WEBVTT - America’s Largest Black-Owned Bank 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:09.560 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg Business 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:13.800 Week with Carol Masser and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:16.759 We've been talking a lot about bank earnings. Morgan Stanley 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.360 reporting beating Wall Street estimates ending the day of about 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.079 four and a half percent. Bank of America, second largest bank, 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.160 reporting earnings as well on in the day, up about 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.840 as much. And as you mentioned, Carol, a good moment 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.120 to look at smaller banks as well. Of course, some 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:30.560 regional banks is going to be reporting here in the 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.920 coming days. But Terry Williams joins us now in studio 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.159 here in New York, President and chief operating officer of 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.760 one United Bank that's a black owned bank, digital and 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.160 traditional with branches in Boston, Los Angeles, and Miami. Almost 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.280 one billion dollars in loans, most in low to moderate 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.479 income communities. Changes us here in the studio. Great to 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:48.519 have you with us. 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:49.320 Great to be here. 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:50.960 And for those unfamiliar with the bank, tell us a 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.920 bit about it. So who you serve and how you've 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:54.920 grown here in recent years. 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.120 Yes. Sure. First of all, we're a CDFI community development 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.560 financial institution and our focus is on building wealth and 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.760 low to mottered income communities. But we're also a digital bank, 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.920 so ninety percent of our customers come to us online. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.120 Not in person, No, not in person, not in person. 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:13.440 And we've been a digital bank for twenty years, so 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.080 we really have been a long time in this space. 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.480 And we're about to introduce a really exciting product. It's 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:24.600 called Wise one, and it's a conversational virtual agent that 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.560 will help people manage their money. We're doing this in 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:32.360 partnership with Google Salesforce as well as JP Morgan and City. 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.240 I would say, in this new evolution of technology, you 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:39.960 need partners and so we've really been thrilled to have 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:44.280 Google really help us through this and using Gemini as 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:46.000 the tool. 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.560 Yeah, that is certainly their AI tool and kind of 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.440 what you know, you've got Touch ept, Open AI, you've 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:54.320 got Google got their version one. Thing I'm going to 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.240 ask you about, Terry though, when it comes to I 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.680 feel like the financial community all communities, like education is 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:03.640 such a big part and especially in I think areas 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:08.520 where there are individuals that are unbanked or underbanked. So 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:10.760 tell us about how that plays into because I get 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.280 a little nervous when we start like going online. 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.080 And figuring out things. Is there an educational component to 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:16.440 all of this? 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.239 Absolutely, In fact, it is the educational component. That's that's 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:24.200 really what we're about. So the tool actually teaches you 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:28.240 financial literacy by giving you actionable insights about what you 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.440 can do with your money. If you say to people, oh, 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.720 co take this course on money management, you know two 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.040 people will sign up. But on the other hand, if 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.639 you say, hey, you could move some money from spending 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.160 to checking, or hey, I noticed that you know your 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.800 mortgage rate is a little high, or hey that I mean, 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.560 if you give people actionable insights and things that they 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.360 can do, Hey, here's a budget, here's a budget tool, 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.480 people really respond to that. And we've had a money 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.360 management tool actually for a couple of years and our 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.840 customers love it. What we're adding to it with Google 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:04.040 AI is really the conversational agent piece which is going 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:05.200 to take us over the top. 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.120 So Carol mentioned the the unbanked and the underbanked, and 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.919 I'm curious sort of how you've found outreach to those 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:15.240 communities and what success you've had convincing folks that they 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:17.280 should open up a bank account, that it's important to 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.760 have one. And indeed, helping them go through that process. 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:24.480 So our focus is really to talk about every spectrum 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.880 and so on the underbanked, I'll call them people that 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.280 have check systems records that aren't able to open up 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.720 a bank account. We have something called a second chance 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:36.280 checking account. It's called YouTube checking, and it allows people 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:40.520 that and actually a pretty large percentage of Americans have 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.200 check systems records. And in fact, if you don't have one, 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:44.280 you probably even know what that is. 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:45.880 I don't even know that we have one. I just 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.440 assume that somebody has tons of information. 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:49.360 Yeah, yeah, And. 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:50.480 So it's just like cards, right. 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.880 You hear about FYCO scores and credit scores, but it's 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.720 actually a score for your use of bank account. And 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.000 if someone has a check systems record, they're not able 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:00.640 to go into a bank and open up an account, 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:02.920 but we give them a second chance. So that's an 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.880 example of where we're really bringing people in. We also 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.960 have this wonderful service called cash Please, where people can 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.240 get a small short term dollar loan up to one 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.600 thousand dollars with no credit check. Again, it's a way 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:17.800 of us serving the load of mottered income, you know, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:21.719 underbank community. At the same time, on the other spectrum. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.680 Everybody needs a budget. Everybody needs to know how to 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.560 manage their money. And to be a GPS for your 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.800 money is what you remember when we used to use maps. Yeah, 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.279 so the AI tool will be a GPS for your money. 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:37.400 So and everybody needs that. 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.040 When you give like a thousand dollars loan for someone 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.599 that you know may not be able to get it elsewhere, 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.279 what's the interest rate on something like that? What's the payment? 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:48.600 Yeah, that's the great question. So if you go to 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.679 a payday lender, is three or four hundred percent? 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:51.200 That's crazy? 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:54.120 Wow? Are right? It's twenty two and a half percent. 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:55.160 That's still crazy. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.080 I'm sorry, Like I have a real hard thing full 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.640 disclosure so time, but I mean the rates for even 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.719 people with good credit score, Like it's just crazy. 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.440 But for if you have a bad credit score, you 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.159 can't get a loan or unless you go to a 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.360 payday lender and pay three or four hundred percent. Yeah, 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.400 by twenty two and a half percent with no credit 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.120 check is actually a great rate. And I will say. 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:18.719 How long people pay us back? Yeah? 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:19.280 Howay? 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:20.920 Yes, yeah, it's a short term loan. 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.159 It's three months and they pay us back and we 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.440 won't allow them to roll it over. So that's the 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.640 other thing. And we also report to the credit bureaus, 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.280 so you know with payday loans, they only report if 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.520 you don't pay with our cash please. We actually report 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.800 positive payment and I think that is another reason that 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.760 people use it, pay it back and improve their credit score. 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:45.039 As I mentioned, we've been following these big banks that 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.720 have been reporting, and we hear from their chief executives 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:49.719 just about how they're thinking about the economy and the 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.560 trends that they're seeing. I'm very curious sort of if 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:54.479 that if that fantasi is different, the one that you 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.320 have is different, and what you're thinking about the direction 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.240 of this economy, the level of uncertainty that we're seeing, 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.080 how that's playing on the communities that you serve. 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:06.040 So we definitely are seeing draw down in savings. We 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:09.839 are definitely seeing We have actually a financial literacy essay 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.479 contest for kids and this year there's two things we saw. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.400 One is that the kids are using AI to write 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.960 their essays and the other is that they're talking about 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:24.800 you know, pakaboots, PoCA book issues. They want to win 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:28.760 so that they can help their family by groceries and 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:30.720 that's the This is the first we've had this contest 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.600 for fifteen years. This is the first time that that 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:38.159 kind of feedback from children is coming out. So we 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:42.359 can definitely feel that the economy, you know, is not 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:46.000 st Yeah, it's a strength, there's a strain at the 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:47.760 same time. And again, I don't want to keep going 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.599 on about wise one, but people want a budgeting tool. 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:55.960 They recognize that they need guardrails, they need information. They 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.480 need more than just what's my balance, you know, they 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:00.479 want to know how can I improve my spending? How 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.599 can I improve my credit score? And that's where we come in. 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.680 No, I love that, but it really disheartens me to like, 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:08.160 I feel like this is something we've been talking a 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.160 lot about Main Street versus Wall Street. I mean, here 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.640 we have, you know, records on Wall Street or you know, 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.400 there's certainly big pockets of this economy that have done 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.480 very well and have gotten wealthier, and then there's just 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:20.920 so many that have not tell us a little bit 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:24.880 more about your clientele and who is your customer and 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.120 what you know, we need to understand. 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:29.760 About different pockets of the US population. 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.440 Yeah, so what I will say is that there are 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.920 a lot of wealthy people as well as corporations that 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.680 really support what we do. I mean, I you know, 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.560 I can't tell you how many, like a lot of corporations, 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.679 a lot of wealthy individuals that have deposits in the bank, 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:48.320 that really understand what we do, why we do it. 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:52.240 They may not do it, but they really support how 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.160 we're doing it, and we're we're maniacal about doing it. 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.640 So they're like, great, you know, we can't turn our 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.400 big ship to focus on every community, but we love 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:02.480 the fact that you were doing. 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.200 So they're depositing at your bank. Yes, yes, as our 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:06.960 sign of support or yes. 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.640 As a sign of support as well as it gives 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.200 us dollars to lend to the community. And because we've 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.760 had like almost zero losses, they're they're supporting us so 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.280 and I would even say even that, you know, Google 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.080 as an example, they didn't have to step in and 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.840 help us, you know, develop this tool, but they saw 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:24.400 that this is a way to use AI for good. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.480 You know, you hear a lot of crazy stuff about it. 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.160 We're really trying to get our community to embrace it, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.160 not be afraid of it, to realize that there is 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:33.760 a good use of it. I mean, you remember when 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.480 we were afraid of online and mobile banking, but people 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:37.000 were afraid. 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:40.240 I'm still afraid. Yeah, I'm probably more afraid today than 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:41.160 I was when I started. 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.720 Just to be fair, no, but I just think, you know, 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:46.520 it's interesting all the stuff that's going on digital. 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.560 So is most of your business deposits? Is it long? Like? 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:51.440 Give us an idea? 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:53.520 Yeah, you're going First of all, as I said, ninety 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.080 percent of our customers come to us online, right, even 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.319 the corporations, they're located all across the world, and they 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.240 come to us and deposit. We focus our lending is 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:08.240 on supporting affordable homes, so multi family affordable housings with 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.840 the rent is below the average for the communities that 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.480 we're in. Again, cash Please is a big one. We've 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.920 done thousands of cash Please loans. We also have a 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.720 secured credit card again to help people rebuild their credit. 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.800 That's the lending tools. We also focus on home ownership. 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:28.839 I want to ask you about the other ten percent 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:30.760 then of your customer base. So you do have some 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.880 geographic footprint and as you think about expansion or where 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.960 you want to be, how do you how do you 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:38.600 think that through? Are you are you happy in the 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:40.400 cities that you're in or where else would you see 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:42.760 opportunity and kind of if you're not going to name names, 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.080 what are the kinds of places where you would want 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:46.079 to have a footprint. 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:50.679 We love the cities we're in. We you know, what's 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:54.920 happening in Boston and Miami and the tech world is 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.080 just amazing, and we're we're really a fintech that's also 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.840 a community bank, and that's the the great thing about 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:02.440 us is when you put your money with us, you 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.320 have the benefit of the regulatory you know, environment and 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:08.920 all that that comes with, as well as the fact 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.320 that you can bang with us online. So we're really 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:16.360 excited about what's happening, particularly in Miami these days, as 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:18.520 well as what's been going on. Our IT team is 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.680 in Boston and we love it. And then la is 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.160 just such a huge market, it really is. And we're 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.079 in Compton. I mean we're down in South Central on 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:31.959 a quench out boulevard. So we really like the communities 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:37.240 we're in. We're always looking for other opportunities and really 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:38.800 I would have to do a shout out to all 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.800 black banks. We're located in major cities and we really 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.760 do serve the communities. 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:46.840 One last question thirty seconds. 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.679 Is there anything that you would like to see in 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:52.079 terms of policy changes that would help what you are doing. 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.920 It's a good question. Well, I do like what we're 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:06.239 seeing on AIK that there is flexibility. We're introducing this tool. 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.960 And the relators are not saying no, okay no. 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:11.640 I mean that's huge. Yeah, I mean, I can't tell 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:13.480 you how huge that is. I've been in banking for 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.760 thirty years and we're not getting no for like, you know, 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:18.400 one of the first times yet. 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:23.319 I'm just kidding. I'm gonna think positively for you, Terry, 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:24.040 Thank you so much. 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:25.920 Yeah, thank you, thank you for having me. 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.880 Terry Williams, President, chief operating Officer of One United Bank 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.240 joining us here in studios.