Banking on Hispanics for Growth

1) Recognize the Power of U.S. Hispanics.

While most marketers today know the facts and figures about U.S. Hispanic population growth, few in the financial sector have recognized the financially viability of this consumer. Hispanics are increasing in affluence with +313% growth in the number of Hispanic households earning $100K or more since 2001, compared to +137% for non-Hispanics. With increased wealth, comes greater usage of financial services and products. Hispanic use of top financial products has grown by double-digits over the past 5 years and outpaced non-Hispanic. In fact, for auto loans, Hispanics drove 74% of the growth – 3 out of every 4 new adults with an auto loan was Hispanic. Not only are Hispanics currently using financial services, but they are also significantly more likely than non-Hispanics to be very interested in learning how financial services/products can help them achieve their goals.^****

2)  Understand their financial goals.

Hispanics and non-Hispanics differ in their definitions of prosperity.  For Hispanics, it’s about progression, moving-forward, living the American dream. Non-Hispanics focus on stability, freeing themselves from stress, being comfortable.  For marketers, this means you might advertise more aspirational products to Hispanics that can help them progress and reach their financial goals.  This is also an opportunity to grow alongside Hispanics by offering different products and services as their financial needs evolve.

3) Identify frustrations and needs that must be addressed.

Frustration is a shared feeling towards financial services with half of both Hispanics and non-Hispanics saying they feel undervalued by the industry.  However, Hispanics’ frustration is rooted mainly in a need for more information and guidance from financial services providers. Hispanics are more likely to be dissatisfied with the financial information currently available and to not know what services are right for them.  The good news for marketers is this has spurred Hispanics into action.  Two-thirds of Hispanics actively seek information about financial products and services (67% vs. 56% of non-Hispanics).

4) Learn how to engage Hispanics.

Like non-Hispanics, Hispanics look to a variety of sources for financial information.  Where we see a difference in Hispanic behavior is in their reliance on media.  Hispanics are more likely to use TV ads, TV shows, online ads and social media compared to non-Hispanics.  They’re also twice as likely to find financial ads interesting.  So to recap Hispanic financial behavior: Hispanics are proactively seeking out financial information, using ads as a key source of that information and twice as likely to find those ads interesting.  For marketers, this means Hispanics are looking for and are open to your messaging.

When companies do start reaching out to Hispanic consumers, it’s important for their messages to be in-language and in-culture.  Two-thirds of Hispanics say they feel more of an emotional connection to a financial services company when it advertises in Spanish.  We’ve seen that financial companies that make sincere efforts to engage Hispanics are rewarded with loyal consumers that will deliver growth.  For more details, watch an on-demand recording of the webinar.

Sources:
*U.S. Census Bureau 2017 - 2027 National Projections.
**Latino Donor Collaborative. Werner Schink and David Hayes-Bautista “Latino Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Report.” June 2017
***Univision Hispanic Financial Journey Study, Conducted Online by The Harris Poll in June – July 2017
****Simmons Spring 2012 – 2017 Full Year

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