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Posted: Feb. 06 2007,6:58 am |
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Credit firm marketing to migrants
Customers can access accounts with Desert Schools if deported
JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 5, 2007 12:00 AM
The state's largest credit union is bracing for fallout as it begins marketing savings accounts to undocumented immigrants.
Officials at Desert Schools Credit Union say the potential reward, thousands of new customers, justifies the risk of angering a few customers. Ignoring the state's fastest-growing population could be the equivalent of corporate suicide, one business expert said.
Pizza Patrón, with one Mesa location, is in the middle of a two-month marketing campaign aimed at customers who traveled to Mexico for the holidays and returned with unspent pesos. It resulted in record pizza sales, threats at its Texas headquarters and an enraged backlash from people who thought the company was pandering to undocumented immigrants. advertisement
Desert Schools Credit Union, with 57 locations, nearly all in the Valley, is aware of the potential for similar backlash after word gets out about its new marketing effort, which courts immigrants to deposit funds into special savings accounts.
But to the financial institution, a marketing campaign that targets Arizona's hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants just makes good business sense.
Desert Schools says that the interest-bearing immigrant savings accounts, which require account holders to sign paperwork acknowledging that they're in the country temporarily, amount to a community service by providing a safe place customers can deposit money.
Emma Garcia, Desert Schools director of community development, said the credit union's savings account program provides a public service by taking large amounts of cash off the streets, but it is aware of the potential for backlash.
"We know that some of our members will have issue with it," Garcia said.
"We think we're doing what's best for the entire community. We think it's best for all our members that we do not have large amounts of cash out there. It's not going to in any way impact whether they decide to stay (in the country) or not."
That's not even the biggest hurdle Desert Schools has to clear when making inroads into the immigrant community. As a financial-services provider, the credit union has to bridge a fundamental trust gap between a large entity and a population that inherently distrusts such companies, said Ruben Ramos, director of public affairs with Arvizu Advertising and Promotions.
"In many cases, those new immigrants have a distrust about these financial institutions. You've got to overcome this barrier of how do you even get them in the credit union or into the bank," Ramos said. "There's no such thing (in Mexico) as FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) insurance or deposit insurance. . . . There's this misunderstanding or fear of the institution of the bank."
Ramos, a former chairman of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, worked with Bank One before joining the Phoenix-based marketing firm last summer and said bilingual employees and administrators are the first step in bridging that gap.
Once companies, whether they're selling pizza or savings accounts, cross that divide, they have to convince their existing customers that marketing to the growing Hispanic population is good for the community and good for business, Ramos said.
"We're not in the business of asking people what their immigration status is. We're in the business of providing financial services to individuals," Ramos said, recounting conversations he has had as banks consider tapping into the Hispanic market.
"Fundamentally, I don't see anything negative that might be associated with what the credit union is trying to do, if people have a broader context about what the alternatives are for this segment of the population."
Ramos noted the abundance of check-cashing and high-interest loan stores that exist in areas with heavy immigrant populations. "Those alternatives don't serve our community well," he said.
The accounts have existed for years, but the credit union is stepping up the marketing.
Garcia said, "We think it's a benefit for people to have them in accounts instead of at home or in their cars."
The credit union offers reassurances that account holders will still have access to the funds, even if they're deported, Garcia said. "They're afraid that that institution will partner with the Department of Homeland Security and report to them who's in an undocumented situation or not," Garcia said. "We're not going to be required to notify an agency if we find out they're undocumented. We're not required by law to do that."
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