Business View Magazine l October 2022

99 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 F IDEL I TY BANK , NORTH CAROL INA business owners who didn’t bank with Fidelity. “They were so appreciative and saw that we truly were a relationship bank, that we really want to help them. Our bank has doubled in size in the past three and a half years, so that kind of tells you the magnitude. A lot of this started with PPP and what we were able to do in the community,” describes Willis. While the Bank never fully closed its doors to customers during the pandemic, there was an opportunity to leverage some technologies, using ZOOM and other platforms to meet with customers and interact within the organization. A new front-end loan system was also brought in during COVID, and is currently being implemented. This will streamline the loan process, as part of an effort to provide the most up to date services to customers. Fidelity bank has also created a new role within the executive management team, with the top priority of making sure that they stay current with technology. While some customers were hesitant to use virtual banking applications prior to COVID, there has been a notable shift, with more people beginning to embrace these options. Willis maintains, “The Bank never pushed anybody to go mobile or go online. I think, Mary Willis, President and CEO