Wignal urges wider credit union role in MSME concessionary lending

Donovan Wignal, a former member of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) and immediate past president of the MSME Alliance, says Jamaica's credit unions are now better equipped to grow lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Wignal is calling for cooperatives to take on a more prominent share of the Development Bank of Jamaica's approved financial institution (AFI) programme, which channels concessionary loans to MSMEs at rates that often sit below those charged by commercial banks.

He made the remarks after the Bank of Jamaica moved to give credit unions direct access to the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system within the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, allowing electronic transfers between financial institutions.

In the past, credit unions and their members had to depend on commercial banks to process and settle transactions, a arrangement that often meant longer waiting periods for transfers to clear.

Across the island, the credit union movement now counts roughly one million members and oversees assets totalling more than $218 billion.