Get to know the people behind the bank in our new series, FidFed Spotlight. We’re highlighting Jennifer Copley, Vice President of Retail and Marketing.
Q: What is your role at the bank? What do you do every day?
A: I am the Vice President of Retail and Marketing, and I oversee our retail team to make sure we are providing excellent customer service every day. I also make sure that I am available to help customers if they have concerns, and I am out in the community representing the bank in multiple aspects.
On the marketing side, I look at the sponsorships to ensure we are reinvesting our money back into the community that has supported us for 136 years.
Q: How long have you been at Fidelity Federal, and in which roles?
A: I have been at Fidelity Federal for 3 ½ years — I started in the role of Retail Administrator and have been assigned additional responsibilities over the years.
Q: What makes Fidelity Federal different from other (larger) banks?
A: We stand out because we look at each individual customer as a customer. We’re not driven by trying to hit goals. Instead, we want to grow the bank by providing the best customer service we can to our customers, through products and services that meet their needs.
We’re old-fashioned. When you call in, you still get a person. If somebody wants to speak with me or the President, they can ask for that person and we will take the phone call. So Fidelity Federal is very much about people interaction.
I spend a couple of days each week at our other location and interact with the customers out there so people are familiar with who I am, what I do, and how I can help them. I coach my employees to understand that we are not a cookie-cutter bank. We teach that not every customer needs the same products and services.
We get to know our customers on a personal level, and they become our friends. It’s not just that we see them once or twice a week in the bank. Instead, we may see our customers out in the community — we interact with them or we might go to lunch or dinner with them.
So, we try to make it very, very personal and we have our customers’ needs in mind when we create our products and services.
Q: What do you like best about your job?
A: I would definitely say it’s the customer interaction and the community involvement. I love interacting with our customers at both locations, getting to know them personally, and hearing their stories about why they bank with us. Some tell stories about bringing their kids in or coming to the bank as kids themselves.
Q: Why do you believe Fidelity Federal is an important part of the Delaware community?
A: We are the only Delaware-founded community bank that is still here. We’re 136 years old, and we’re very, very proud of that. I enjoy going out into the community, sharing our history. The reason we’ve been here so long is because of our community and the support we receive.
Due to the strong community support, Fidelity Federal is able to give back to Delaware, both monetarily and through our volunteer hours. We’re halfway through the year, and we have already volunteered well over 200 hours as a corporation.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself.
A: I’ve been in banking for 26 years. I have been married for 26 years, and we have 19-year-old twins. We have been residents of Delaware for 26 years — this is where we call home. We have a 7-year-old Saint Bernard that’s more spoiled than my children. Our whole world revolves around this dog.
I love to read, and I also love just being out and busy. But, I truly love coming to work and working with my immediate team that I supervise and our overall team here at Fidelity.
Q: Do you have any specific stories of a memory or experience you have enjoyed while working at Fidelity Federal?
A: I very much do. Many of our customers become very attached to specific employees. Many people that work at Fidelity have been here for many years. When you’re new, it’s like you have to get initiated.
So for me, one of my favorite memories is a customer who would not even allow me the opportunity to do anything for them. Finally, after I was working as a teller, I started a conversation with him about Thanksgiving because the holiday had just passed.
When I asked him if he had a nice holiday, he said he didn’t have turkey, he had duck. So I simply told him I’d never had a duck, which opened a whole conversation. From that moment on, he started to feel more comfortable talking to me.
Instead of giving up, we keep working to build that relationship of trust and rapport with each customer to let them know that we are truly there to help them.
