After years of working at financial institutions in sunny Florida, which, yes, included a credit union associated with the Mouse House, Chris Parker headed North for a chance to lead Northeast Credit Union (NECU) in Portsmouth.
Parker joined the credit union last July, succeeding long-time CEO Timothy J. Collia, who retired after 19 years. For the past 14 years, Parker has served in executive positions at Partners Federal Credit Union in Orlando. The credit union for The Walt Disney Company, it has approximately 135,000 members. NECU has approximately 140,000 members.
When he was just out of college, Parker managed a local grocery store in Tampa, but the hours were not exactly
conducive to work/life balance and the new family he and his wife were starting. So, he switched to banking, and from there his career took off.
Parker credits his mentors with keeping him engaged. In 1996, he joined a startup focused on credit cards—Capital One Financial—and witnessed firsthand the meteoric growth of that company. He says his eight years there influenced his leadership style. “It’s not about titles but aligning around a clear mission and who can get that mission done,’ he says.
When Capital One pulled back from Tampa and relocated to Virginia, Parker chose not to uproot his family. He joined what would become Partners Credit Union, becoming a Disney employee.
“I was part of growing the [credit union] from $800 million in assets to $2.3 billion in assets when I left,” Parker says. “Part of the keys to that growth was understanding our membership.”
That meant instituting technology that allowed members to access services when they wanted, in the way they wanted. He says by the time he left, 70% of their savings deposits came through the credit union’s app. “We had members living in every state and around the world using the app for mobile banking every day,” Parker says.
When he saw the opportunity to lead Northeast Credit Union, he quickly discovered the credit union’s values aligned with his own. “The board is extremely focused on doing what is best for the credit union’s members and putting the membership first,” Parker says.
Parker says fintech is competing for customers’ business, and the financial game board is changing. “Winning for us is meeting members where they are in their life,” he says, whether that is helping them buy their first car or their first home.
Northeast Credit Union’s strategic plan focuses on allowing members to bank how and when they want, Parker says, which means increasing its digital offerings and rolling out a new digital platform this year.
As for Parker, who is building a home in Dover, he is enjoying his new adventure at the credit union. “The transition has been a whirlwind but a lot of fun. The first 100 days was about listening and learning,” he says. “There is so much opportunity here.”