River City Federal Credit Union has announced its launch of abilingual mobile banking app, rcitymobile, that is available inboth the AppleApps Store and Google's Play store.

The San Antonio creditunion –with 15,000 members and $157 million in assets – developed its appin association with Catalyst Corporate and Austin, Texas-based apps developerMalauzai.

In a press statement, Kim Heinze, CEO of River City FCU, said:“The Spanish-language capability also allows us to enhance ourservice to the local Hispanic market, which is an important part ofour growth strategy.”

A recent Pew Research study of mobile Internet usage found that in the U.S. Hispanicsoutpace all other demographics with 49% owning smartphones. Thattops whites (at 42%) and blacks (at 47%).

River City indicated that its mobile app is a work in progress,with an augmented feature set planned. For instance, theinstitution plans to add mobile remote deposit capture to its appearly in 2013.

The first bilingual mobile banking app was launched in 2008, byIBC Bank in Laredo, Texas. In the intervening years, many otherbanks have issued bilingual mobile banking apps. The capability isnot known to be widely deployed in credit union mobile bankingapps, said experts.