Canadian banks have their sights set on the rap-idly growing immigrant community. And banks are rolling out increasingly aggressive tactics as they compete to capture new Canadians as clients.

The growth prospects of the immigrant market are undeniable. The number of permanent residents settling in Canada each year has climbed steadily in recent decades, surpassing 250,000 in 2009. International migration already accounts for two-thirds of Canadian population growth and, Statistics Canada predicts, by 2030, 100% of the country’s population growth will come from immigration.

“Those numbers are staggering,” says Rania Llewellyn, former vice president of multicultural banking at Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia, who was recently appointed head of Canadian operations at Scotiabank subsidiary Roynat Capital. “These are new opportunities for us as a bank to capture new clients. It presents a huge opportunity for us.”

Llewellyn was appointed head of multicultural banking at Scotiabank in 2007, when the bank identified the immigrant community as a platform it could use to increase its market share in the retail space.

In the past three years, she has led numerous initiatives catering to newcomers, including the bank’s StartRight program, which offers new Canadians a bank account, a credit card and a safety deposit box — all of which are free of charge for the first year — among other features.

Scotiabank is not alone. All of the major banks in Canada have been aggressively targeting the Canadian immigrant community by investing in major marketing campaigns, specialized banking packages and a range of multilingual resources.

“[Immigrants are] a target market for all the banks,” says Camon Mak, senior manager of multicultural markets at Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada.

The appeal of the market is clear. In addition to the vast growth potential of the market segment, new immigrants have a wide range of banking needs. Within the first few years of arriving, many immigrants need not only a credit card and a place to park their cash, but a mortgage, insurance and investment advice. And because a high proportion of newcomers start businesses soon after they arrive, they often have business-related banking needs.

Says Euan Campbell, head of marketing at Vancouver-based HSBC Canada: “A high percentage [of immigrants] are very entrepreneurial.”

By offering packages for newcomers that cover their basic immediate banking needs, the banks are ultimately securing long-term clients who will continue to generate business for the banks as these clients’ needs evolve.

This was the case for Anwar Paracha, a native of Pakistan who immigrated to Canada with his family in 2002 and settled in the Greater Toronto Area. Having set up a personal bank account with RBC when he arrived in Canada, he turned to the same branch when he needed a business account and a line of credit to start a business a few years later, as well as insurance, an RRSP and advice on investing for retirement.

“Since Day 1, my personal account was with RBC, and I’ve always liked their way of doing business,” Paracha says. “So, I approached RBC for my business account also.”

Securing clients such as Paracha requires banks to act quickly and proactively. Research shows that the average newcomer opens a bank account within two days of arriving in Canada, according to Llewellyn. As a result, the banks are coming out with aggressive tactics to capture these clients as soon as they arrive — or even before they arrive.

Indeed, some banks actively court immigrants before they even set foot on Canadian soil. HSBC Canada, for example, encourages individuals to set up a Canadian bank account and a credit card from their home country — either through a local HSBC branch, a call centre or online — before they leave for Canada. In this respect, the bank benefits from its widespread international presence, which reaches into 84 countries worldwide.

“The journey starts before even coming to Canada,” says Campbell. “We are doing a lot of activity before they come to Canada, in their domestic country.”

Immigrants are receptive to the idea of opening an account before they arrive because it takes some of the pressure off during their first few days in the country, which can be stressful and overwhelming, Campbell says: “The more things you can do before coming to the country, it makes life a lot easier.”
@page_break@Scotiabank also has begun leveraging its international presence to capture new clients while they’re still in their native countries. The bank has established partnerships with banks based in China and India — both of which are major sources of immigrants to Canada — to allow individuals to set up a Scotiabank account and a credit card through local branches of the partner banks before immigrating.

Scotiabank, in an effort to raise its profile abroad, has also teamed up with local immigration agencies in these countries to host pre-immigration workshops. People who are preparing to move to Canada can attend the workshops for information on the Canadian banking system, as well as an overview of life in Canada generally. For Scotiabank, this initiative provides an opportunity to establish relationships with a roomful of prospective clients.

Scotiabank plans to expand these programs to other countries, according to Llewellyn.

In Canada, plenty of the domestic banks’ resources are concentrated on recruiting immigrant clients as soon as possible after they arrive. Banking packages that target new immigrants, designed to set them up with an all-in-one banking package that meets their needs as quickly as possible, often feature shortened application approval periods.

“One of the first things we try to do is to make it as easy and simple as possible,” says Campbell. “Our banking packages and propositions are very much designed around that.”

The banks run robust marketing campaigns promoting these packages to newcomers, and focus on maintaining a particularly active presence in communities with a high concentration of immigrants.

Having multilingual capabilities is critical when it comes to effectively connecting with this market. Because finances are potentially complex and important to immigrants, they are usually more comfortable talking about them in their first language.

“When they’re new to the community,” Mak says, “they may not necessarily want to converse in English as their primary language.”

As a result, RBC and the other banks have made conscious efforts to ensure that their branches and call centres are staffed with workers who speak languages other than English and French. In RBC’s case, telephone service is available in 150 languages.

“We try to hire according to the market demographics,” Mak says. “[Clients] can converse in the language of their choice when they come to see us.”

The banks also have put strong emphasis on offering marketing materials, websites, ATMs and educational resources in multiple languages.

Education has become a major part of all the banks’ efforts in attracting newcomer clients. Most immigrants are unfamiliar with RRSPs, tax-free savings accounts and other vehicles unique to the Canadian financial system, and therefore need to be guided through them step-by-step.

“Education is a very big part of the process,” Llewellyn says. “A lot of the products are complicated enough, as it is, for Canadians who were raised here. If you’re new to the country, and you also have the complexity of a language barrier, it just complicates things.”

Many of the banks offer educational guides to help newcomers understand the basics of banking, investing and borrowing in Canada, and some provide educational seminars on these topics.

Paracha says he was grateful for the guidance he received from RBC when he arrived in Canada: “If somebody holds your hand and helps you out on the financial side, I think that’s an ideal situation. It makes a huge difference.”

These educational efforts extend beyond the financial system. As part of Canadian banks’ efforts to build relationships with newcomers, many offer resources to help immigrants navigate the education system, the employment system and other aspects of Canadian life.

“It’s beyond just financial information,” Llewellyn says. “It’s information about how can we help you settle and get ahead faster here in Canada.” IE