Living la Vida Hispana

Micheal Muckian

CUs reach the fastest-growing U.S. member demographic by applying lessons learned at WOCCU’s Hispanic Marketing Immersion Program.

Visitors to $90 million asset Guadalupe Credit Union’s south Santa Fe, N.M., branch might think they’re having an out-of-country experience.

Winona Nava, the credit union’s president/CEO and chair of the Credit Union National Association’s (CUNA) Hispanic Outreach Task Force, says the foreign feeling is intentional. It’s a byproduct of her (and staff members’) participation in the World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Hispanic Marketing Immersion Program.

The south Santa Fe branch is dressed in bright colors, with Spanish-language signage and bold assertions about products and services. Marketing is strident and the ambience member-friendly, with rope-and-stanchion lobby controls replaced by take-a-number options enabling members to visit freely rather than stand in lines.

Guadalupe patterned many of the branch’s unique features after Caja Popular Dolores Hidalgo, a credit union that’s part of Federación Alianza in Guanajuato, Mexico. Nava “worked” at the caja for two weeks in 2007 as part of the Hispanic Marketing Immersion Program. The lessons learned significantly increased Guadalupe’s success attracting and serving Hispanic members, she says.

“We were opening a branch devoted to serving recent Hispanic immigrants and we needed to better understand the culture,” says Nava. “I brought home a much greater awareness of where our members were coming from, and we altered our plans based on what we learned.”
 

During its first year of operation, the branch enrolled 352 new members for a growth rate of 10.6%, attracted $434,057 in deposits, generated $875,101 in loans, and reduced the credit union’s average membership age to 42.8 years from 44 years—well below the national credit union average of 47 years. Serving Hispanics attracts more members, she says, and also more effectively draws in a younger demographic that will help the credit union grow in years to come.

The WOCCU program fully immerses participants during one- or two-week training periods—offering Spanish language lessons in the morning, temporary “employment” at local cajas in the afternoon, and home stays with preselected Mexican middle-class families throughout the entire experience. By the end, Nava observes, participants are culturally saturated with a new understanding and appreciation for “living la vida Hispana.” She adds, “The WOCCU program proved to be an excellent mix of language, culture, and credit union business.”
 

Beyond the gateway states

Immersion program participation seems a natural part of credit unions’ marketing evolution in states such as New Mexico, where Hispanics comprise 44.4% of the population—nearly three times the 15.1% national average—compared with a white non-Hispanic population of 42.3%, according to U.S. Census data. But the Hispanic demographic is increasing nationwide. Unless prepared, credit unions in many states may wind up scrambling to attract a rapidly growing pool of potential members.
 
“North Carolina is one of the fastest-growing states in attracting Hispanics,” says John Radebaugh, president/CEO of the North Carolina Credit Union League. “We already have 10 credit unions that concentrate on serving Hispanic members, and it’s spreading.”

The league has conducted meetings and issued white papers on how to better serve Hispanic members, says Kim Bohannon, league vice president of compliance, who also serves on CUNA’s Hispanic Outreach Task Force. In addition, in 2007 the North Carolina League formed a relationship through WOCCU’s International Partnerships Program with Caja Morelia Valladolid in Morelia, Mexico, the site of the 2008 and 2009 immersion programs (dates for the latter are Sept. 19 through Oct. 2).

Caja Morelia officials visited league headquarters in November 2008 and developed a partnership. It has broadened awareness and understanding of Hispanic culture, further supporting lessons learned through the immersion program, says North Carolina League Chairman Ben Hill, CEO of $35 million asset Blue Flame Credit Union in Charlotte, N.C.

“I had a personal interest in participating,” says Hill, who traveled to Querétaro, Mexico, with the 2007 immersion program. While his credit union doesn’t yet serve many Hispanics, he says, “In Mexico, we can more easily see the roots of what credit unions do to help members, the reason we were created in the first place.”

Hill notes the prominent role youth programs play, which Mexican credit unions use to cultivate member loyalty across multiple generations. Lack of widespread automation also forces more face-to-face member contact, something he says could benefit credit unions everywhere. “It would be great if we could interact with our members the way Mexican credit unions do,” he adds. “If you don’t know your members well, you can’t serve them effectively.”

Credit unions that don’t understand Hispanic culture, he says, will have a tougher time capturing and retaining what may be their greatest potential for member growth in the coming years.

Toppling the ‘State Fair’ stereotype

North Carolina’s population is 7% Hispanic, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. But it’s growing rapidly, giving Hill’s assumption increasing validity.

By comparison, Iowa has only a 4% Hispanic population. But rapid Hispanic membership growth at two of $239 million asset Greater Iowa Credit Union’s four branches sent Michael Adams, the Ames-based credit union’s vice president of marketing, to WOCCU’s 2008 immersion program for a crash course in how to reach this segment.

“Iowa still suffers from the ‘State Fair’ stereotype,” says Adams, in reference to the 1953 Rodgers and Hammerstein film about the Iowa State Fair, featuring an all-white cast. “But we’re getting increasingly more diverse. My East Des Moines branch is about 20% Latino, and the Denison branch in western Iowa is now 50% Latino.” Adams says his week at the immersion program in Morelia was “eye-opening.”
 

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