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Strengthening Cooperative Supervision in the Dominican Republic: A Digital Leap Forward with IDECOOP


In the Dominican Republic, savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) are a cornerstone of financial inclusion. Especially in rural areas, they are often the only financial institutions that people can rely on for saving, for borrowing — for building a better future. Protecting the savings of thousands of members and ensuring that these cooperatives are managed responsibly is therefore essential.

To achieve this, DGRV is working closely with the Dominican national authority responsible for regulating cooperatives (IDECOOP). Together, they are taking an important digital step forward to strengthen cooperative supervision and transparency.

Working at Systemic Level


DGRV’s cooperation with IDECOOP focuses on strengthening the entire system that supports cooperatives in the country. “When you strengthen the supervisor, you strengthen the complete sector,” explains Patrick Heckler, DGRV’s project director for the Dominican Republic.

By empowering IDECOOP with modern tools, training, and methodologies, DGRV helps creating a more resilient and transparent cooperative ecosystem. This systemic approach ensures that regulations are applied consistently. Both large and small cooperatives can thus benefit from stronger oversight and better guidance.

Turning Data into Insight: IDECOOP’s New Digital Tools


Supervision used to be a time-consuming process that relied heavily on paper reports and delayed information. Today, thanks to two new modern software systems created by DGRV, SEC and AT, IDECOOP can monitor the financial and organizational health of cooperatives in real time.

The President of IDECOOP, Maritza López de Ortiz, describes the change this way:

“With SEC, we are taking cooperative supervision to a new level of transparency and prevention. For the first time, we are monitoring 448 cooperatives with more than RD$386 billion (USD$6.56 billion) in assets in real time, protecting their members’ resources and ensuring modern and responsible management.”

SEC: Strengthening Governance and Internal Control


SEC helps IDECOOP evaluate how cooperatives are managed. Through digital questionnaires based on international standards, SEC assesses areas like governance, internal control, and compliance.
How does this look like? Imagine a cooperative that needs to improve its internal audit process. After completing the SEC evaluation, the system generates a report that identifies the gap and assigns a specific follow-up action with deadlines. Supervisors and managers can then monitor progress digitally- turning what used to be a one-time inspection into a continuous improvement process.

AT: A Financial Dashboard for Cooperative Health


AT helps IDECOOP to analyze key financial indicators like liquidity, solvency, and efficiency. Handling is easy, based on an intuitive traffic-light system.
For example, if a cooperative’s liquidity falls below the safe threshold, the system automatically highlights it in red, prompting the supervisor to follow up. Instead of sifting through dozens of spreadsheets, the supervisor can focus directly on the cooperatives that need the most attention.

Building Trust and Modernizing Supervision


For the SACCO sector, the improved and modernized supervision by IDECOOP results in greater trust and reputation among SACCO members. On the level of the individual cooperatives acceptance for both tools is high, as they are not just being controlled but feel supported.

The modernization of IDECOOP’s supervision marks a new era for the Dominican cooperative sector—one that combines technology, transparency, and trust. By embracing digital solutions, IDECOOP is not only protecting members’ savings today but also paving the way for a stronger, more inclusive financial future for the entire Dominican Republic.