Video Sep 21, 2021

MotionPoint Webinar: Spanish Website Translation for Financial Institutions

I’d like to welcome you to our “Spanish Website Translation for Financial Institutions Webinar”.

It's an honor to have you all here. We will be using our time together sharing valuable information that you can use to generate significant value to your business

This webinar is by no means a “one woman show”, so first i want to thank my wonderful team who helped make today a reality, especially Sheila and Dominic for their support and dedication to bringing high quality content to you today

So, for those of you who haven't met me yet, I am Veronica Pastuch, executive vice president of translation operations here at MotionPoint. I've worked in the language and localization industries for over 18 years, 16 of them helping localize over 1500 websites and working with countless fortune 500 customers.

In case you were wondering where my is accent is from… Well… I was born & raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I moved to the us about 20 years ago to continue my education and to build a career that combines my passion of languages, technology, and social sciences.

So yes, as an added bonus… I am a Hispanic immigrant in the us who has also experienced the challenges that we’ll talk about today, particularly when navigating a financial services system that… Is quite different than that of Latin America.

Needless to say, I am super excited to be sharing information with you today that’s very near and dear to my heart so my intention for this webinar is that you leave informed and empowered to make decisions that will bring significant value to your companies and personally to your careers.

We will be recording this webinar and we’ll send you all the materials discussed today, so you can relax and enjoy… And not worry about taking notes.

First, we will be learning

When and why Spanish speakers are an underserved market for us based banks and credit unions

Also, why Spanish speakers are dissatisfied with the financial information available to them

We will be covering “the opportunity cost of not translating into Spanish”

As well as “federal language compliance guidelines”

And last but not least, my recommendations on how to translate websites for Spanish speakers

So, let’s get to it! There’s a lot to cover

Slide 2:

Why are Spanish speakers an underserved market for US based Banks and Credit Union

Simply said, there isn't enough key financial information in Spanish from banks and credit unions and the fact is that the us Hispanic population continues to grow. This is a culture that values their heritage and language, and that will remain in the us for a long time.

In fact, 60.5 million Hispanics live in the U.S.

That means that 19% of the us population is or has Hispanic heritage… And almost all of them (95%) believe it’s important for future generations to speak Spanish.

In the last 10 years, this segment of the population has grown 19% on average, and actually 26% in the U.S. South

When asked about their preferences,

95% of Hispanics say it’s important that future generations speak Spanish

And they mean what they say, when we see that 80% of second-generation Hispanics speak fluent Spanish and that 73% of us Hispanics speak Spanish at home

However, the data also shows that the need is also significant, as

One-third of Hispanics speak English less than "very well" or at all. This means just under 20m us Hispanics can't consume English content online.

Slide 3

The opportunity to better serve the Hispanic market is there, and we can’t overlook the fact that us Hispanics have been thriving recently, in fact

Most Hispanic households earn more than $100,000 a year, an amount that has gone up 300% in the past 10 years.

Hispanic owned businesses are increasing at a significant faster pace than the us average.

And most importantly, 8/10 Hispanics seek out financial information much more than the us average.

Slide 4

Why are Hispanics dissatisfied with the financial information available to them?

A third of us Hispanics say that they’re either unbanked or underbanked.

(for example only 50% have a checking or savings accounts vs 72% of Non-Hispanics)

The reality is that:

They have more problems accessing their funds because of a language and service barrier,

They are dissatisfied with the information available to them

And don’t have enough information to know what services are right for them.

Slide 5

So how can we better serve their needs?

Well, US Hispanics are seeking specific information:

Twice as many of us Hispanics want information about buying a home, compared to non-us Hispanics,

They’re also twice as likely to invest in real estate, which makes offering them information about it even more lucrative.

They’re also 1.5 times more likely to start a business and just as likely to invest in retirement accounts.

Slide 6

So as businesses, what is the opportunity cost of not translating into Spanish?

Well…the US Hispanic market's banking intent…. Combined with how underserved it is, makes website translation a potential business catalyst for your bank or credit union.

The numbers tell us that

67% of consumers with limited English proficiency prefer to transact online in their native language. But 40% prefer to read in their own language even if they know another.

75% transact more than once when customer experiences are localized3 compared to 40% of people with limited English proficiency never transact on sites that aren’t translated.

Slide 7

So here is some insiders information you won’t find anywhere else.

We looked at the data we've recorded from our bank and credit union customers over the past year and we noticed that banks and credit unions saw a 30% YOY increase in web traffic to translated sites. And that Spanish language users generate more on-site engagement than English users.

30% of web visitors are returning users and 70% are new users seeking information on products and services.

So, the numbers make sense from a macroeconomic perspective but these MotionPoint insights are telling that banks and credit unions can manage a big lift in engagement coming from translated sites for ourselves.

Slide 8

The federal government is catching up to these statistics, and we now see that legislation is growing in this area.

We have an opportunity to get ahead of the curve and be the first ones to solve this business challenge

The consumer financial protection bureau (CFPB) recently issued language compliance guidelines.

Legislation would require lenders to provide translated materials.

Businesses that exploit limited English proficiency customers will have action enforced upon them.

And the us department of housing will penalize providers for discriminating based on language proficiency status

Slide 9

Website translation is really hard as it needs to be marry translation and technology very well.

Buying linguistic and cultural fluency is challenging, but it can be done

Fluency in technology and a seamless combination of the two… That’s much harder to find

That’s because websites are becoming more and more complex, and technology needs to be able to:

Detect and capture all the content for translation

Be compatible with apps and dynamic content

Create a flawless user experience, that’s fully functional

Must meet stringent security standards

Must incorporate workflows that allow for rapid access of the content for the translation team to be able to meet short turn around times

Slide 10

Much of the complexity in translating websites for banks and credit unions has to do with the technical aspect of it.

While on the surface it may appear simple because what we see are elements like html, images, and documents, there is a whole different world underneath that requires a strong technology capable of handling:

Multiple tech stacks

Varied content sources and embedded tech like ajax and json

Secure applications

And progressive web apps

And we need to do all of that while ensuring that the user experience is flawless:

The text alignment needs to be right (as many languages are longer than English and the text tends to wrap on the page)

Navigation must be maintained

Metadata needs to be translated

On site search must work in the new language

And on top of that, we want to be able to localize and customize to the customer’s preference

Slide 11

So, what have we learned from that our banking and credit union customers are telling us?

It’s that what they need help the most with is their ability to capture content from all these complex technologies.

And there are several ways that they prefer to do so. Some find that

Proxy technology is a great fit, because it enables them to have a fully functional translated website in Spanish with virtually no effort upfront or ongoing

Others prefer to use

CMS Connectors – for a customizable and scalable translation management

Or

Flexible APIs to leverage translated content for on-site and multichannel use

Slide 12

My recommendation is that when selecting a vendor, you look for things such as:

Airtight security

Content detection – you want to make sure that all the content (but only the content that needs to be translated) is captured

That it provides a fully functional language experience with:

Intelligent Language Detection

Localized on Site Search

Global Site Maps

URL Translation

That allows you and your team the flexibility to be part of the translation workflow with easy to use editorial and localization tools

Slide 13

MotionPoint has been doing this for the past 20+ years and we have been supporting 6 out of 10 top banks and credit unions offering an enterprise solution to translate websites, portals, images, videos, documents, apps and more

It’s been an absolute pleasure having you here today, so now i am opening the floor up for questions.