Mountain America Credit Union is using National Hispanic Heritage Month to highlight its bilingual financial services, community partnerships and support for Hispanic families and business owners across Utah and Arizona. The initiative combines community events with year-round financial education, entrepreneurship resources and Spanish-language member support.

Financial Inclusion Becomes Part of Community Banking Strategy

National Hispanic Heritage Month, observed annually from September 15 through October 15, has become an opportunity for financial institutions to examine how they serve Hispanic households and businesses. For Mountain America Credit Union, this year’s activities include cultural events alongside efforts to improve access to financial guidance.

The credit union plans to participate in events spanning music, art, baseball, cultural traditions and community resources in Utah and Arizona. Scheduled activities include Voces En Bloom in Salt Lake City, Juntos Nos Movemos with the Utah Transit Authority, the Festival Latino de Payson, Utah Symphony’s Celebración Sinfónica and the Mexican Baseball Fiesta in Phoenix.

The events form part of a broader community-engagement strategy rather than a new banking technology launch.

Mountain America’s financial-services approach centers on bilingual support for members. Spanish-speaking employees assist families with areas including account opening, credit building, homeownership and longer-term financial planning. Business owners can also receive guidance around business accounts, financing and growth.

That focus reflects a practical issue for financial institutions serving multilingual communities: access is not limited to whether a financial product exists. Understanding eligibility, costs, credit requirements and lending processes can also affect whether households and entrepreneurs are able to use those products effectively.

Hispanic Businesses Create a Growing Financial Opportunity

The economic scale of the U.S. Hispanic population also makes financial inclusion increasingly relevant to banks and credit unions.

According to the Latino Donor Collaborative’s 2026 U.S. Latino Economic Impact Report, produced with Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, U.S. Latino economic output reached $4.4 trillion in 2024. The report says the Latino economy grew at an annualized rate of 5.4% between 2019 and 2024, compared with 2.4% for the overall U.S. economy.

The report also puts Latino household consumption at $2.8 trillion in 2024.

Business ownership represents another part of the opportunity. The 2025 Official LDC U.S. Latino GDP Report found that U.S. Latinos owned approximately 5.7 million businesses in 2022. Those businesses employed more than 3.8 million people and generated $945 billion in annual revenue, according to the report.

For financial institutions, these figures point to demand extending beyond consumer banking. Entrepreneurs may require transaction accounts, credit, financing and other services as their businesses develop.

Mountain America works with organizations including the Arizona, Idaho and Utah Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Latinos in Action, Suazo Business Center, Utah SOMOS Foundation and Mujeres Unidas de Utah. The partnerships cover areas such as financial education, entrepreneurship and workforce development.

Bilingual Employees Support Member Relationships

The credit union says more than 30% of its employees self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. Those employees work across branches, business services, operations and leadership.

Mountain America has also highlighted professional-development initiatives for Hispanic employees. The Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named the credit union its Best Workplace for Hispanic Employees of 2025, according to the organization and Mountain America.

From a financial-services perspective, the significance of bilingual staffing extends beyond translation. Financial decisions can involve complex concepts around credit, lending, homeownership and business financing. Having employees who can communicate in a member’s preferred language can make those discussions more accessible.

The approach also reflects a wider shift in community banking toward financial inclusion as part of customer experience. Digital banking has expanded access to financial products, but digital availability does not automatically eliminate barriers involving language, financial literacy or familiarity with banking processes.

Mountain America’s Hispanic Heritage Month program therefore sits primarily at the intersection of community banking, financial inclusion and bilingual financial education. Its technology component is limited, meaning the initiative is better understood as a service and engagement strategy than as a fintech innovation.

Market Landscape

Financial institutions increasingly compete on more than digital features and transaction capabilities. Customer experience, financial education, language accessibility and support for underserved business communities can also influence how effectively institutions reach new customers.

For Hispanic communities, financial institutions face an expanding market shaped by population growth, business formation, household consumption and demand for services ranging from basic banking to homeownership and business financing.

Bilingual employees, Spanish-language resources and community partnerships provide one way for banks and credit unions to address those access challenges. Technology can complement these efforts through multilingual digital banking, financial education tools and accessible customer-service channels, although those capabilities are not the primary focus of Mountain America’s announcement.

Top Insights

• Mountain America is combining Hispanic Heritage Month community events with year-round bilingual financial education and member support.
• The credit union says more than 30% of its employees self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.
• U.S. Latino economic output reached $4.4 trillion in 2024, according to the Latino Donor Collaborative’s 2026 report.
• Latino-owned businesses represent a significant market for financial institutions serving entrepreneurs and small businesses.
• The initiative highlights financial inclusion and community banking rather than introducing a new fintech platform or banking technology.

Get in touch with our fintech expert