Day6

7th February 2001 - Practises in the United States
Meeting with Salvador Antonio Duran, manager of the Mission Area Credit Union - San Francisco

The Mission Area Credit Union was created 30 years ago and is located in an hispanic neighborhood of San Francisco. The members of the Credit Union are mainly from El Salvador and Mexico.
The Credit Union follows the principle of the Credit Unions (See Indonesia practices) : One member/one vote at the General Assembly zhich elects the borad and decides the general policy orientations. For Antonio Duran, these principles coming from Raiffeisen in Germany and implemented at the beginning of the 20th century in the USA, are very useful to help a community often without credit history and who prefer cash to credit. These are why you can find so many pay day loans and cash in shops in this area. Beyond the financial aspect, the members can benefit from free advice to manage his debt.
The minimum loan is $ 2000. These are consuming loans with lower interest rates than the banks. The Credit Union gives also access to a credit card and some mortgage loans.
The Credit Union is a member of the national fund community development credit Union and the Californian Credit Union League which provide law advice and training. Its deposits are insured by the Credit Union Administration Insurance.
Its assets are woth $ 6 million. It has got 2500 members and manages an average of 330 loans.
For Antonio the human relashionships in a Credit Union are important to help the surrounding community, including the low income households. Despite several attempts of the banks to make CU taxation increase, the CU keep on its mission : "people helping people".