Rundown of services at L.A. banks aimed at Latinos.

Financial institutions have drawn criticism for the level of service they offer the Latino community, with critics complaining that not enough branches are being opened in Latino-heavy communities, not enough bilingual tellers are being hired, and not enough financial education is being dispensed.

But a Business Journal survey of major financial institutions found an array of products and services aimed specifically at the Latino market. The spin, of course, is unrelentingly positive, though even critics expect the financial institutions to focus more on the Latino community in the years ahead.

Bank of America 

Among the earliest and most aggressive in terms of outreach to the Latino community, Bank of America was the first bank to introduce Spanish-language ATMs. It also offers Spanish-language automated telephone customer service 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and advertises in dozens of Spanish-language publications.

The bank claims that one out of every three new Bank of America customers in California is Latino.

Bank of America has sponsored various Latino-oriented events, working with numerous Latino councils and associations to promote economic growth. It formed an alliance with SER Jobs For Progress to hold free home-buying seminars and set up a national toll-free hotline with bilingual representatives to assist prospective homebuyers.

Bank of America also has worked with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to promote Latino business ownership and has sponsored the chamber's national convention for the last two years.

BofA has committed millions of dollars in scholarship funds for Latino students, most recently pledging $1 million to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

In addition, BofA has instituted several programs directed at lower-income communities. It has introduced mortgage products specifically designed to address the needs of tow-income and first-time homebuyers, recently doubling its financial commitment to those programs.

It also has provided funding through the Community Development Bank, which finances small businesses and affordable housing projects.

Wells Fargo Bank

Nearly one-quarter of the bank's Los Angeles business comes from the Latino community, according to Anita Santiago Advertising, which handles Wells' Latino advertising.

The bank says it disseminates large amounts of informational, educational and promotional materials to areas known to have high concentrations of Latino residents.

Wells also says it employs a sizable staff of Spanish-speaking customer service workers in the Los Angeles area. Depending on location, the proportion of Spanish speakers can range anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent of the total staff. Over the past three years, that number of Spanish-speaking staffers has been increased. Over the next year, Wells Fargo plans to further increase the amount of resources it allocates to servicing the Latino community.

Washington Mutual 

With many Latino workers paid in cash, loan officers often use non-traditional forms of credit like bill payment history to establish a credit record.

Washington Mutual also staffs its branches to reflect the communities where they are located. Heavily Latino areas have bilingual staffers, and all paperwork is printed in Spanish and English.

The bank has a varied approach to community outreach. The corporate affairs department partners with organizations like Puente Learning Center, a job training and English-as-a-second-language program, and East L.A. Community Housing Corp., to provide financial and human resources.

With a focus on K-12 education and affordable housing, Washington Mutual provides grants and sponsorships to the Latin Business Association. Charo Community Development Corp., Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and William C. Velasquez Institute. Meanwhile, bank employees participate on the boards of Latino organizations.

Sanwa Bank

As one of the state's largest banks, Sanwa Bank California says it has a number of ways in which it reaches out to California Latinos, including ad campaigns (radio, print media and flyers) that are tailored specifically to the Latino community.

To attract first-time homebuyers, Sanwa conducts seminars in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods statewide, to educate and inform Latinos about the benefits of home ownership. At many of its branches in heavily Latino areas, Sanwa publishes marketing materials in both English and Spanish.

Unlike smaller Asian-American banks, which tend to focus on small-business customers, Sanwa provides a full range of personal, business, international, investment and trust services.

Sanwa also actively recruits Latinos as employees. In the past year, it has had representatives at two job fairs that specifically target Latino groups. In addition, bank officers serve as advisors and board members on various Latino organizations such as the Latin Student Business Association, LEAD and other similar networking groups.

Currently, Sanwa's management committee is in the process of beefing up the bank's Latino outreach program by increasing the advertising budget for Spanish-language publications like La Opinion, Latina Style and El Diario.

City National Bank

City National's reach into the Latino community is mostly through home loans and small-business loans. About 25 percent of all City National small-business loans are made to borrowers located within low- to moderate-income census tracts. City National is a certified lender for the U.S. Small Business Administration and participates in CDFI and CDC lending.

In the mortgage sector, City National has an affordable housing unit that focuses oil first-time homebuyers in these areas, which typically have high proportions of Latino populations.

City National Bank also partners with many community groups, including Charo, Esperanza Housing, Operation Hope, Community Financial Resource Center, Neighborhood Housing Services, Affordable Housing Clearinghouse, Cabrillo Housing Development Corp., Riverside Housing Authority and the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

Within the Latino community, there are at least two distinct customer bases. One is middle-market businesses and entrepreneurs. The other is first- and second-generation family or individual or small-business service operation, which typically is a retail account. Most of City National's specialized Latino programs and products are targeted to this second group.

Broadway Federal Bank

The African-American-owned bank has made extensive forays into the Latino community, increasing the number of loans made to Latinos and expanding its corporate board to include both Latino and Asian-American members.

Top management acknowledges the necessity of developing "crossover appeal" with different communities. In doing so, the bank has increased its advertising geared to Latinos. Other techniques for drawing in customers include forging relationships with churches in inner-city areas.

Broadway Federal assigns employees to visit various Latino churches, and to make home visits to help customers fill out loan papers.

Forty-three percent of the bank's workforce speaks Spanish, a number that has increased over the past few years. The bank plans to focus more of its resources on outreach programs specifically geared to Latinos,

Union Bank of California 

In 1998, Union Bank launched a statewide Spanish-language television ad campaign to attract new Latino customers.

Targeted at middle-class, Spanish-speaking adults, the ads offered $100 to start a savings account for a child's education to the first 1,000 customers who opened a checking account with at least $1,000. In addition, the bank donated $10 to a nationally recognized Hispanic scholarship fund for each new account.

In May, the bank's emerging market division joined forces with the Latin Business Association to offer a free, one-year membership in the LBA with each new small Latino business account opened at the bank.

Imperial Bank

Through its involvement in many Latino community activities, Imperial Bank says it wants to increase its profile and penetration of the local Latino market. It is a member of the Latin Business Association and supports specific Latino programs, such as benefit dinners and advertising sponsorships. All of Imperial's Los Angeles branches employ Spanish-speaking workers. It stresses that staff members not only understand the language of the customers they are serving, but that they also understand the culture.

Imperial Bank does not focus any resources directly on the Latino community, preferring to treat all customers as a general marketplace, instead of breaking them into specific ethnic groups.

First Federal Bank of California 

The bank has established a specialized real estate loan program for the Latino community and designated five loan officers to make local realtors aware of it.

The bank derived 3 percent of its total 1998 loan volume from this category and increased that to 5 percent through August of this year.

First Federal estimates that 32 percent of its employees are Latinos.

The Business Journal survey was prepared by Lisa Boren, Jennifer Smith and Karen Teitelman.