Circuito Cooperativo, Microsoft partner to push digital revolution of 30K+ SMEs
Circuito Cooperativo and Microsoft recently announced a new alliance to promote the digital transformation of Puerto Rico’s credit unions, which in turn will benefit some 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the island.
As part of this alliance, both organizations also announced the launch of the SME Academy, a platform that seeks to deliver content to businesses that the credit unions serve.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial institutions — as well as other sectors — had to rethink their products and services. In the case of credit unions, rethinking their digital transformation process to meet the needs of their members has not been the exception.
“Technology has become an essential and integral part of the credit unions’ success, because of the COVID-19 crisis. The increase in available technological applications has led members of all ages to become permanently integrated into the use of digital channels,” said Kerwin Morales, chairman of Circuito Cooperativo.
“Having the support of Microsoft and its ecosystem of business partners allows us to develop these processes with a complete digital transformation in mind, since it isn’t just a trend, but vital for our credit union sector to have a promising future,” he said.
In a study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, industry respondents in the financial sector were the most in agreement that the pandemic accentuated the competitive advantages of digital companies (87% vs. the average of 77%).
With more people working from home, and more customers wanting to use digital channels to access services, the focus is now on building the industry foundation to provide deeper and richer digital interactions soon.
“At Microsoft, we’re convinced that technology is a great enabler for businesses of all sizes. For this reason, we promote this initiative that will allow us to democratically support small businesses throughout the Island in the digital transformation,” said Andy Kaplan, country manager of Microsoft Puerto Rico.
More than 60 credit unions will receive guidance from Microsoft and Circuito Cooperativo.
