Jeanne Kucey remembered the day when a Cuban immigrant walkedinto the lobby of JetStream Federal Credit Union in Miami Lakes,Fla., armed with questions about financial services.

“He worked for one of our select employee groups and had justarrived from Cuba,” Kucey, president/CEO of the $169.9 millioncredit union, said. “He had never had a bank account, never had acar loan and needed someone to teach him about financialservices.”

Kucey's staff, more than half of whom are of Cuban descent, werehappy to help. But the experience reinforced the critical rolecredit unions could play in improving the lives of Cubanimmigrants, an issue that may soon apply to the 11 millionresidents of Cuba itself.

Kucey's experience, which has included extensive financialeducation and counseling for JFCU's Cuban immigrant members, alsoechoes the potential enormity of trying to establish credit unionsin the communist country. But changes instituted by the Cubangovernment itself have made the Caribbean's largest island nationripe for cooperative growth, and in fact, the process already isunder way.

On Feb. 7, 1962, then President John F. Kennedy signed into lawa U.S. commercial, economic and financial embargo against Cuba. Thesituation, a byproduct of Cold War threats to U.S. security,changed in December 2014 when the Obama Administration ordered thatdiplomatic relations with Cuba be restored and that a half centuryof isolationism and mistrust that had failed to serve U.S.interests should come to an end.

Even prior to the change, however, the Cuban government had beenhanding over land and business interests to cooperative groups ofworker-owners as a way to get some operating expenses on its books.Co-ops began to blossom, first in agriculture, then in a widevariety of enterprises.

U.S. cooperative leaders said they're betting the establishmentof credit unions won't be far behind the other co-ops, and groupsand individuals have begun queueing up for a new period ofcooperative economic enterprise in Cuba.

“We believe that as Cuba evolves, the seven cooperativeprinciples will become part of the DNA of much of Cuba's economy,”Mike Beall, president/CEO of the National Cooperative BusinessAssociation/Cooperative League of the United States of America,said during a March 10 press conference in Wash., D.C. “And thiswill be good for the American consumer.”

The NCBA/CLUSA press conference, held at the National Press Clubduring the GAC, introduced the organization's U.S.-Cuba CooperativeWorking Group, designed to find ways to help Cuba establish andenhance its cooperative business. However, financial cooperativessuch as credit unions, Beall said, may be among the most difficultones to launch.

“My sense is that the financial segment has seen the leastevolution by the government to loosen up on its controls,” Beall,former president/CEO of both the Missouri Credit Union Associationand Maryland/D.C. Credit Union Association, said during asubsequent interview. “For U.S. credit unions, the OFAC regulationsare stringent and come with lots of civil money penalties. RemovingCuba from the terrorism watch list will be central for connectionsbetween the U.S. and Cuban financial institutions.”

In July 2014, Beall led an NCBA/CLUSA research group to Cubaspecifically to look at agricultural co-ops, the most mature of anyof the country's emerging cooperative businesses. A second visit,which the organization is planning for August 2015, will likelyinclude credit union representation, Beall said.

“Everyone is getting optimistic about the growing relationshipbetween Cuba and the U.S. if the two governments can get thingsworked out,” Beall said. “At NCBA/ CLUSA, we're obviouslypositioning ourselves as advocates of good governingprinciples.”

Credit unions may be the economic half-step Cuba needs in itsevolution from a communist country moving closer to free-marketenterprise, according to Patrick La Pine, president/CEO of TheLeague of Southeastern Credit Unions and a participant in one ofthe NCBA/CLUSA March 10 press conference panels. Given theestablishment of the right type of governance, credit unions canprovide Cuba with a more acceptable, if not more familiar approachto financial services, he said.

“I don't see Cuba rolling out the red carpet for Citibank, Chaseor Bank of America,” La Pine said. “Cuba understands thecooperative model, although they might wonder what's in it for us.We're trying to do this because we have a track record forestablishing credit unions around the world.”

La Pine and others have cited credit unions' rapid emergence andmarket dominance in post-communist Poland as an example of howquickly credit unions can capture the interest and allegiance of apublic wearied by a totalitarian regime. Although it's evolving,Castro's communist regime is still in place, but the country offersadvantages in spite of its challenges, he explained.

“We have a number of Cuban American credit unions alreadyoperating in the U.S., so there will be few cultural gaps toovercome,” La Pine said. “I think if you look at what we've done incountries such as Poland, there are good examples of credit unionsmaking a difference.”

The NCBA U.S.-Cuba Working Group steering committee containsseveral credit union executives, including Carlos Calderon,president/CEO of the $175 million Organization of American StatesStaff Federal Credit Union in Wash., D.C. The committee hasn't yetdefined a strategy, but is still in the research mode, Calderonsaid.

“One of the issues is that the Cuban government is developingnew regulations for co-ops slated for adoption next year,”Calderon, whose ancestry is Bolivian, said. “Until then, we areoperating on assumptions and with good will toward the Cubanpeople.”

Economic support of Cuba's people has been under way for sometime in the form of remittances sent by Cuban workers in the U.S.and other countries. In 2009, Cuban-Americans could begin sendingas much money home as they wanted, and by the end of 2014, annualremittances to Cuba totaled $2 billion from the U.S. alone,according to reports in CNN Money and The HavanaTimes.

Much of this money was used to support fledgling cooperativeenterprises now in the hands of workers-owners who found itdifficult to find sources of business loans. Cuba now has some500,000 people with state-issued private business licenses, CNNreported, providing a fertile market for credit uniondevelopment.

Neither OAS Staff FCU nor JFCU participate in any formalremittance programs to Cuba at this time, but both Calderon andKucey are primed to become part of Cuban credit union developmentefforts in any capacity they can.

This is especially true for JFCU: It boasts a board andsupervisory committee that are 25% Cuban and membership that is 35%Cuban.

“As of right now, all but five of our 62 employees speak fluentSpanish,” Kucey said. “We also have a branch in Puerto Rico, where100% of the employees are Puerto Rican and approximately 80% of ourmembership base there is Puerto Rican.”

Most of the credit union's membership is enthusiastic about new,more open relations with Cuba, and what split there is occurs alonggenerational lines, Kucey said. Older Cubans who may haveoriginally fled their home country with nothing more than theclothes on their backs are less excited about the change, but thenegative feelings tend to remain the minority view, she added.

“Our specific niche, and we're certainly not the only creditunion doing this, comes in serving recent Cuban immigrants, most ofwhom qualify as low income,” Kucey said. “We take pride in servingthat demographic, even though it is a lot of work.”