Chartway Credit Union bolsters outreach to Latinos, immigrants at St. George branch

ST. GEORGE — In a bid to reach out to Utah's growing Spanish-speaking and immigrant population, Chartway Credit Union has launched fully bilingual offerings at one of its branches in St. George.

The branch becomes the third in the Chartway system in Utah to provide such offerings under the parameters of the national Juntos Avanzamos initiative, meant to augment banking services in the country geared to immigrants. Moreover, it becomes at least the fourth Juntos Avanzamos credit union branch in the state, including a Granite Credit Union branch in Salt Lake City.

The Hispanic population "has grown significantly down here, and so we saw an opportunity to better serve the needs of the Hispanic community," said Nick Whiting, senior vice president of Chartway's operations in Utah. Latinos have been a key motor to statewide population gains, but some in the group and other minority communities have been historically underserved by the U.S. financial system, according to Melissa Cade, Chartway's chief experience officer.

Notably, staff at the Chartway branch at 1827 W. Sunset Blvd. in St. George speak both Spanish and English. But that's not the only defining feature of Juntos Avanzamos credit unions, a designation that's granted by Inclusiv, a nonprofit New York-based entity that advocates for credit unions across the country serving low- and moderate-income people. Juntos Avanzamos means Together We Advance in English.

Juntos Avanzamos branches also employ "culturally competent staff and leadership, accept alternative forms of ID and treat all of their members with respect, regardless of immigration status," reads the Inclusiv website. More specifically, Chartway's Juntos Avanzamos branches accept individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs — granted to those who can't get U.S. Social Security numbers, including immigrants who aren't here legally — in applications for home, car, business and other loans.

Officials from Chartway, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, held a ceremony on Thursday to celebrate the new focus at the St. George branch. Thanks to the earlier Juntos Avanzamos designations at Chartway branches in West Valley City and Salt Lake City, the credit union helped 70 Latino families using ITIN documentation buy homes in 2023. It has assisted 48 Latino families so far in 2024, 43 of them first-time homebuyers, Cade said.

Several Realtors serving the Latino community in the St. George area attended Thursday's ceremony, telling Chartway officials they've never seen anything like what it's doing, said Cade. "They've lived in St. George their whole life, and they were super excited to see Chartway putting a stake in the ground to serve that community," she said.

In fact, learning the complexities of the U.S. financial system for immigrant newcomers can be difficult, Whiting said, making some shy from involvement with banks. To enter a Juntos Avanzamos facility with staff who speak Spanish, though, "relaxes them, allows them to confidently communicate what their needs are and then how we can serve and meet those needs," he said.

That sort of communication, in turn, promotes trust in the U.S. financial system, Whiting went on, and one of the key aims of Chartway's Juntos Avanzamos efforts is to help the Hispanic and immigrant population "feel like they belong."

In the absence of banking options like Juntos Avanzamos credit unions, Whiting said, some immigrants will use check-cashing operations or other entities that will typically cost more than traditional banks and financial operations. Of the 4,000 or so credit unions across the country, Cade said only 134 have the Juntos Avanzamos designation.

Apart from the three Juntos Avanzamos facilities in Utah, Chartway has two more in Texas and one in Virginia.

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