River City Federal Credit Union has announced its launch of a bilingual mobile banking app, rcitymobile, that is available in both the Apple Apps Store and Google’s Play store.
The San Antonio credit union – with 15,000 members and $157 million in assets – developed its app in association with Catalyst Corporate and Austin, Texas-based apps developer Malauzai.
In a press statement, Kim Heinze, CEO of River City FCU, said: “The Spanish-language capability also allows us to enhance our service to the local Hispanic market, which is an important part of our growth strategy.”
A recent Pew Research study of mobile Internet usage found that in the U.S. Hispanics outpace all other demographics with 49% owning smartphones. That tops 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, the institution plans to add mobile remote deposit capture to its app early in 2013.
The first bilingual mobile banking app was launched in 2008, by IBC Bank in Laredo, Texas. In the intervening years, many other banks have issued bilingual mobile banking apps. The capability is not known to be widely deployed in credit union mobile banking apps, said experts.
