Scotiabank inks deals with Asian banks

StartRight’s target – the “newcomer market,” or foreigners who have been in Canada less than three years – is a population that numbered more than 550,000 last year, says Pankaj Meh ra, Sco tia bank’s director of India, South Asia and the Philippines markets, citing information compiled by Immigration and Citizenship Canada.

“The StartRight program addresses the needs of all newcomers to Canada,” Mehra says. “It provides them advice on how they can settle into this country using the banking products and services that we are able to offer.”

Mehra will not divulge how many people are part of the StartRight program, but says Scotiabank continues to expand its geographical reach through agreements such as those made recently with banks in China and India.

In September, Scotiabank inked a referral agreement with India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. to provide financial services to people emigrating to Canada and to Indo-Canadians seeking accounts and investment services in India. Certain Kotak Mahindra Bank branches will offer Canada-bound residents of India with access to the Scotiabank StartRight program.

In Canada, some Scotiabank branches will help non-resident customers of Indian descent who want to open bank accounts in India by referring them to Kotak Mahindra Bank’s MyIndia program.

Scotiabank also has concluded an agreement with Bank of Xi’an, in which Scotiabank owns a minority stake. Under this deal, Chinese immigrants, international students and foreign workers planning to move to Canada will be able to open an account with Scotiabank through 10 participating Bank of Xi’an locations in Xi’an, China.

Once in Canada, those customers can visit their local Scotiabank branch to activate their accounts, apply for a credit card and take advantage of other benefits of the StartRight program.

Scotiabank also has a partnership with China Everbright Bank, which began in 2009.

Says Mehra: “Because we have a very limited presence in China and India, whether through our rep offices or our branches, we reached out to form potential alliances over there.”

Although the majority of StartRight participants are looking for standard retail banking services, he adds, a smaller percentage (who bring assets with them to Canada) are provided with investment and wealth-management services.

“There is certainly a segment of people that require specialist advice,” Mehra says, “and we do hold their hands and point them in the right direction: either our [ScotiaMcLeod Inc. brokerage subsidiary] or other wealth-management areas. A lot of [these clients] are interested in managing their investments themselves, and we have a unique Scotiabank iTrade platform that they are able to use.”

Wi th Scot i a-bank’s focus on newcomers to Canada, it has been first to market with some services of benefit to newcomers, such as providing credit cards on an unsecured basis for qualified customers and automobile loans through alliances with a number of auto manufacturers.

“So, people – absent a credit history, absent any income or job – they still qualify for an auto loan,” Mehra says. “They also qualify for a mortgage, although our experience has been that a newcomer’s first priorities will be to find a job, a rental place and then, gradually, as they get a job, they look for a bank loan to get a mortgage.”

Scotiabank also offers newcomers free bank accounts for up to one year and access to safety deposit boxes – “Typical things that a newcomer normally needs,” says Mehra.

The key component of Scotiabank’s StartRight program is providing knowledgeable advice that evolves as the client’s status goes from a newcomer to established citizen with a job, home and investments. “Underlying all of the products and services we offer,” Mehra says, “the key component is advice.”

Scotiabank’s website also allows clients to select from a menu of 53 languages in which to be served and will display nearby branches that cater to clients in that language. A minimum of two employees have to speak a language to show up in that search result.

Mehra well knows the financial challenges facing newcomers, as he moved to Canada about 15 years ago but knew very little about this country’s financial services industry.

“Somebody had to tell me,” he says. “At that point in time, I don’t think we had something like the StartRight program.”

For more on dealing with the needs of newcomers, see page 8.

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