International associations

International associations

The most important international associations of cooperative banks, both based in Brussels, are the CIBP (International Association of Cooperative Banks), which has member institutions from all around the world, and the European Association of Co-operative Banks.

Quebec

The caisse populaire movement started by Alphonse Desjardins in Quebec, Canada, pioneered credit unions. Desjardins wanted to bring desperately needed financial protection to working people. In 1900, from his home in Lévis, Quebec, he opened the first credit union in North America, marking the beginning of the Mouvement Desjardins.

United Kingdom

British building societies developed into general-purpose savings and banking institutions with ‘one member, one vote’ ownership and can be seen as a form of financial cooperative (although some de-mutualised into conventionally owned banks in the 1980s and 1990s). The UK Co-operative Group includes both an insurance provider, the CIS, and the Co-operative Bank, both noted for promoting ethical investment.

Continental Europe

Important continental cooperative banking systems include the Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, Banque Populaire and Caisse d'épargne in France, Rabobank in the Netherlands, BVR/DZ Bank in Germany, Banco Popolare, UBI Banca and Banca Popolare di Milano in Italy, Migros and Coop Bank in Switzerland, and the Raiffeisen system in several countries in central and eastern Europe. The cooperative banks that are members of the European Association of Co-operative Banks have 130 million customers, 4 trillion euros in assets, and 17% of Europe's deposits. The International Confederation of Cooperative Banks (CIBP) is the eldest association of cooperative banks at international level.

In Scandinavia, there is a clear distinction between mutual savings banks (Sparbank) and true credit unions (Andelsbank).

India

The origins of the cooperative banking movement in India can be traced to the close of nineteenth century when, inspired by the success of the experiments related to the cooperative movement in Britain and the cooperative credit movement in Germany, such societies were set up in India. Cooperative banks are an important constituent of the Indian financial system. They are the primary financiers of agricultural activities, some small-scale industries and self-employed workers. The Anyonya Co-operative Bank in India is considered to have been the first cooperative bank in Asia.

Microcredit and microfinance

The more recent phenomena of Microcredit and microfinance are often based on a cooperative model They focus on small business lending.. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his development and pursuit of the microcredit concept.