Credit unions interested in starting a Hispanic outreach programneed to start by asking the right questions, a new report says.

“Credit unions realize that the face of the American consumer ischanging and that to grow membership, they must adapt to their newconsumers, instead of forcing them to adapt to the credit union,”said Miriam De Dios, vice president at Coopera in Des Moines, Iowa, and author of a white paper on successful Hispanic outreach efforts.

According to De Dios the best potential for lowering the averageage of a credit union's membership is by bringing Hispanic membersinto the fold. As a largely underserved group, helping Hispanicmembers navigate the U.S. financial system is an important part ofthe overall credit union mission, she added.

Coopera was formed in affiliation with the Iowa Credit UnionLeague in 2006 to help credit unions grow their Hispanic market presence and create more bankedfamilies within Latino communities across the country.

“Hispanic outreach is an indispensable investment in thefuture,” said De Dios. “Yet having a Hispanic growth strategy onits own will not generate the kind of success a credit union needs.It is the integration of a Hispanic growth strategy with the creditunion's overall strategic future that will ultimately createsustainable success.”

Questions that need to be asked range from is the credit unionwell positioned to target and serve the Hispanic market and howmany Hispanic members is the credit union serving, to how manyHispanic members could the credit union serve and what is theincome potential?

In addition, the Cooperaexecutive said, credit unions need to find out what milestonesif any they have reached in serving the market and what are thebest practice strategies that will attract and retain Hispanicmembers.

De Dios said the answers for these and other questions will beunique for each credit union as there is no single magic formulathat fits all.