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Darren Williams


Title:

Chief executive


Organization:

Wescom Credit Union


Born:

Lynwood; 1960


Education:

B.A., business/finance, Pepperdine University


Most Influential Person

: A financially savvy mother


Hobbies:

Messing up the carpet, finger-painting, playing around inside and outside with his children


Personal:

Lives in La Habra Heights with wife and children


It’s difficult to imagine that someone’s fondest memories would involve hopping into a station wagon to go to the local credit union with his parents, but Wescom Credit Union Chief Executive Darren Williams is just that passionate about the world of non-profit financial services institutions. That affinity extends beyond his Pasadena-based credit union and into the larger community. Case in point, when Wings Financial Federal Credit Union launched an unsolicited bid to merge with El Segundo’s Continental Federal Credit Union the first hostile takeover attempt in credit union history Continental President Tom Glatt said Williams was among the first to call and show his support. Under Williams’ stewardship, Wescom, which began as a credit union for telecommunications workers, has mushroomed into a general community credit union serving all of Southern California. With nearly $4 billion in assets and more than 300,000 members, Wescom is beginning to mirror the kind of large financial firm that for-profit competitors hate. Williams said banks should “calm down and relax” since the two types of financial institutions have very different guiding principles. He also weighs in on his father’s love of credit unions and making time for the kids.



Question: You graduated from Pepperdine with a degree in finance. Why did you end up at a credit union instead of a bank?


Answer:

From as early as I can remember, my father was always telling me about the virtues of credit unions. He was a volunteer board member at one of the federal credit unions because he worked for the government. He explained to me that, “Yes it’s a business but there is an underlying social agenda, not a feigned or forced or contrived social agenda but a real one.” That just kind of stuck in my head.



Q: And what is that agenda?


A:

It’s no so much an agenda as a way of life, cooperation by nature. It’s the banking experience that people couldn’t get at banks. We’ve kept that mentality over the years. When we go out and help with say a building project or a community reinvestment project, or make our presence known in a community we don’t see it as philanthropy. For instance we don’t use the word “initiative” to describe community activities. We would probably say it’s an imperative not an initiative.



Q: Still, when you go on to major in finance, a credit union certainly isn’t where most people are thinking about going when they leave school.


A:

You’re probably right and I did work for a bank initially. But my experience at regular banks to this day is pretty limited, because the thing about the credit union is that it had an impact on people’s lives whether you worked or did business there whereas personal biases aside banking was like going to the post office.



Q: But banks claim that credit unions take unfair advantage of tax breaks.


A:

Then blame F.D.R. It’s been the law since 1934 and the Federal Credit Union Act. There’s no income tax because there’s no income in the sense that (banks) get income. There’s revenue but that goes to operating expenses. Some institutions see that as an advantage but I don’t, especially when credit unions have 6 percent of the total deposits in America combined and that percentage hasn’t changed in almost 15 years. But the last 15 years of banking have seen tremendous change. Today, at least four big banks I won’t name them, I don’t want guys in three-piece suits on my lawn together have 60 percent of deposits.



Q: Why are you so passionate about credit unions?


A:

It was just ingrained. This may sound silly but what sticks in my mind is jumping into a station wagon on afternoons and the weekends and being in the car when my mom went to the credit union. Or hearing that my parents were going to get a new car and wanted to go to the credit union to get a loan for it. It sounds hokey and corny but the tellers knew my name as a kid and that’s always stuck in my mind, the family aspect of it.



Q: How else did your parents shape your financial mind?


A:

I don’t know that it was shaped as much as it was nurtured. When I got interested in stocks in my early teens my mother didn’t tell me I was too young like the broker did. She marched me down to the brokerage and we opened up an account in her name and I made all the portfolio decisions from then on. She was a major influence in teaching frugality, patience and prudence when it came to money.



Q: What was your first job in banking?


A:

My first job in banking was at Imperial Bank (now Comerica Bank) here in the Los Angeles area. This was my first job after college where I served in a supervisory/management role.



Q: What about at a credit union?


A:

My first job was as a department manager in the loan department at Hughes Aircraft Employees Federal Credit Union. There, I saw credit union philosophy in action through the credit union’s CEO. I liked what I saw. The culture was just so much more different in a tangible and intangible way. The emphasis on customer service, management’s emphasis on catering to the members as opposed to meeting earnings targets that was a fundamental difference once I left banking. Never considered going back since.



Q: When you first came to Wescom, what was it like?


A:

When I joined Wescom, the credit union was already a very successful financial institution that had served the community for nearly 65 years. They had just reached the $1 billion asset milestone and were already one of the largest credit unions in the country. They had yet to evolve to a community-based credit union and they had a more limited branch network, which was positioned to serve its telecom employees.



Q: Would you like to retire as chief executive of Wescom or do you have other plans further down the road?


A:

Haven’t thought about it. Right now I’m very happy being a part of Wescom and what this credit union is doing.



Q: Do your kids hear a lot about credit unions at the dinner table?


A:

My kids know all about credit unions. It’s always been a subject at our dinner table, and sometimes I overdo it with my enthusiasm and they probably know more than they ever wanted to know.



Q: Last month Wings Financial shook up the credit union world with its takeover attempt of Continental Federal, even picketing outside of Continental’s annual meeting. What does this say about the future of credit unions?


A:

Nothing at all is what I’m hoping. I definitely hope this is an aberration. All indications now are that it will be. I think we’ve seen that this approach isn’t successful. Credit unions are cooperative and that’s why we were on Continental’s side.



Q: But certainly you can concede that this is a sign of credit union expansion and greater consolidation?


A:

Sure. There are 8,000 credit unions now when there used to be tens of thousands. And, yes, economies of scale make mergers more attractive, but I think in our business the word merger is literal; it’s not a sugarcoated term for buyout or takeover. When we say merge, we actually mean merge and we do it for the good of our members.



Q: What regulatory changes specifically allowed this type of thing to happen?


A:

With charter changes you can double your asset size overnight. We used to serve just telecommunications employees, but I guess about almost a decade ago we proceeded to change our charter to a community charter. As long as you live or work in our designated area, the five-county stretch in SoCal, you can be a member.



Q: But aren’t some credit unions no longer in existence because of mergers?


A:

This is unavoidable. But I can say this, you won’t see one big giant credit union one day dominating everyone. There will still be thousands that will survive because of our community culture. What you will see in the way of consolidations is joint ventures, joining of ATM networks, partnerships where a member of Wescom can bank out of town as if he or she was in the lobby of the home branch. You’ll never see a BofA customer at Wells Fargo unless they have separate accounts at the different banks.



Q: So greed is bad?


A:

Not touching that one. Seriously though, everyone wants to be successful and make money and we are in the business of helping people do that. At the end of the day you have to sleep well and enjoy what you’re doing. You must enjoy what you’re doing and if that has to come at the expense of riches, I can live with that.

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