demographics will be harshly felt in credit unions finance in the long-term.	9 –

Factor	Description	Ranking
Media coverage & public sentiment	Short-term Credit unions continue to benefit from negative public sentiment towards the banking sector, i.e. the CBI tracker mortgage rate examination. Public view of credit unions as trusted and people-oriented financial service providers continues evidenced by increased savings figures. Recent negative media coverage relating to credit unions (CBI F&P report, AML sanctions) has dented an otherwise positive public sentiment towards credit unions.	6 –
Media coverage & public sentiment	Long-term If more frequent negative press arises, due to the emergence of further compliance, viability and/or governance issues within credit unions, it could sway current public opinion as trusted financial institutions.	6 –

Factor	Description	Ranking
Competition in Financial Services	Short-term One of Ireland’s pillar banks have publicly indicated that they are actively pursuing the credit union unsecured personal loan market. The recent activity in the mortgage market can result in members forming long-term relationship with their banks. There is also evidence that Banks are focused on improving their CRM approaches. The pillar banks have the resources to ensure quick loan decision turnaround times in addition to competitive interest rates. There is evidence of significant investment by banks in high-convenience service delivery and better relationship management for customers. Introduction of new competition in the unsecured lending market in the form of PCP from car manufacturers / dealerships and direct-to-SME lenders should be considered although credit unions are making good comparisons recently between credit union loans and PCP finance from car brands. Slower growth of credit union loan-books relative to average growth within the ROI financial services sector is an indicator of the new competitive environment.	4 –
Competition in Financial Services	Long-term The same long term challenges that were present in Q4 2016 remain in Q1 217. The introduction of more Fin Tech companies into the financial services market will result in increased competition in the lending and secondary financial services market for credit unions. High-tech, low-cost base and strategically agile – Fin Tech companies could pose stiff competition to traditional financial services institutions. Advancements in technology and changes in EU policy may open up the ROI financial services market to non-domestic based financial service providers. Current and potential members who have established long-term borrowing relationships with their banks (driven by effective relationship management and key product availability) will be difficult to bring back to the credit union.	4 –

Factor	Description	Ranking
Interest Rates	Short-term With interest rates likely to remain low in the short term, investments returns remain difficult in turn impacting on credit union income. There is also a possibility that even negative interest rates may be charged on credit union deposits. Bank of Ireland since October 2016, have been charging a negative interest rate of -0.1 % on large corporate and institutional customers for deposits of €10 million or more. Indications are that AIB will shortly follow suit. Credit union investment income is down 20% in 2016 when compared with 2015. The low interest rates on investments in conjunction with a declining loan to asset ratio represents a significant challenge to the future operating model of credit unions.	2 –
Interest Rates	Long-term Indications are that ECB interest rates will begin to rise in Q4 2019. While this will be encouraging for investment returns, it may bring other challenges especially when other financial institutions begin increasing mortgage interest rates. This could reduce consumer confidence and in turn affect consumer spending. It could also affect loan repayment capacity. However the impact of low interest rates on the credit union operating model needs to be considered into the long term. Without the development of products and services, credit unions are unlikely to develop sufficiently to ensure a sustainable business model into the future	2 –

Upcoming Events

Event Details

Presentations

LEONARD MCAULIFFE - KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

ANTHONY CAHALAN - THE FUTURE OF AML/CFT

NIAMH BRENNAN - GOVERNANCE RESPONSIBILITIES IN DRIVING CHANGE

ADRIAN WECKLER - TECHNOLOGY & STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS

GERRY DUFFY - LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Event Details

Presentations

PROFESSOR BRIAN LUCEY - OPENING ADDRESS

DR. SIMON ASHBY - PLYMOUTH BUSINESS SCHOOL

DR. MARGARET CULLEN - INSTITUTE OF BANKING

PAMELA ROGERS - ALVAREZ & MARSAL

JOANN C. STONIER - MASTERCARD

GAVIN FLOOD - MR GREEN

BRYAN HONAN - BH CONSULTING

Event Details

Presentations

BRIAN HAYES – MOORE STEPHENS NATHANS

PROFESSOR DONAL MCKILLOP – QUEENS UNIVERSITY BELFAST

DR. JYN SCHULTZE-MELLING – FACEBOOK

BRENDAN NAGLE – DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

PROFESSOR BLANAID CLARKE – TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

DENISE FARNSWORTH – MICROSOFT IRELAND

GER DEERING – FINANCIAL SERVICES OMBUDSMAN

Photo Gallery

CUCC Conference 2016

CUCC Conference 2015