Maine Credit Union League President and CEO Todd Mason joins a delegation of U.S. credit union industry representatives in Australia this week to study how financial cooperatives in that country are growing membership in an increasingly competitive and digital environment.
Participants will examine how financial cooperatives are overcoming regulatory, taxation and branding challenges to grow and lead the way in developing innovative digital solutions.
Mason joins a delegation that includes Brian Branch, president and CEO of the Madison, Wis.-based World Council of Credit Unions; Jim Nussle, president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association; Scott Simpson, CEO of the Utah Credit Union League; and executives from credit unions and leagues from California, Indiana, Florida, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington.
“It is a tremendous honor to be part of this delegation,” Mason said in a news release. “Hearing about the challenges and triumphs our peers oversees are having is a valuable learning experience, and I feel fortunate to be representing Maine’s credit union network in this capacity.”
During their visit, participants will examine several key issues facing credit unions globally including taxation, growth, digital innovation, branding and regulation. Field visits to cooperative branches in Melbourne and Sydney are also planned.
“The Australian system is one of the world’s leading systems of the international network and it provides many comparative lessons for the credit union industry in the United States,” Branch, of the World Council of Credit Unions, said in a separate release. “Members of our delegation will learn firsthand the impact of alternative taxation and regulation regimes for credit unions. They will also experience in person what can be gained by advancing digital innovations for their members.”
