Few prepaid financial services products today are specifically designed with a specific demographic target in mind. The majority of products are relatively generic with dual language literature. This article on cutimes.com introduces a product designed specifically for the Hispanic market.
“A prepaid card created specifically for Hispanics has been rolled out by Coopera and The Members Group in Des Moines, Iowa.
The pre-paid, reloadable Coopera Card provides secured access to financial services without having to pay for check cashing, money orders or money transfers. They also require neither credit history nor taxpayer identification numbers.
They can be loaded through direct deposit of wages, at an issuer’s branch, online or at any Visa ReadyLink merchant, said Coopera, a bicultural, bilingual economic development firm majority owned by the Iowa Credit Union League.
The card is being positioned as both a way to attract new Hispanic members and to generate interchange income.”
Due to research that suggests Hispanics are one of the slowest demographics to adopt and use prepaid financial services, El Banco and CFSI have performed significant research to determine how Hispanics utilize financial services products. The results suggest a very complex set of dynamics.
For example, a CFSI document indicates that there are at least nine significantly different Hispanic target markets. These range from Hispanic Americans that are part of the financial mainstream to New Arrivals that can be part of the underbanked and underserved community. This research may suggest that Credit Unions will need to design a more nuanced set of messages around this new product to succeed.
Click here for more: http://www.cutimes.com/2011/10/12/new-prepaid-card-aimed-at-underserved-hispanic-mar