Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2009

Banking the Mexican Immigrant Population: Analysis of Profiling Variables

Paulina Ennis

January 2008

Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to provide actionable recommendations for banks to target the Mexican immigrant market. To achieve this, I analyze survey data collected from the Mexican immigrant population to amplify a subject commonly seen from a sociological viewpoint – the immigrants’ use of bank accounts with the objective of accumulating money to send home. Specifically, the objective of this paper is to answer the following questions:  Does having a bank account entail larger amounts of savings sent to Mexico at the end of the migration spell?  What is the profile of a bank account user within the Mexican migrant population? What does this mean in terms of targeting the Mexican migrant market?