Our goal is to make Quontic the place everyone in the industry -and even those outside of it- want to work. If you ask us, there are hundreds of reasons why you should want to work here (that’s one for every person we hired in 2020) but we’re hanging our hat on this list of 5.
1. As a Community Development Financial Institution, we understand not every borrower fits into a box.
Mike Lantz: Many of our mortgage customers have already heard “no” from other banks when they come to us. We’re the bank that understands these customers.
Our diverse staff attracts diverse customers, especially on the mortgage-lending side. So we largely provide loans to immigrants, minorities, small business owners and gig economy workers. When these customers come to us with non-traditional forms of income, we don’t bat an eye. Our Non-Traditional Mortgage programs were built for this. Our knowledgeable staff has a deep understanding of how to serve everyone from the self-employed or commission/tip-based borrowers and independent contractors with difficult to document income sources, to real estate investors with complex income who deserve a simplified underwriting process; from immigrants, minorities and foreign nationals sharing or pooling extended family resources, to families with low or moderate income. And our staff loves being able to revitalize the lending process for these good, honest borrowers.
Plus, it’s not just payday for the borrowers. These loans inject new sources of capital into neighborhoods that lack access to financing. Positive community impact: check. Job satisfaction: check.
So the “community development” part of “CDFI” informs Quontic’s community-driven mission to break the system for financial empowerment. We break the system by providing resources to people who are underbanked and underserved in the world of finance, and who don’t traditionally qualify for prime mortgage products.
Our status as a CDFI doesn’t just dictate which mortgage products we offer. It’s a mindset and a mission.
2. That said, we offer products nobody else has.
Casey Christopher: And that’s great for our loan officers AND our banking staff.
Because our CDFI designation exempts from the ATR (Ability to Repay) documentation regulations, we can look at the totality of the borrower’s circumstances and make an informed decision as to whether or not we think this is a good credit risk and whether or not the borrower will be able to repay the mortgage.
Then, we can offer the borrower one of our many unique lending options. If you read our Senior Loan Officer Steven Ho’s last blog, you know all about the unique features of our Non-Traditional Mortgage. Our lending capabilities as a CDFI have supercharged both our Retail Loan Officers’ and our Wholesale Account Executives’ careers partly because we’re a federally chartered bank and we can offer our unique products nationally.
On the banking side, our mission as a CDFI has spurred us to launch innovative deposit products. Our CEO Steve Schnall talked about this in his last blog post, “What Makes a Neobank Disruptive?” Our deposit products are not intended necessarily for our low-income consumers, but rather to drive significant volumes of deposits that we can then use to make mortgage loans to low-income households and in low-income communities.
While other neobanks’ profits come primarily from interchange fees earned on debit card usage, we give this income back to our customers with our innovative deposit products in the form of high interest rates or rewards in the form of cash or bitcoin. That’s exactly how the nation’s first bank Bitcoin program, Bitcoin Rewards Checking, came to fruition. We also offer one of the highest yield checking and savings accounts on the market. And we can do this because we’re sustainable. So our CDFI status proves good for customers and good for our team members.
3. We have clear Core Values.
Mike Lantz: Our mission as a CDFI permeates into our company culture and our Core Values. We want people who will do special work for special people.
I don’t want our team members to ever be satisfied. We’re failing our team if they’re only satisfied. I want them to be blown away with their workplace experience. It sounds aspirational, but we’re working hard to make it happen.
It’s important to note that employee needs that are important now were not necessarily as obvious in 2019. There is no longer work/life balance—it’s work/life integration. When COVID happened, it was never truer. We have toddlers guest starring in our Zoom meetings and people’s work and home personas becoming indistinguishable.
Another example of work/life integration became apparent when one of our team members experienced a house fire last year. We immediately set up a GoFundMe, and with a sizable donation from Steve and the rest of the team members at Quontic, we helped our fellow co-worker get back on their feet. So, it’s easy to hold up your core values when you have a chief executive officer who also lives those values.
“Truly become a destination employer, and do whatever it takes to be that.” We’re embracing this quote at Quontic. Maybe we’re not the best place for everyone, but we’re not trying to be. But if you align with our values and want to do cool stuff, we’re the best game in town.
4. We have a lot of fun.
Casey Christopher: Honestly, Quontic is a great place to work because we know how to have fun. We don’t do pantsuits or wingtips, we’re tees and sneakers people. And if you’re in the mortgage industry and/or banking industry, you’ll find this is a new, fresh environment compared to the stuffy traditional financial institutions you’re used to.
Other banks have a rigid structure, but at Quontic we’re staying true to our mission. We love to move fast, pivot, and meet our team members where they are. We recently hired over 100 employees, including senior managers, who are not in the tri-state area of anywhere near our corporate headquarters in NYC. This is a testament to how nimble, flexible, and fast-moving we are at Quontic.
Plus, you get the chance to work on some really cool products. Who else can say they could worked on the first bank Bitcoin rewards program? And because we’re only a team of 250, everybody gets a hand in. We’re always working on the next thing.
5. It’s easy to get started.
Mike Lantz: The best thing you can do if you’re interested in joining our team is visit our career page. Review the job openings we have and e-mail [email protected]. It’s that easy!
