CapitalSouth Bank - Press Room

4/26/2004 - CapitalSouth Bank opens Hoover branch to serve growing Hispanic population

Birmingham-based CapitalSouth Bank on May 3 will become the first in the state to open a branch that will specifically cater to the growing Hispanic population.

Banco Hispano, at 3309 Lorna Road in the heart of Hoover's Hispanic community, is unlike anything Alabama has ever seen. From the signage out front to the visual aids within, everything is geared toward those for whom Spanish is the primary and sometimes only language spoken.

A bilingual staff of five stands ready to guide customers through the steps required to set up an account, write checks, pull a credit report or apply for a loan - mundane tasks for most Americans, but a formidable challenge for many Hispanic newcomers who may have done little banking in the past.

Every document and disclosure will be available in both English and Spanish. Outreach sessions will teach interested customers about the entire banking process. Banco Hispano is even considering free English-as-a-second-language courses.

"This is more than just having ATMs and a phone system with a Spanish menu," says CapitalSouth Bank founder, chairman and CEO Dan Puckett. "They may not know how to do these things. We are helping them acclimate and adjust to our culture."

Explosive growth

Puckett says the idea for a Hispanic-focused branch - just the fourth overall for CapitalSouth Bank in its 12-year history - had its genesis in the events of three years ago.

"A group of customers began to show up in our lobbies, and we didn't exactly speak their language," Puckett says. "Our commercial clients were employing them and paying them with a check from us, so they came here to cash the checks. We started opening accounts and designing services for them. We realized we had to be able to communicate."

Finding native speakers with banking experience wasn't easy, but Puckett eventually had a few such employees stationed in CapitalSouth Bank's three existing branches in Birmingham, Fultondale and Pelham, which opened last year.

The metro area's Hispanic population continued to grow, however, rocketing from 4,144 persons in 1990 to 18,657 in 2000 and rising another 36 percent to an estimated 25,343 this year, including 3,441 in the Hoover area, according to the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. Research director Michael Shattuck notes that official figures are extremely conservative.

To better serve its Hispanic customers and help persuade new ones to join, Puckett decided to bring most of the bank's bilingual employees together with a couple of new hires at a dedicated location. And so, with the enthusiastic support of CapitalSouth Bank's corporate clients, Banco Hispano got the green light.

'A basic need'

Cottingham & Foshee Construction Co. Inc. in March began building out 2,000 square feet at the Villages on Lorna shopping center for the new branch, which will be led by Mariela Mendez.

Mendez got her start at one of Costa Rica's few private banks and also previously worked for National Bank of Commerce. "I think it will be a very busy branch," Mendez says. "People are a little bit scared about going to a bank - they're kind of afraid to come and ask us about what they can do at a bank - but they're already coming to us."

CapitalSouth Bank has been getting the word out about Banco Hispano by meeting with local Hispanic businesses and such community leaders as Hernan Prado of the Alabama Latin American Association and Teresa Odom, chair of the chamber's Hispanic Business Council.

It also is exploring local soccer events for marketing opportunities.

"We have a very young Hispanic population here," Odom says.

"Right now the Hispanic community needs a lot of financial literacy. It bothers me when I see Hispanic families buying groceries on the weekend at Wal-Mart, pulling out huge wads of cash. This bank is something I consider a basic need for them."

Puckett says he believes Banco Hispano can overcome misconceptions about the saving and spending habits of Latinos.

"There are folks out there who think this community shouldn't be here or that we shouldn't do business with them. That's just not true," Puckett says.

"Folks will walk in looking for comfort and to hear their language. Five years from now, they'll be acclimated, and they'll stay with us."

With $270 million in assets, CapitalSouth Bank and parent Financial Investors of the South Inc. today employ about 80 people. Puckett expects to open two to four more branches in the next few years.

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http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2004/04/26/story2.html