Thread: Banks try to break Hispanics' cash habit

Banks try to break Hispanics' cash habit
Published Sat, Mar 17, 2007

By TIM DONNELLY
and JIM FABER

BLUFFTON -- José Mena, a Bluffton resident originally from El Salvador, sat in his taxi outside the Bluffton Bank of America on Friday afternoon while his fare, a Hispanic woman, went inside to open a bank account.
Mena, who's lived in the area for six years, has an account with BB&T and a credit card with Bank of America.

Meanwhile, Claudia Arias Mora and her husband, David Bautista, both construction workers from Mexico, headed into the bank to open a checking account for Arias Mora.

They chose the bank because she could open an account with only a tax identification number and one other form of identification.

"I need an account because we often get paid by checks and without an account, it's difficult and expensive to cash them," Arias Mora said.

Even as the area's Hispanic population works to integrate itself into the social and cultural systems of the Lowcountry, many say cash is still the universal language.

Cash remains popular because of a lack of identification for new or undocumented immigrants and cultural differences that make banking a foreign concept to many.

For some laborers without documentation, all their income is in cash.

This weekend, for the first time, the Latin American Council of South Carolina's annual tax preparation help session will have IRS representatives on hand who can file tax returns for people who have been paid in cash all year.

Previously, no one was available to help those workers file a return, meaning some never bothered to pay income taxes, said Luis Bell, council executive director.

"I hope there will be lots of people" at the session, he said.

CULTURAL ADAPTATION

Part of the reason the Hispanic community has not embraced banks is that they often immigrate here from rural areas or small villages in Latin American countries, where access to banking is limited or nonexistent.

"They haven't established a banking relationship even in Mexico, so it's hard for them to even start their banking in the U.S.," said Guido Arochi, a community affairs representative at the Mexican consulate in Raleigh, N.C.

Some are reluctant to set up an account because they might not have legal residency, while others are unsure about how to go about it, Bell said.

But living in a cash-only world has its risks.

For instance, between August 2005 and June 2006, Hispanics were targeted in 45 percent of 42 armed robberies in the county, according to an Island Packet review of police reports. Law enforcement officials say criminals view Hispanics as easy targets since they often carry cash.

The Latin American Council also works to educate people on the value of building a credit history, having a savings account and making investments -- things that help the population assimilate into the local community.

"For me, cash is always burning in your pocket," Bell said.

BANKS REACH OUT

Most banks are welcoming the Hispanic population, even if public opinion isn't always on their side.

Anti-illegal immigrant activists pounced on Bank of America last month when the nation's largest banking chain announced it would issue credit cards in California to non-citizens who don't have Social Security numbers. That looks like a company bending over backwards to accommodate people who enter the country illegally, critics charged.

The bank said the program isn't targeted specifically at immigrants, but is meant to help people with no credit histories. If successful, the bank said it could expand the option nationwide.

Even local and regional banks are reaching out to attract customers from what they say is an under-served -- and rapidly growing -- Hispanic market.

BB&T has been tapping the Hispanic market since 2000, in part, by offering tapes that explain topics like insurance, public schools and starting a business, said A.C. McGraw, media relations manager for the Southeastern bank, which has branches on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton.

One of the bank's popular products for Hispanics is the EasySend card that lets people in other countries take money out of certain ATMs, bypassing cash transfer fees, said David Hamilton, the local vice president for BB&T.

At CoastalStates Bank on Hilton Head Island, there is often a line of Hispanics waiting to cash checks on payday, chairman and CEO Randy Dolyniuk said.

The bank has worked to create relationships with businesses that employ Hispanics to capture what will become a booming market, even if the Hispanic customers aren't savvy about American banking yet, Dolyniuk said.

"They want to be here, they plan to be here, and they are raising their kids here," he said.

To open an account at Atlantic Community Bank in Bluffton, applicants need either a Social Security number or a tax ID number and a passport, driver's license or an ID through a consulate. A tax identification number isn't an indication of legal standing. They are used by anyone not eligible for a Social Security number, but who are required to file a federal income tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

In this region, many immigrants are first-generation, unlike other areas of the country where the populations are more established, said Arochi, of the consulate. That's why community leaders and banks are teaming up to help new residents.

"The banks have been working very hard in order to promote their services and let them know there are other possibilities besides cash," he said. "Our communities are taking advantage of that ... This is the time where the community's getting used to a new world, a new system and a new culture."

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_ne ... 2174c.html

Wouldn't that be wonderful if illegal aliens couldn't cash thier payroll checks from the very jobs they lied to get, with a fake SS number and should not have in the first place.

Where else are illegal aliens going to get money to put into the bank? Crime or jobs they are not susposed to have.

No one should be banking with illegal aliens.

Dixie

Dixie said:

No one should be banking with illegal aliens.

Just common sense but banks aren't in the business of common sense, they only care about the almighty dollar.
It's not right no matter what side of the issue you're on. These banks don't care about illegals, they only want to charge interest, make money.

"They haven't established a banking relationship even in Mexico,

Why start now, we are just going to take it when they get sent home any way.
Geeeees suff it in a coffee can. ICE will find if easier, dont drag our Banks down with you.

BB&T has been tapping the Hispanic market since 2000, in part, by offering tapes that explain topics like insurance, public schools and starting a business

Amazing things---HOW ABOUT CITIZENSHIP?

The bank has worked to create relationships with businesses that employ Hispanics to capture what will become a booming market, even if the Hispanic customers aren't savvy about American banking yet, Dolyniuk said.

Savvy? Like American Citizens, in debt to their eyeballs, and paying taxes to educate and house these %^%$#$^%@?

"The banks have been working very hard in order to promote their services and let them know there are other possibilities besides cash," he said. "Our communities are taking advantage of that ...

Other possibilities than CASH? DEBT? FINANCE CHARGES? LATE FEES? RIDICULOUS RATES OF RETURN? BANKRUPTCY?

Here is something I learned in 5th grade;

"Bankers look out for your interest....."


Let em keep their envelopes of cash, and pay their coyotes, and get robbed---it's really no different than life in Mexico----heheheheheh! Why show them New York, when they are happy to be living in Tijuana?

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Since when are Hispanics illegal aliens???