Webster First Federal Eyes Latino Market | Credit union establishes branch in Compare Foods
It wasn’t some back office strategizing that led Webster First Federal Credit Union to consider how they can better serve the Latino population of the City of Worcester.
It was simply input from the local community. Webster First Federal opened up a new headquarters building in Worcester in September 2009.
At the official grand opening, several members of the Latino community were in attendance, and urged President and CEO Michael Lussier to think about serving what they said was an underserved market in the city.
The result was a new branch of the credit union at Compare Foods, a neighborhood supermarket on Main Street in Worcester that serves a large Latino clientele.
Market Response
In just a week, Lussier says the response has been better than expected, with 100 new customers signed up as members. The credit union hopes to grow that new base of members to 3,000 by the end of the year.
The move into the Latino market did come with a cost. In addition to setting up the branch in Compare Foods, Webster First hired three bilingual staffers for the branch and an additional bilingual person to staff the call center.
The credit union also had to get marketing and disclosure material translated into Spanish. Webster First also reduced the base amount a new member needs to set up account from $25 to just $5. That reduction, according to Lussier, was put in place to entice more members of the Latino community to establish accounts.
Tapping into immigrant groups is not a new concept for financial services firms. In fact, Marlborough-based Digital Federal Credit Union has built a reputation for serving immigrant groups. However, Lussier said that business and community leaders within the Latino community reported that their demographic was still under-served in the local market.
According to the FDIC, there are just two bank locations in the 01610 zip code where Compare Foods is located. Both are Bank of America locations—one on Millbury Street and the other on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross.
There are no other credit union branches in that zip code, according to a review of credit union websites done by the Worcester Business Journal.
There are approximately 32,000 Hispanic or Latino residents in Worcester, accounting for 19 percent of the city’s population.
In Worcester County, Hispanics and Latinos account for 8 percent of the total population.
With those strong demographics, and the potential for growth when the new census figures are released, Lussier says Webster First is watching the Compare Foods branch “very closely.”
“We’re going to keep our eyes open,” Lussier said. “Worcester County is our field of membership, and we’re looking at all the areas where the Latino markets may be underserved.”
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