• The Co-operative Movement was shaped up in Europe, between mid 1800s and early 1900s, at a very time when Europeans were facing blight poverty. Cooperative movement trickled down to different parts of the world, namely Canada, the United States, France and even Mauritius, amongst others; with the strong will to help those at the bottom rung of the ladder and enabling this segment of the population to participate in economic progress.
• Unlike many financial institutions that focus exclusively on credit, Credit Union’s approach emphasises the mobilisation of member savings, as the primary source of financing. This saving-based approach allows Credit Union to reach greater scale in financial service provision, and instils a level of financial discipline that ensures financial.
• Credit Unions empower people to access high quality and affordable financial services. Many of them reliant on low income and /or financially excluded to create opportunities, such as building family homes, educating themselves and their children in starting small and medium businesses. In young democracies, members encounter their first taste of democratic decision making, through the member-owned Credit Unions.

• 1844: ‘Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, first ‘operational’ credit union in England
• 1850: the first German co-operative, ‘the People’s bank’, was launched by the economist Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch.
• 1864: Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, mayor of several German cities, took over and founded the Heddesorf Credit Union. Farmers, artisans and labourers were the very first members of these Credit Unions.
• 1913: Birth of the Mauritian Co-operative Movement
• 1960: Birth of the first Credit Union in Mauritius. Through the years, the local cooperative movement has grown, diversified and encompassed various sectors, namely farming, ranching, fishing and office working. With such an increase in popularity, the demand for reliable cooperatives grew and more cooperatives were created. Mauritians realised that credit unions helped us in improving their quality of life and climbing the social ladder
• 1976: Birth of Vacoas Popular Co-operative Credit Union, now Vacoas Popular Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society Ltd.

We offer a full range of accounts and services, including savings accounts, term deposits, personal loans, home and SME loans, amongst others

• Another service offered by our Society is an insurance cover. It is freely available to all members on their Life Savings, and loans against Life Savings. In 2005, VPMPCS created its own Life Savings and Loan Protection Fund.
• Vacoas Popular proposes the Cumulative Deposit, enabling members to make savings over a predetermined period of time. At maturity time, members obtain their investment, together with their interest, in a single withdrawal. The deposit’s maturity time varies from one year minimum to 15 years maximum.
• Xmas Savings : By contributing a regular fixed amount over a period of ten months, the total amount saved plus half an instalment as bonus are given at maturity time
• We never stop innovating. In 2004, we introduced our ‘Solidarity Plan’, where the contributories’ heirs benefit about Rs 90 000 in case of death. This savings plan is a true helping hand, especially for family members afflicted by the sudden demise of a close one.

Since its inception in 1976, Vacoas Popular was, is and will always be by the side of its members. Be it for the funding of their personal projects (Holy Communion, engagement, wedding, purchasing of appliances and furniture...), or housing projects, tertiary education and business development, our motto remains.

“We care from cradle to grave’.

In 1983, the society rented an office space where it temporarily established its headquarters and opened a shop. Although it had a flourishing business, owing to the entrance of supermarkets, it did not work out as expected.

1989 – First parcelling of land
In 1989, we acquired a plot of six acres of land at Vacoas for a parcelling project. The plot was parcelled out in 67 lots, 66 of which were sold to members. One plot of 2717m2 was kept for the society. The Building Fund already created was used to build its headquarters.

1997 – Owner of its own premises
The construction works started in 1995 and ended in 1996. The VPMPCS proudly stepped into its own premises in 1997. Some office spaces are rented to other institutions.

We realised the huge step our Society had made over the past years. We were no longer tenants. In fact, now, we HAVE tenants!

2003 – Society joins Asian Confederation of Credit Union
2003 was another historic year since the society became a member of the Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU). The association confirms the fact that the society is among the largest cooperatives of the region, proof of which is provided by the comments of the present CEO Ranjith Hettiarachchi

From then on, property development became another line of our activities. We acquired other plots of land for development purposes. 1672 m² of land around Visitation in 2003 and 1 acre at Calodyne in 2004.
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