Banks and financial service providers should do their best to address ethnic groups that speak non-native languages.

This is extra urgent if they’re still unfamiliar with the financial services that are offered.

To do this, not only should these groups be addressed in their own language, but also through the specific information channels they use. The question is of course whether the potential revenue increase outweighs the effort made in specialized ad campaigns.

MasterCard, the credit branch of MasterCard Worldwide, expects that the efforts will indeed pay off.

Tv, radio, web, events
The company has announced a marketing and consumer education campaign that speaks directly to U.S. Hispanic consumers. Mastercard will leverage elements across Univision’s television, radio, and online platforms including financial education events conducted in several cities in the country with a strong US Hispanic population footprint.

Dance style
MasterCard released a new 30-second Spanish language commercial entitled ‘Quebradita.’

The commercial emphasizes how consumers can better manage their money through the use of debit and prepaid MasterCard cards. Translated as ‘little break,’ quebradita is a modern, acrobatic Latin American dance style recognizable by its western clothing, hat tricks and daring flips.

The TV ad is aired on Hispanic television stations in eleven important markets in the US with a high concentration of Hispanics: Chicago; Dallas; Harlingen, Texas; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Phoenix; Sacramento; San Antonio and San Francisco.

Cash as primary tool
Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. representing about 15% of the total U.S. Population, according to the U.S. Census.

Reason enough to attempt to gain the trust of this group through extensive campaigning, explained Laura Kelly, senior vice president of Global Prepaid Product Solutions. “Many US Hispanic consumers still rely on cash as their primary tool for managing finances, and in doing so are not able to take advantage of the convenience, security, and cost-savings that electronic payments can offer.”

Please watch the movie below.

Our question:
What do you think? Do banks pay enough attention to various ethnic groups? Are specialized campaigns essential, are they worth the effort?