今日主題:Banking for immigrants-Far-sighted 移民金融—未來福地
康康精選GRE&GMAT會考的主題,堅持每天精讀一定會進步的哦!!
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http://xia2.kekenet.com/Sound/2016/…/ecob0205_2649891MVi.mp3
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中英文稿:
Finance and economics
金融商業
Banking for immigrants-Far-sighted
移民金融—未來福地
Catering to foreign-born customers is a growing niche in finance
迎合外來國民的金融需求,正逐漸成為金融中的利基市場
MOST banks wouldn't lend to Roberta. She arrived in New York from Mexico with papers but no credit history. But Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, which specialises in lending to immigrants, gave her advice and a $2,000 loan. She started out selling Mexican food from a cart. She now runs a food truck, employs five people and has plans to expand.
大多數銀行不願意貸款給羅貝塔。她從墨西哥來到紐約的時候,雖然有身份證件,但是卻無信用記錄。只有專做移民貸款的社區信託聯邦信用合作社向她提供了諮詢,並貸款2000美元。她最初在推車上販賣墨西哥菜,如今,她有一輛快餐車,還雇了五名員工,並打算擴大她的生意。
Many immigrants, like Roberta, want to save or start a business. But they struggle to get finance. In America 23% of households headed by a non-citizen, and 35% of households where only Spanish is spoken, have no bank accounts—compared with 8% for the population as a whole. There are multiple barriers: not just low incomes, which make it hard to meet minimum-balance requirements, but also trouble with language, identification and trust.
許許多多的移民希望能經營點生意,或者讓自己的生意不致破產,但是融資是擺在它們面前的一道難關,羅貝塔只是他們中的一個。在美國8%的家庭沒有銀行帳戶。其中,由非美籍公民支撐的家庭占比23%,只會說西班牙語的家庭占比35%。對於他們來說,生活的困難重重:不僅僅是入不敷出的微薄收入,還有語言、身份和信用上的問題。
Neighborhood Trust is trying to change that. More than half its members are Latino, largely from the Dominican Republic, and many are undocumented. Most of the staff are themselves immigrants, and know their members well: they visit borrowers' businesses often and offer workshops on financial literacy. The hands-on approach keeps default rates low.
社區信託正在嘗試改變這種現狀。他們的一半客戶都是拉丁美洲人,大部分來自多明尼加,很多人還沒有證件。社區信託內絕大多數員工本身就是移民,也對其客戶非常瞭解:員工們會經常走訪貸款人的生意,並提供金融素質的培訓課程。得益於這種手把手的方式,違約(還款)率一直很低。
Other financial firms, in both America and Europe, are also finding new ways to serve immigrants. Some are like Neighborhood Trust—small and community-minded. Others are startups hoping for big profits. Oportun is a good example: the American lender has made loans of $1.9 billion since 2006, mostly to Latinos, using big data and clever algorithms to lend to those without a credit history.
美國和歐洲的其他金融公司也正在為移民探索新的業務方式。有的機構像社區信託一樣—規模小而專服務于社區,另外也有指望靠此發財的初創公司。Oportun就是一個好例子:2006年以來,這個美國的貸款公司已經出貸19億美元,主要客戶來自拉美。他們運用大資料和智慧演算法向沒有信用記錄的客戶借貸。
These firms have several tactics in common. The first is to make it easy to open an account—a process that is often unnecessarily slow and intimidating. Monese, a startup based in London, allows European migrants to open an account by phone with just a photo of a passport and a selfie.
這些公司所用策略有共通之處。第一是便捷開戶—通常來講,開戶過程過度拖遝,手續複雜。Monese是一家倫敦的初創公司,他們向歐洲移民提供電話開戶服務,只需要提供護照上的相片和一張自拍即可。
A second shared tactic is to make life easier for those, such as illegal immigrants, who may struggle to prove their identity. Banks can be fussy: in one survey half of unbanked Mexican immigrants in New York said a lack of documentation prevented them opening an account. But many American banks will accept taxpayer identification numbers and consular ID cards, which can be obtained irrespective of immigration status. In New York 12 financial firms, including Neighborhood Trust, accept a new card launched by the city government to help undocumented migrants access services—though no big banks do.
第二是給非法移民的生活提供便利,叫他們不必再費盡周折證明自己的身份。銀行有時很是小題大做:在某調查中,紐約半數的無帳戶墨西哥移民稱沒有身份證明讓他們無法在銀行開戶。但是很多美國銀行也接受納稅識別號碼和領事身份證。這兩項證明不管什麼身份的移民都可獲得。在紐約包括社區信託在內的12家金融公司接受市政府頒發的新卡,這種卡説明無證件移民獲得服務——不過大銀行不會接受它。
Third, instead of waiting for immigrants to come knocking, these firms seek them out. Oportun, for instance, has branches inside shops in Latino neighbourhoods. Mission Asset Fund, a Californian non-profit group, assists informal savings groups in immigrant communities. As members make small, regular payments into a common pot from which they take turns to borrow, they are also able to develop a formal credit history.
第三,與其坐等移民上門,不如出門去找。比如Oportun,在拉美人社區中的商店裡設分支機搆。加利福尼亞的非營利組織Mission Asset Fund則在移民社區裡協助非正式儲蓄小組。小組成員定期向共有的總帳戶存入小筆金額,他們再輪流向總帳戶借錢。通過這種方式,他們便有了正式的信貸記錄。
A final tactic is to tailor services to meet the particular needs of migrants. Extrabanca, in Italy, explicitly markets itself as a bank for immigrants. Many of its customers are from China, the Philippines and eastern Europe. It helps them deal with the red tape involved in renting a house or starting a business. Many American credit unions offer “citizenship loans” to cover the costs of naturalisation. Some offer illegal immigrants loans to pay the fees for amnesty schemes.
最後一點是為移民客戶量身打造所需業務。 義大利的Extrabanca公開以移民銀行的身份推銷自己。他們的很多客戶來自中國、菲律賓和東歐。Extrabanca説明這些客戶處理租房和創業時要經歷的繁文縟節。不少美國信貸聯合機構還提供“公民貸款”,支付移民歸化過程中的花費。有的還借貸給非法移民使其免於牢獄之災。
Larger banks can be put off, at least in part, by regulation. Many have stopped offering international transfers in response to tighter rules on money-laundering and terrorist financing. In Britain, new laws bar banks from opening accounts for illegal immigrants. But some big banks are catching on. Scotiabank, in Canada, allows Chinese migrants to start opening an account before leaving home, through a partnership with three banks in China. Deutsche Bank woos Turkish customers in Germany with a service called Bankamiz (“Our Bank”), which offers bilingual tellers, free withdrawals at ATMs in Turkey and five free transfers to Turkey each year.
大型銀行至少會在某種程度上受規則的局限。因對洗錢和恐怖分子集資的規定變嚴,許多(大型銀行)已經停止境外轉款業務。在英國,新頒佈的法律禁止銀行為非法移民開戶。但是有的大銀行卻還在繼續。加拿大的Scotiabank銀行與中國的三家銀行建立合作關係,允許來自中國的移民在離國之前開戶。 Deutsche Bank則向在德國的土耳其客戶提供名為“我們的銀行(Bankamiz)”的服務,包括雙語出納、在土耳其的ATM上免費提款以及每年五筆免手續費的向土匯款。
Catering to immigrants can be profitable in the long run, suggests Sherief Meleis of Novantas, a consultancy. Banks can win customers who will be loyal for years to come. As Rafael Monge-Portaro, the boss of Neighborhood Trust, says of Roberta: “We trust her and she trusts us.”
長期來看,迎合移民的需求是有利可圖的,諮詢公司Novantas的Sherief Meleis如是說。這樣做,銀行可以贏得幾年內都保持忠誠的客戶。正如社區信託的老闆Rafael Monge-Portaro所說:“我們與羅貝塔互相信任。”
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