Immigrants, Credit Cards?

Recently, banks have dramatically increased their efforts to reach out to immigrant groups for an additional market, financial experts said.  But In Richmond Hill, where more than half of the population was born outside the United States, many immigrants did not want to speak about whether or not they have credit cards.  One person who did comment raised the concern that many immigrants distrust the concept of credit cards.

“The government is 100 percent behind them,” said Augusto Cerrone, a 56-year-old immigrant from Italy. “By the end of the year, the IRS says you spent this much, when you only earned this much.  It’s to get the cash out of the people.  It’s to keep tabs on how much you spend.”  Cerrone, who came here thirty years ago, works as a shoemaker in Richmond Hill.  He said when he uses his credit cards he quickly pays the bills.

Cerrone’s attitude towards credit companies reflects a general mistrust held by those who may not have knowledge of how credit works.  There are an unknown amount of immigrants living in the United States, and credit card usage data for this demographic does not exist, said Doug Massey, a professor at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University.

“Immigrants tend to be hard to interview,” Massey said.  “There’s an unprecedented anti-immigrant hysteria that has terrified the immigrant population.”  Whether this is true for Richmond Hill and Woodhaven specifically remains unseen. About a dozen immigrants on Jamaica Ave. refused comment for this article.

Some immigrants don’t want credit cards.  “Many new immigrants are just uncomfortable to take debt,” said Brian Jurski, acting director of the Small Business Development Center at LaGuardia Community College.  “If you had to take financing, there’s something wrong with you,” he said is an attitude some immigrants’ hold.

Many immigrants, particularly new arrivals, live in a cash-based culture.  “I would say 50 percent of the workforce works with cash,” said Cerrone.  “They don’t get paid by credit.”

There are also numerous factors that deter immigrants from applying for credit cards.  “Some of the challenges or barriers of immigrants not using credit is a lack of knowledge and identification,” said Deyanira Del Río, associate director of Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, a community resource and advocacy group.

“A lack of credit is the biggest thing,” said Laura Kozien, the communications project manager at Accion, a non-profit loan company.  Credit is usually a necessity for credit card applications, which Kozien added, “Many immigrants have not been given that opportunity.”

These difficulties may be why banks have stepped up their efforts. “Credit cards are a way to reach out to the immigrant populations,” Jurski said.

Some of those who responded to questions in front of a Chase bank in Richmond Hill said they acquired their credit cards from Chase.

Trihme Harrchame, 49, from Guyana, said he was initially rejected because he did not have work.  Chase eventually granted him a credit card after he started working construction jobs.  Harry Persaud, 55, also a Guyanese immigrant, said a Chase card is one of his many credit cards.

Attitudes toward credit are changing with generations.  “I would say that the new immigrant youth are a very active consumer base,” Jurski said.  “They have different views on consumption than their parents.”

Danny Ruidiaz, 23, the son of immigrant parents, uses his credit card about every day, mostly to buy food, he said.  “I work in an airport, so I don’t like carrying cash with me.”