Mina Worthington Of Solarity Credit Union On The Future Of Money and Banking

An Interview With David Liu

Be Resilient. The most important skill you can foster for your success is resilience. In today’s ever-changing world, where information is being hurled at us non-stop, business leaders must have the courage, conviction and wherewithal to endure — and bounce back from setbacks.

The way we bank has changed dramatically over the last decade. It was not too long ago when you had to wait in line in a bank to deposit money. Today things are totally different. You can do your banking without ever walking into a bank. In addition, the whole concept of money has changed. In the recent past, money usually meant bills and coins. But today, the concept of money has expanded to include digital currency and NFTs. What other innovations should we expect to see in banking in the short and medium term?

To address this, we are talking to leaders in the banking, finance, and fintech worlds, to discuss the future of banking and money over the next few years. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mina Worthington, president and CEO of Solarity Credit Union.

Mina Worthington is the president and CEO of Solarity Credit Union, a Yakima, Washington-based credit union serving more than 54,000 members in the Pacific Northwest with more than $1.3 billion assets under management. Worthington’s served in this role since 2008 and led the organization through a robust digital transformation, creating an innovative and unique banking experience for members. During the course of her career, Mina has worked in various capacities in the financial services industry, including accounting and finance, lending, IT and operations.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in this industry?

I took a class my senior year of high school called “work experience,” which let me out of school at noon. I applied at a bank branch for a teller position. I was totally motivated by the old adage about “banker’s hours” — which, at the time, was the truth! The most amazing thing about having that job is that people my age and older would constantly ask me, “How did you get that job?” to which I would reply, “I applied for it.” That was the beginning of my realization that I was only limited by what I perceived was a limitation.

Upon graduation, I went on to get a full-time job at a local credit union where my mom was a member. I worked my way up from teller to new accounts to loan officer to accountant while I was in college. It was at that credit union I decided I wanted to become a credit union CEO. Although I didn’t realize it until many years later, the reason I thought that job was within the realm of possibility for me had to do with the combination of (1) not having limiting thoughts and (2) the CEO of that credit union was female.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite quote is “Control is an illusion. The only thing we can truly control is our own reaction to whatever is presented to us.” While I have understood this intellectually for many years, it was only about five years ago that I began to be able to apply this emotionally. It is relevant to most everyone, because feeling out of control is what causes 99% of our human stress. If we instead work to master our emotions and have neutral or positive reactions to information and situations presented to us, we may view them as learning moments, which can help us become heathier adults. Unfortunately, at present, our society is regressing in this regard.

Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

The most crucial strategic initiative being worked on at Solarity Credit Union is executing on the philosophy of member obsession. Financial services is a highly regulated industry, so we can make many excuses as to why we do not put the member (our customer) at the center of leadership, strategic and operational decisions. The reason for doing this is that organizations that adopt a philosophy of member obsession see massive improvements in customer loyalty, growth and return on investment. According to Forrester Research, Inc., member-centric companies are 60% more profitable than their competitors. Transforming our members’ experiences increases member-generated revenue by increasing retention and share of wallet, while simultaneously attracting new members to our brand. Member obsession is a process that reduces or eliminates friction in experiences and makes it easier for members to bank with Solarity. Additionally, it is very inspirational for the people who work for us. Not only does making our members’ lives better give their work real meaning but also, you simply cannot value customers without placing significant value on your employee base. Great employee experiences contribute to great member experiences.

How do you think this might change the world?

If all businesses centered their organizations around their customers, then businesses would create tremendous value for the people they serve. If businesses were created to produce value for customers rather than shareholders, we would eliminate the motivations for fraud, greed, deception and a host of other things. Capitalism gets blamed for creating these things, but I think that is a myth. Capitalism is great, but I believe the value equation has gotten off-kilter.

What most excites you about the banking or payments industry as it is today? Can you explain what you mean?

The most exciting thing is that the concept of convenience has changed from a bank branch on every corner to a functional smart phone application with a frictionless experience. This makes it easier for smaller financial institutions to compete with the large national banks.

What most concerns you about the banking or payments industry as it is today? What would you suggest needs to be done to address that?

The thing that concerns me most is the financial services industry is not known for embracing the innovation mindset. While there are opportunities for smaller organizations to embrace change, I’m concerned that most do not. There are many changes happening in the payments space, including FedNow, coming in 2023. This has the potential to create disruption that may challenge less innovative organizations as they try to adapt and replace revenue sources like interchange.

How would you articulate how the concept of money has changed in recent times? Is it really a change? How is it still the same? Can you explain what you mean?

The trend over the last several years has been that people save less and spend more. The teens in my home (who I happen to have given birth to and raised) go so far as to say that having savings is “stupid.” They believe that all money should be invested in some form of asset and that all gains are short term in nature. No one is playing a long game any longer. I will be interested to see how this strategy plays out.

Based on your vantage point as an insider in the finance industry, what innovations should we expect to see in banking in the short and medium term?

Short term innovations will consist of further disruption from FinTechs in areas where financial institutions make money from fees, such as payments. In the medium term, I think we can expect to see large techs going into financial services. Think Apple Bank.

How has the pandemic changed the way banks interact and engage with their customers?

While branch transaction trends have been steadily declining for years, the pandemic forced customers to use more remote and self-service options. Customers are less likely to come into physical branches once they learn they don’t have to. While I see that customer expectations for engagement with their bank or credit union have shifted, both banks and credit unions are slow to adapt.

In your particular experience, how has the pandemic changed the way you interact with, and engage your customers?

Solarity viewed this as a major opportunity to teach people how to make their banking transactions easier at a time when they were most open to the concept. We have reduced in-branch banking transactions by 38% since 2019.

In my work in the telecom space, I’m very interested in the importance of user experience. How much of your interactions have moved to digital such as chatbots, encrypted messaging apps, phone, or video calls? How has this shift impacted the user and customer experience? What challenges do these apps present when used as a customer engagement tool?

Shifts in the way members interact with us are an important area of continued study. Thus far, we have found that a fantastic user experience via technology must be supplemented with human interaction and/or intervention at pivotal moments. At Solarity, we segment our members based on their use of digital versus human channels of delivery. Our most digitally centric segment is one we named “Digital Dave,” who conducts 95% or more of their banking transactions through digital or self-service channels, like online and mobile banking, ACH and ATMs. But even Digital Dave needs help from our branch staff 5% of the time, and the experience they receive at those moments is critical to retaining their relationship with Solarity. As much as consumers have embraced the “new normal” of digital banking for day-to-day transactions, the way we treat members when they are face-to-face affects how they feel about our brand.

During the pandemic, we took advantage of the closure of our lobbies to transform them into a self-service model. We replaced the teller line with Smart ATMs that enable members to do virtually all of their day-to-day banking using a kiosk interface. When we reopened the lobbies, our Digital Dave segment immediately embraced the new model. Other members complained and wanted the tellers back, but we repeated how this was a “better way to bank” and showed them how easy the Smart ATMs were to use. This month marks the one-year anniversary of the change. Some of the most gratifying feedback we now receive is how much our previous skeptics have embraced the model and love the ease and effectiveness of the Smart ATMs. Our Net Promoter Score has rebounded from a low of 28 the month we reopened the lobbies to 60 one year later; and our member satisfaction score moved dramatically from 47 to 80 in the same time frame.

If you could design the perfect communication feature or system to help your business, what would it be?

Most companies are communicating across multiple channels (email, text, call centers, push notifications, etc.). The key is using data and knowing our members to: a) give them the ability to set preferences, b) communicate with them at key moments with relevant, useful information and c) grow the ability for AI systems to be predictive for what is most helpful to members at the right time.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need to Create A Highly Successful Career In The Modern Finance, Banking and Fintech industries?

Here are the 5 Things You Need to Create a Highly Successful Career in the Modern Finance, Banking and Fintech Industries, in descending order of importance:

• #5 — Embrace Ambiguity. Learning to act without knowing all of the details is a critical skill in our modern banking landscape. As I mentioned earlier, banking is not known for its innovation primarily because innovation involves wading into the unknown. You will rarely have 12 case studies that detail the playbook for executing toward your goal. Fear of the unknown and ambiguous can be paralyzing; but having the ability to take action without all the details is crucial. At Solarity, embracing the ambiguous was especially important during the two years of the pandemic, while we raced to redefine the model for our branches. It takes courage to embrace ambiguity. But if you can combine courage and confidence to lead your teams and organizations into the unknown and ambiguous future, I believe you will be better for it.
• #4 — Possess Ambition. The willingness to set goals that stretch yourself, your teams and your organization is a key ingredient for success. It is only by doing so that you learn new things. Embrace discomfort and lean into using your imagination to discover innovative solutions to the ambiguous challenges of the unknown future. I have found that this becomes more powerful when you surround yourself with people who are also ambitious people who are driven and bring their passion to everything they do. Their energy and focus will create feedback loops that empower your own energy and success. “A rising tide lifts all boats” is a saying that I’ve certainly found to be true.
• #3 — Embody Empathy. Practicing empathy helps you avoid the gravitational pull toward judgement and cynicism, two negative reactions to which people rarely respond in a positive and collaborative manner. One way to practice empathy is to ask questions instead of making conclusions. Use your listening skills to understand not only the facts of the situation, but more importantly the forces that affect the person or team with whom you are interacting. Another way to empathize is to ask yourself, “will my response be helpful?” If I were to show up as “great” to this situation and leave everyone feeling better for having had the interaction, how should I behave? However, embodying empathy does not mean avoiding conflict. I have found it is extremely empathetic to have difficult conversations in an appropriate and timely manner. If you ask questions and bring your best self to each response, conflicts can be addressed honestly and respectfully.
• #2 — Foster a Growth Mindset. Individuals with a growth mindset are never satisfied with the status quo. You must challenge assumptions and identify root causes in order to unlock creative thinking that enables innovative solutions. I have found that the relentless pursuit of learning and development is critical to the discovery of what is possible versus what is currently the reality.
• #1 — Be Resilient. The most important skill you can foster for your success is resilience. In today’s ever-changing world, where information is being hurled at us non-stop, business leaders must have the courage, conviction and wherewithal to endure — and bounce back from setbacks.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If I could inspire a movement in business, it would be a movement toward customer obsession. Too many businesses are mired in the stage of customer maturity that is called “customer aware.” They acknowledge the importance of their customers but lack the ability to reimagine processes or procedures that create friction and dissatisfaction in their customer experiences. Not only are these businesses less successful in growing and achieving better outcomes, but they also create stress and poor outcomes for their customers. To accelerate toward customer obsession, businesses should know their ideal customer fully and deeply; focus on their ideal customer rather than attempting to serve an indistinct audience; and then place that ideal customer at the center of everything they do, from leadership and strategy to operations. To read more about customer obsession, I recommend starting with a foundation in “Good to Great,” by Jim Collins and “Blue Ocean Strategy,” by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne and following the research by Forrester Research, Inc.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Solarity’s transition toward becoming a member-obsessed organization is well underway. Achieving a state of reliable, consistent member obsession is our goal. Our Customer Experiences are entwined with our User Experiences throughout our delivery channels, including our Digital Experiences on our website and mobile app. And none of this will be achieved without a great Employee Experience. We call this the collection of the Xs, with CX, UX, DX and EX all playing a role in creating frictionless, easy and effective experiences for our customers. You can follow us online at www.solaritycu.org and you can find me on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.

Thank you for having me!