The relationship that foreigners have with banking services is growing and becoming increasingly differentiated. Each account holder has at least two payment instruments.
Not only current account services, but also payment instruments and cash management solutions, ie for the management of corporate financial flows, and on the side of both investments and protection. The diversification of banking products and services and the offer of multi-channel and innovative solutions support the processes of inclusion: in the light of the new behaviors and needs that are structured with respect to economic and social integration in the territory, the relationship that foreign citizens have with banking services are growing and becoming more and more complex. In particular, payment services have become the driving force for the financial inclusion of new citizens. It is no coincidence, therefore, if this is the component that has undergone the greatest increase: each account holder has two payment instruments (they were little more than one in the 2011).
The data emerge from the latest survey carried out by Abi in the context of the National Observatory on Financial Inclusion of Migrants managed by the Center for International Political Studies (CeSPI), according to which the ownership of banking products and services is growing for all categories.
The survey is based on data provided by financial operators (banks and BancoPosta) relating to resident migrants, belonging to 21 nationality (equal to 88% of total non-OECD immigrants residing in Italy with the addition of Poland). This is accompanied by an analysis conducted on a representative sample of migrants in the area, which took place thanks to the involvement of foreign communities.
Current accounts and cards with IBAN
According to the survey, at the end of 2017, the 72% of adult migrants residing in Italy is the current account holder of which 47% is registered to foreign women, with an increase of 10 percentage points compared to 2014. Growth that sees migrant women as protagonists of the bankarization process, with growth rates, in the same period of time, higher than those of men.
The percentage of current accounts opened by more than 5 years is up, equal to 44,3% in 2017 (it was 41,2% in 2014). Added to this are the cards with IBAN not linked to a current account at the same bank (over 1,1 million), with an incidence of 32,6%, double compared to 2014 when it was equal to 16,6%.
Internet banking
The relationship with the bank is increasingly “evolved” and the choice of channels is innovative: the 57,5% of current account holders use internet banking (it was 21,8% in 2011). This confirms the rapid process of adaptation by foreign citizens in terms of access to the network and, more generally, of the preference expressed for the use of a multichannel system that allows flexibility without time and place limits.
The "word of mouth"
Word of mouth and the relationship of proximity are the main factors of choice of the bank. The survey shows that 41% of customers choose the bank based on word of mouth about the conditions and services offered. In fact, for the 57% of the migrants interviewed, those who influence their decision are friends and family in Italy, for the 19% the employer or colleagues.