James Slocum, CIO of OneUnited Bank, discussed the role technology plays in the bank’s strategy in an interview: "After the financial crisis, we recognized that our customer base in particular was pretty hard-hit by the recession, that their credit was damaged, and that they lacked the financial tools to dig themselves out of that pit that had been created by the financial downturn. In 2013, we started building our UNITY Visa secured credit card product... That particular project was a strategic one for the institution, as we saw it as our re-entry to offering online products and services to our customers nationally. Salesforce became the medium by which we’ve been able to both have a connection with our customers and be secure."