Multilingual Web Site Offers Financial Advice

A Miami-based Web site is bringing financial information to U.S. Latinos in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Bancointernet.com (https://www.bancointernet.com), launched late last month, offers a menu of information, ask-the-expert counseling, e-mail, and chat on topics including money transfer services, home loans and personal finance.

It follows on the heels of several sites offering financial information to U.S. Latinos, including https://www.consejero.com. But Bancointernet.com is striving for more. Its parent, BI Financial Inc., has filed a letter of intent to acquire Orlando-based Metro Savings Bank. If the deal is approved by regulators, the site will become the first virtual bank catering to Latinos here.

Among the planned offerings: traditional services such as checking, savings, mortgage lending and credit card access. But Bancointernet.com also plans to offer products geared specifically to Latino families here. Those include mortgages for non-U.S. citizens and family joint savings accounts, a Bancointernet.com spokeswoman said.

So far, three-fourths of visitors to the site have chosen to view it in Spanish, while 20% preferred English and 5% preferred Portuguese.