First Fed Delta

F I RST FED DELTA New signs and a new name don’t mean the focus has changed – the bank’s 38 employees remain committed to offering a friendly, easy experience for customers. “Through the years we’ve been focused on basic banking services, primarily checking, savings, and mortgage lending,” says Fortin. “Today, we continue to do that exact same thing. Our mission in our communities is to remain that viable alternative to other banks, where we provide simple, basic banking services, and we don’t expand beyond our horizons.” Prior to COVID, many customers would come into a branch to do their banking, often staying for a visit. Having to adjust to a new way of doing business was a learning experience. As Fortin recounts, “In the beginning, I think everyone was adjusting to not being able to come into the branches. We split up our staff to protect our employees and closed our lobbies to appointment only. A lot of people weren’t used to using the drive-through, especially in our smaller communities. They were used to coming in, saying hi, having a cup of coffee. Well, that kind of changed, out of necessity. We had to protect our employees so we could keep serving our customers.” Being a smaller, neighborhood bank, meant that First Fed Delta’s staff and customers were used to an in-person experience. Direct communication was maintained with customers through Zoom, facetime, and phone calls. Web cameras were added to every branch, and everyone adapted together. “It really worked to our advantage because we were in direct contact with all these customers. They weren’t dealing with a website; they were actually dealing with a live person on the other side of the phone or Zoom call,” says Fortin, adding, “I think the two best technologies we utilized during that time are the oldest technologies – email and the phone.” Working with Fiserv, a global fintech and payment solutions company, First Fed Delta was