Credit for illegals

There's been a fair amount of buzz, at least on talk radio in Southern California, about Bank of America's plan to offer credit cards to Spanish-speaking people without Social Security cards. Here's the editorial the Register ran Friday that looks at the situation from a slightly different angle -- and involved a certain amount of original reporting to get some of the facts that were not in the first sketchy news stories. Comments more than welcome.

Credit where it's due

Why so much anger at Bank of America's offering cards to people without Social Security numbers?

We must confess to befuddlement over all the anger directed at Bank of America for its policy, revealed Feb. 13 in a Wall Street Journal story, that it will offer credit cards to Spanish-speaking people who do not have Social Security numbers. The implication, of course, is that the most-likely candidates for those credit cards would be illegal immigrants.

But consider the context. Like it or not, most authorities believe 10 million to 12 million immigrants are now in the country illegally.

Most of those people are working at some kind of job or another, even if it is day labor, or they wouldn't stay here. Unemployment among Americans is at historic lows, so they are not "stealing" jobs from native-born Americans or legal immigrants. While some illegal immigrants will probably return to Mexico some day, many intend to settle in the United States and would like to establish relative financial stability.

Although it merged with North Carolina-based NationsBank a few years ago, Bank of America is California's largest bank. The bank has marketed aggressively to Hispanics for many years. It is hardly out of line to offer a product that will allow people with little or no credit to start building a credit history.

The Bank of America is not an agency of the federal government. It has not been deputized to enforce the government's immigration laws. Although most banks routinely ask potential customers for a Social Security number (a practice many find dubious), there is no law requiring this.

Like any private business, the bank's most important mission is to increase its customer base and its profit. Knee-jerk opponents of a market economy may decry this, but increasing market share and profit are what businesses do – and in doing so they serve society more effectively than do critics of capitalism or politicians.

Bank of America's media person for credit cards told us the program is not marketed specifically to illegal immigrants but to people who lack solid credit histories. She said it complies with all applicable federal regulations and the Patriot Act.

The credit cards are not handed out like candy to people as they stumble across the border, but are offered to people who have been checking-account customers of the bank for at least three months without bouncing any checks. There's a fee of $99 (refundable after three months of satisfactory activity), the credit limit is only $500, and the interest rate is higher than average.

Some might even argue that this amounts to exploitation. But for many people with no credit history (whatever their legal status), it's worth it to begin to establish credit. There are risks to the bank, of course, but the notion that drug dealers or terrorists would flock to get such credit cards is ludicrous.

Can we calm down a little?