Language is the biggest barrier to doing business with the fast-growing Hispanic population. To help banks overcome it, the American Bankers Association and Workplace Spanish Inc. of Roswell, Ga., have developed a program to teach front-line employees enough Spanish for basic banking transactions.
Teri Callahan, the director of the ABA's American Institute of Banking, said state associations and members have been asking for some sort of Spanish education for two years.
The trade group wanted something more useful than a community-college-style or Spanish-for-travelers course, he said.
Tom Sutula, the president and chief executive officer of Workplace Spanish, said a former banker whose native language is Spanish translated many common phrases needed for transactions.
The program skips grammar and emphasizes practical communication and pronunciation, Mr. Sutula said. "It really is designed for simple communication," he said. "It's not designed for language proficiency."
The program, which comes with language guides and an audio disc, can be used for self-study or classroom instruction. It can be completed in as little as eight hours, but many companies take 16, Mr. Sutula said.
The Georgia and North Carolina bankers associations used it first and provided feedback to make it more relevant. Thad Woodard, the president of the North Carolina group, said its members need to be better informed to serve the roughly 1 million Hispanic immigrants in the state.
"We're trying to educate our people in the banking business as to how to better deal with this segment of our society," Mr. Woodard said.
Banks can buy the program through Workplace Spanish's Web site. ABA members get a discount. Ms. Callahan said the ABA would also make it available through 37 state associations.
