The Kingstown Cooperative Credit Union launched its Western Union services at its headquarters last Tuesday, August 30 which essentially has provided an additional outlet for the services of the money transfer agency.

Laurent Hadley, treasurer of the credit union

Similar services are already being provided at the KCCU’s Mesopotamia Branch, and there is one Western Union outlet in Kingstown.

At Tuesday’s launch, KCCU’s marketing manager, Ruth Stowe pointed out that, “During the volcanic eruption, we realized how difficult it was for persons to access money transfer services and we saw how important our Mesopotamia branch was in filling that void”.

She explained that when the credit union decided to undertake the project, Western Union was “quite elated to welcome us into this idea being that there is only one other Western Union branch, and Kingstown.”

Meanwhile, treasurer of the credit union, Laurent Hadley outlined that, “The key objectives for expanding the Western Union service to the Kingstown Branch encompass: [to] make [the] sending/receiving money to and from loved ones easier; mitigate some of the challenges faced with correspondent banking; and fulfil our corporate duty to the citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines by providing them with a much needed and used service.”

Eronne Evans, KCCU‘s acting CEO

The KCCU’s relationship with Western Union began in 2014, with the acquisition of the Marriaqua Cooperative Credit Union Limited. Since then, the KCCU/Western Union partnership has flourished with a constant increase in transactions, he said.

The year 2020 saw an increase in the value of incoming transactions of EC$3.9 million or 39% compared to 2019. The number of transactions received during this period also grew, registering an increase of 5,374. In 2021, the value of inbound transactions rose by EC$2.0 million or 17% compared to 2020. Similarly, the number of transactions received during this period climbed by 2,051.

According to Hadley, “While these numbers provide a compelling story, the importance of the Western Union service goes beyond the figures for KCCU. Indeed, Western union provides an essential service for our members and the general public. In doing so, it creates an avenue for more timely disbursement of funds for consumers to do important things such as buy food, pay bills, and even pay their mortgages,”.

Workers waiting to serve customers

He added that, “it also helps to support small businesses by easily facilitating cross-border payments for goods and services”.

Hadley also pointed to a need for the money transfer service because of a void “on the eastern end of the city from which the most populated side of the country enters the capital,” as well as “the long lines of persons waiting in unforgiving weather conditions,” which “represent one of the key challenges we hope to address with this new convenient location”.

Hadley further stated that, “at no other time was the money transfer service of critical importance than when the country was in the throes of the April 2021 volcanic eruptions”. “We heard the appeal from the authorities to persons in the diaspora looking to provide assistance ‘to send money instead of packages’ to their families in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at that time. During that time, we saw a significant uptick in remittances which undoubtedly played a major role in sustaining our country during that perilous time,”Hadley pointed out.

He also gave special recognition to former KCCU president, Cynthia Hope-Browne, who was the brainchild of the project.