A Look at Latin American Immigrants' Financial Behaviors

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's latest Profitwise News and Views addresses the subject of immigrant participation in mainstream (retail) financial service markets. "Immigrants tend to be less "banked" (i.e., use alternative and more costly financial service providers, such as check cashers and payday lenders) than the native population across income levels, though transaction account use correlates positively with higher income. The 2000 Survey of Income Program Participation reveals that 53 percent of Mexican immigrants and 37 percent of other Latin American immigrants remain unbanked, compared to about 9 percent of the total U.S. population." The article was written by Katy Jacob and Carrie Jankowski.