4 min read February 2024 — Open banking is the direction in which Mary Willis, president and CEO of Fidelity Bank, sees the financial world heading. She sat down with Invest: to discuss Fidelity’s recent accomplishments, the biggest challenges facing the banking sector, and how the bank is supporting the community during times of economic uncertainty.
What sets Fidelity Bank apart from other players?
Fidelity Bank is a 114-year-old community bank. Our long-term strategy isn’t to be the biggest bank, it is to be the best. We do that by creating strong relationships with our customers so we can provide tailored financial guidance and support. Many of our customers are small businesses. We spend time getting to know their business and understanding their unique circumstances so that we can respond quickly to their changing needs. This is what sets us apart from other banks. We give them an experience they cannot get anywhere else.
We currently hold just under $4 billion in assets; over the past four years, our bank has doubled in size. Many of our competitors have grown through mergers and acquisitions and as such, have had to change the way they are structured and support clients. We have grown organically, building one household at a time. As we have grown, we have made it a priority to retain our community feeling and maintain our culture of doing the right thing by our customers and associates. We are very fortunate to be located here in the Triangle region and upstate South Carolina and Virginia. This region along the I-85 / I-40 corridor is experiencing strong population growth of a mostly highly skilled labor force.
What have been the biggest challenges for the bank in the past year?
We are fortunate that through our continuous focus on the Bank’s long-term strategy of safety, soundness, and meeting the financial needs of our businesses and families, we have weathered the Great Depression and the Great Recession which is helping us continue business as usual during this economic uncertainty.
During the past year, the unprecedented interest rate hikes have certainly been a challenge for customers, and we continue to work with them to help manage the impact. Our bank has very strong relationships with entities within the construction and housing development industries, which have experienced extreme shifts over the last few years. These companies continue to grow, with so many new residents coming into North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. North Carolina was voted by CNBC as the best place in the country for business, so many of the markets we are in continue to experience growth even amid the uncertainty in the overall economy
How are you helping your customers to navigate the economic environment?
Our primary customers are small businesses, and our job is to help them achieve their goals and dreams. At the heart of all businesses, large or small, are the people. Our job is to be a financial partner and to provide them with solutions to meet their changing needs. We have many different lines of business in which we can support and serve customers. On the business side, we have a robust credit function, further supported by government-guaranteed lending options, as well as various cash management and treasury solutions. To support the personal side of things, we offer mortgage, trust, and wealth/investment services. Our employees are our biggest asset and what allows us to be able to provide financial partnerships and relationships to our customers. In this challenging environment, we can and do offer our customers different solutions and advice based on their unique circumstances; a service they cannot get elsewhere.
How is the bank supporting the community?
It is important to us to invest our most important asset back into the community: our associates. Our associates live in the communities they serve and are involved in civic clubs, not-for-profit businesses, events, and activities going on in their communities. They know the people and businesses in their communities and can make a real difference. Our employees also receive several days off a year for community outreach work of their choice. Fidelity Bank is a big supporter of the North Carolina Community Foundation, which provides rural North Carolina with grants, scholarships, and donations. We’re able to find investors, sponsors, and other people who want to give to the underserved communities covered by the foundation. We also provided financial literacy lessons in elementary, middle, and high schools.
How do you see the future of banking?
I think technology is going to play a huge part in banking in the future. In fact, it has already changed so much. When the world shut down due to COVID, people were forced to change their habits around spending and banking, and these new habits have not gone away due to how easy and convenient e-commerce is. We want to be able to meet our customers where they are and how they desire, whether that is in a branch or digitally. Convenience, timeliness, and ease of accessing and “seeing” your financial life are expected today. Our job is to be able to provide all of this for our customers, so we will continue to invest in technology and collaborate with technology partners.
What is your outlook for the next two to three years?
The Raleigh-Durham area, along with many other cities in North and South Carolina, is where banks and growing companies want to be. I believe we will continue to see an influx of banking and other business headquarters coming from bases outside of North Carolina. There’s tremendous opportunity in this area, and we, as a bank, are thankful for the opportunities presented and look forward to continuing to expand across North Carolina.
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