More than 80 of Puerto Rico’s island chartered and insured credit unions—known as cooperativas—are now operating during reduced hours in order to conserve fuel for their generators, José Julián Ramírez Ruiz, executive director of the Asociación de Ejecutivos de Cooperativas de Puerto Rico said Wednesday.
Ruiz added, however, that some two weeks have passed since Hurricane Maria devastated the island, and his association of credit union executives still has not been in contact with ten small credit unions.
Ruiz said that Puerto Rican cooperative officials will be asking for assistance from credit union officials on the mainland later this week.
He said that only a few credit union facilities were heavily damaged by the hurricane, adding that the homes of more than 100 credit union employees were damaged.
“Anyway, the greatest destruction was suffered by our members and the communities we served,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said that credit unions without full power and electronic access are sending employees to San Juan on almost a daily basis so they can download Automated Clearing House archives at BANCOOP, the central financial institution for the credit union movement.
Some credit unions with Internet access are helping those without access to download their ACH archives.
The cooperative movement has a strong following on the island. There are 116 cooperativas holding $7.9 billion for nearly one million customers.
Meanwhile, NCUA officials said late Tuesday that of the eight federal credit unions in Puerto Rico, one is still not operating, five are operating at less than half of their usual capacity and two are operating at more than half of their usual capacity.
They said that of the five federal credit unions in the Virgin Islands, three are operating at more than half of their usual operations and two are operating at less than that.
Credit unions currently have cash on hand, but those supplies will have to be replenished, the agency said.
And the agency’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives has issued guidance to examiners in an effort to help low-income credit unions apply for urgen needs grants.
