Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Chesco bank sets up initiative that aims to help Hispanics
BRYN MAWR » The founder of an organization that helps Latinos to succeed and the past winner of the Chester County Legacy award has been instrumental in forming a new initiative.
Bryn Mawr Trust has announced the creation of the BMT Multicultural Advisory Board. The advisory board is chaired by Miguel F. Alban of Kennett Square, Vice President of Multicultural Banking at Bryn Mawr Trust and founder of The Hispanic Approach, a consulting firm that helps businesses to bridge the gap to the Hispanic markets.
“I am delighted to be leading the new Multicultural Banking for Bryn Mawr Trust,” Alban said. “Our Multicultural Board is charged with advising management on matters important to the diverse communities that BMT serves. Our goal is to ensure we hear the voices of all our constituents, and in response bring real-world financial solutions to help individual lives and businesses in the communities we serve.”
The board is charged with advising management on matters important to the diverse communities that BMT serves. “The board’s guidance on business matters and their feedback on our client services will certainly help us operate with increased cultural awareness and sensitivity,” said BMT Executive Vice President Joe Keefer. “It’s about doing our best to serve the underserved in our communities throughout the Philadelphia region.”
Bryn Mawr Trust bolstered their multicultural banking initiative in January of this year with the appointment of Alban. At the time, BMT Banking Division President Kevin Tylus noted the diversity of the Delaware Valley and that “BMT is committed to being inclusive, to providing a full range of financial services to all our constituents, and to fostering strong community relationships.”
For years, the Hispanic market has been largely ignored by mainstream businesses.
According to U.S. Census Bureau, there are roughly 54 million Hispanics living in the United States, representing approximately 17 percent of the U.S. total population, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. And it is growing by 2.3 percent annually; Hispanics are expected to represent 31 percent of the total US population by 2060.
According to a recent report by the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Hispanic buying power has increased 181 percent from $495 billion in 2000 to $1.4 trillion in 2016. The report also shows the increase of the African-American buying power from an estimated $1.2 trillion in 2016 to an estimated $1.5 trillion by 2021.
“The new program will greatly enhance efforts to aid the Multicultural community locally,” Alban said. “We are building our multicultural program with community trust as the cornerstone, and working with so many key influential and well respected community leaders, as great sounding boards, will keep us focused on the most meaningful programs. This is just the beginning, and the future of this program is very bright.”