Unitus Community Credit Union ($1.7B, Portland, OR) converted to a community charter more than two decades ago, but its recent focus on the growing Hispanic community is helping it reach a new demographic today.
“When you look at the Hispanic population, the potential to better serve a fast-growing, underrepresented, and marginalized community such as this is huge,” says Corlinda Wooden, senior vice president and chief retail officer at Unitus. “We have taken pride in applying a holistic approach that is built with authenticity and trust.”
That holistic approach encapsulates — among other things — three major points.
1. Ensure The Staff Is Ready To Serve
After attending the World Council of Credit Unions conference in 2019, Unitus partnered with multicultural consulting firm Coopera to gain a better understanding of the credit union’s local demographic as well as to determine the readiness of employees and board members to successfully support the Hispanic community.
According to the first-year survey data from Coopera’s cultural assessment, only 32% of Unitus employees thought adequately serving a Spanish-speaking membership was achievable. In 2020, survey data showed 68% thought the initiative was attainable. By 2022, that number was 90%, making Unitus a best practice leader in just three short years. Today, employees and the board of directors strongly support the business imperative of serving this community.
One piece of Unitus’ holistic approach to serving the Hispanic community is to address opportunities in personnel. Unitus actively recruits Spanish-speaking employees as well as offers incentives to retain and develop dual-language front-line staff. The credit union also teaches Spanish to willing employees on the clock and encourages them to study during down time at work.
“When we started this in 2019, we had only a handful of Spanish speaking employees,” Wooden says. “Now we have more than 50 who support serving Spanish-speaking members in their preferred language.”
2.Offer The Right Products And Services
Another piece of the holistic approach is products and services. To that end, the credit union offers remittance services; an immigration loan to help finance the cost of items such as naturalization, immigration, DACA, and other related fees; and an International Tax ID Number (ITIN) home loan product for ITIN holders.
CU QUICK FACTS
UNITUS COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
DATA AS OF 06.30.23
HQ: Portland, OR
ASSETS: $1.7B
MEMBERS: 105,932
BRANCHES: 12
EMPLOYEES: 323
NET WORTH: 9.8%
ROA: 0.20%
“The development of products such as our ITIN mortgage offers ITIN holders the opportunity to achieve the American Dream of homeownership and promotes the potential for generational wealth,” Wooden says.
In the first three quarters of 2022, Unitus closed 29 ITIN mortgages totaling $9.7 million. Foreign remittances total approximately $1.5 million per year and, according to Wooden, are continuing to grow. That growth might not be surprising as the credit union added the service after seeking input from the community as to where there were gaps in the products and services Unitus offered at that time.
“People wanted to have a way to send money to their friends and family overseas with a click of a button from their mobile phone,” Wooden says. “So we found a solution.”
Unitus’ Spanish-speaking virtual assistant is another major advancement in financial services accessibility.
The credit union launched the English version of its chat bot in December 2022 and integrated a Spanish language assistant into its digital experience this past June. Today, the Spanish speaking chat bot has 87% containment, says Char Sears, vice president of member experience and product management, meaning the credit union is resolving the vast majority of Spanish speakers’ questions and concerns without sending them to a queue to engage with a live agent.
Still, Sears acknowledges there’s a balance between providing hands-on service and leveraging artificial intelligence and automation. For example, the virtual assistant is meant to resolve basic questions, not replace the consultative conversations around major life events through which Unitus employees, many of which are certified financial counselors, support members.
“We strive to always have a personalized experience for our members,” Sears says. “Our technology experiences add ease-of-use and convenience for our members. We will never expect the virtual assistant to consult through a complex event such as buying a home.”
Best Practice
Unitus Community discloses up front that members are engaging with a virtual assistant.
“Engagement expectations are different with a virtual assistant verses a person,” says Char Sears, vice president of member experience and product management. “We always present the option to transfer to a live chat or video call if the member requests or if the virtual assistant recommends a deeper conversation with an expert.”
The combined English and Spanish virtual assistant engages in roughly 3,000 conversations per month, and member feedback has been positive.
3. Engage The Community
A third aspect of Unitus’ holistic approach is to partner with Hispanic community organizations. For example, the credit union has helped fund scholarships through the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber Latino Scholarship Fund and contributed to the Western Oregon University Bilingual Teacher Scholars. It has also partnered with the Mexican Consulate to provide financial literacy and coaching for Latina women on how to start their own businesses.
According to Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysis, the state ranks at No. 30 for racial diversity. In the 2020 census, 14% of the state’s population identified as Hispanic or Latino. That’s up from 2% in 1980 but still below the national average of 19%.
The state office identifies four distinct geographic areas of Oregon with significant Hispanic populations. One such growing hub is Marion County, approximately 30 miles south of Portland. In the 2000 U.S. Census, 17.10% of Marion County residents identified as Hispanic or Latino. In 2020, that number was greater than 25%, according to the Office of Economic Analysis.
Data like this, combined with Unitus’ strengthening relationship with the Hispanic community, is why the credit union plans to build a new branch in Woodburn, the Hispanic economic center of Marion County, in 2025.
Ultimately, Unitus’ efforts to reach its Hispanic community is more than just a piece of a strategic plan. According to Wooden, it’s a sign of the cultural shift that has underpinned milestones such as the credit union earning Inclusiv’s Juntos Avanzamos (Together We Advance) designation and welcoming its first Hispanic board member last year.
“Credit unions were founded on the concept of people helping people,” Wooden says. “With work like this, we take it a step further to say we are ‘people helping all people’ to better serve the multi-cultural community in the region.”
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