Consolidated Annual Report 2015

BARBADOS PUBLIC WORKERS’ CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT UNION LIMITED CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL REPORT 2015 8 OVERVIEW The Board of Directors is happy to report another year’s commendable performance notwithstanding the volatile economic environment, and applauds management and staff for their commitment and contribution to this achievement. At March 31st, 2015 membership exceeded 70,000, and based on our current growth path as a separate entity, the Credit Union is on target to meet the one billion dollar mark in assets during the coming year. These are significant milestones. In the process of reviewing our past year’s performance, we evaluated those things which impacted us in the pursuit of achieving our strategic objectives, with a view to seeing how these could either be improved or mitigated depending on the impact. In undertaking this exercise we sought to make a comparison with the global Credit Union movement. The World Council of Credit Unions in their 2013 report noted that, “In 2013, our top challenges across the globe were more universal than ever before. Large, small, emerging and mature systems, regardless of their differences, all reported the same top challenges: increased regulatory burden, payments innovation, young adult membership growth and small credit union sustainability.” These revelations almost perfectly mirror our domestic Credit Union environment today. As we seek to learn from our counterparts across the globe to improve our individual operation and performance, we must also examine those things that impact the movement as a whole with a view to keeping Credit Unions alive and well in Barbados. In evaluating each of these trends we remain convicted in our efforts thus far and our vision for the future. RAPIDLY CHANGING REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT Today the Credit Union stands at a significant cross-road. The new regulatory world, the dynamic technological future and landscape, increased and intensified competition in the financial services sector have all impacted on the operation of BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ REPORT President Bro. Glendon Belle financial institutions, and more significantly on Credit Unions. During the last financial year, we saw the implementation of the asset tax on Credit Unions. While this was only imposed on Credit Unions with assets of forty million dollars or more, the impact was material as it is not our business model to pass cost on through fees to our members as most other financial institutions typically would. Through rigorous scenario planning and budgeting exercises we were able to mitigate the effects of this impact on our Credit Union. Additionally, the introduction of the Foreign Asset Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the reduction of the world to a global village through technological advancements also affected our operations this year. The implementation of FATCA required changes to our internal operating procedures and extensive training for operational staff which was championed by our internal compliance team. ACCESS TO SERVICES The review of products and services is an ongoing process and we must continue to be informed by diligent market research so that we remain appropriate and relevant to our members’ needs and expectations. Our delivery channels must ensure that doing business with the Credit Union is fast, accurate and efficient. Through an analysis of behavioural data, management saw that more and more of our members were engaging the Credit Union through mobile devices and responded with the launch of our mobile banking application at the beginning of the second half of the year. This was further supported by a revamp of our corporate website which is now mobile friendly. Successive reports from our annual member survey have noted a call for an expanded branch network. We are pleased to report that the branch at Emerald City which registered strong performances from inception, will shortly be relocated to more commodious surroundings at the Emerald City Complex, Six