There are only 10 days until International Credit Union Day! Every year on October 20th, the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) organize this day, and it often includes credit union participation in all kinds of activities like contests, fundraisers, open houses, picnics, volunteer opportunities, and more.
The theme for 2022 is “Empower Your Financial Future with a Credit Union.” We thought this would be a great time to talk about financial empowerment and how you can use this movement to create positive momentum for your credit union and its members.
What Is Financial Empowerment?
More than 1 billion people around the world are still “unbanked.” And credit unions are the perfect institution to change that. Financial empowerment is a journey that your CU can help members take on with confidence.
Financial empowerment, at its core, is the feeling of being in control of your own financial situation. After recessions and a pandemic, many people are not feeling particularly confident about their finances, even if they were in a stable financial situation before, during, or even after these global crises.
Financial empowerment is created through education and information. There are several studies being talked about right now that all say similar things: more money doesn’t mean you will be smarter with your finances or more financially stable. If you give someone an exorbitant amount of money but don’t teach them how to use it to their advantage, both for today and for the future, you’ve given them a one-time gift. But if you can help impart some knowledge and skills to your credit union members, you’ll be able to help them reach financial empowerment, and rather than a one-time gift, you will have given them the tools to create investments into their own financial health and their futures.
Get Involved with ICU Day
Fall is a busy time for all of us – the seasons are changing, school just started, and the holidays are right around the corner. If your credit union still wants to get involved this ICU Day, CUNA can help with that. You can check out their free International Credit Union Day resources here.
You can also reach out to leaders and businesses in your community and ask them to get involved. Sponsor a financial education event, and create some digital or printed resources that can help educate members and potential members about what financial empowerment means and how they can take advantage of your CU’s services to reach their financial goals.
Connecting with those who need help on their financial journeys is what credit unions were designed to do. What are your plans for ICU Day 2022?
Keep Your CU Moving Forward for Your Members
ICU Day is drawing closer, and you want to ensure that your credit union and its technologies are running at peak efficiency. And when it comes to combatting the issues in unbanked communities, building trust is a key component of your success. IMS can help with that.
As your credit union solutions experts, we can offer a range of digital solutions tailored specifically to credit unions and their business operations.
Our Polaris Sonar compliance solution is a new SaaS application that uses machine learning to discover, classify, and report on sensitive member data without impacting your day-to-day operations.
