Area banks seeking to cash in on the region’s fast-growing Latino population are working hard to sign up immigrant customers, including those here illegally.
Local representatives from Bank of America, BB&T, Wachovia and Chevy Chase rotate monthly financial literacy sessions at day labor centers run by immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland.
Stan Salinas, who occasionally runs the sessions for Wachovia, said hundreds of Latino immigrants eager to understand the U.S. system often attend. He said local banks target the Latino population because of the opportunities for growth and because Latino customers are “loyal.” According to Salinas, a positive experience with one immigrant often leads to a customer for life, who refers friends, neighbors and family members to the bank.
Ernesto Anguilla, a spokesman for Bank of America, said his company will serve “all customers who provide the necessary documentation,” including Mexican government-issued “matricula consular” cards.
It’s a move local immigrant groups are in full support of.
Officials with FIDMi, a nonprofit group trying to educate Latino immigrants about the U.S. financial system, estimate that about 50 percent of Latinos living in the Washington area are “unbanked.”
Prince George’s State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey said because so many Latinos lack bank accounts, they have become targets for crime.
“It is pretty significant,” Ivey said. “The police departments are seeing patterns of criminals focusing on Latino males, especially on Friday and weekends, on the assumption they got paid in cash and don’t have bank accounts to deposit the money and may be less likely to testify because of concerns about immigration status.”
Ivey’s spokesman Ramon Korionoff said his office has worked with Bank of America for nearly four years to encourage Latinos, regardless of legal status, to use banks.
Enrique Carrillo, director of Chevy Chase’s Hispanic Banking group, said his bank designated 16 branches in the Washington area as Hispanic banking centers, where there will be at least one employee on duty at all times who is bilingual.
“This goes beyond providing service to the Spanish-speaking community though; when we don’t have Spanish-speaking staff available these days, everybody waits longer,” Carrillo said. “Then you’re bouncing people around as you rush to find somebody who speaks Spanish, which takes time, and the line grows longer for all customers.”
