Meetings with members are one of the annual highlights in the life of Crédit Agricole. They demonstrate the mutualist functioning of the great French bank of the territories. Pascal Quineau’s lighting, president of the regional bank of Crédit Agricole de La Réunion.
Crédit Agricole is a cooperative and mutual bank. What is the role of members in its organization? ?
A cooperative and mutual bank belongs to its members. There are 16 local Crédit Agricole banks in Réunion and one local bank in Mayotte.. There are 130,000 members in Reunion, i.e. more than one in two customers. Each member has the right to vote at the general meetings of the local fund to which he or she depends.. Members appoint directors. Each fund has 12 from all professional backgrounds. The directors appoint a president of each local fund. Personally, I am president of the local bank of Saint-Gilles and Trois-Bassins. When you are elected president, we become administrators of the regional fund. These 17 administrators will administer the regional cooperative. This articulation means that Crédit Agricole is the only 100% Reunionese bank. All his decisions, lending decisions for example, are taken in Reunion – and not outside the island as with competing banks. There are also 38 regional banks across France whose presidents define Crédit Agricole policy on a national and even international scale.. We are thus the spokespersons of the members who elected us.
Where are the member meetings located in this organization? ?
In the mutual life of Crédit Agricole, there are three highlights : the general meeting of local banks, the directors’ conference and the “Meet Us” day organized by each local bank in November. The spirit of this day, it’s about listening to members, to allow time for discussion with them that is less formal than the general meeting.
Is the goal to bring up feelings?, opinions, expectations ?
Quite. This year, we will target young members and young customers in particular. We will ask them if they are satisfied with their bank, what they expect, if they judge us to be up to date with new technologies, etc. This type of meeting is also, for us, the opportunity to inspire young members to become more involved and thus prepare for the future.
“We hope to attract as many members and non-members as possible”
The testimony of Reine-ClaudeBrass, President of the local bank of Crédit Agricole de Saint-Louis
What does this meeting day represent? ?
It allows us to present our local fund to members, but also to non-members. It will take place with us on November 18 at Étang-Salé. The idea is also to make visitors aware of a topic of current concern.. Ours will be the environment and its preservation. We will have workshops led by external speakers representative of the environment in Reunion.
The day will be open to the public ?
Yes. To non-members, we will explain what corporate status means and what it brings. We also invited young people from the Simon-Lucas and Aimé-Césaire colleges of Étang-Salé-les-Hauts, that we have already raised awareness of the environmental issue during the year.
Yourselves, why did you choose to become a member ?Being a member gives the opportunity to participate in the life and decisions of the regional fund through the local funds. It is a commitment and adherence to cooperative and mutualist values.
