Coastal Credit Union Promotes Arlene Babwah to Chief Risk Officer

Coastal Credit Union has promoted Arlene Babwah to Chief Risk Officer. In her new role, Babwah will oversee the credit union’s enterprise risk management, compliance, fraud, legal, business continuity, and vendor management functions. She will play a key role in protecting the organization by mitigating a variety of risks, as well as positioning Coastal as a trusted advisor by helping members feel that their financial relationships, personal information, privacy and transactions are all secure.   

“Adding Arlene to our C-Suite means having a risk leader on the executive team who can take a holistic view and oversight of the risks we face,” said Chuck Purvis, President & CEO. “As our organization grows, we must move beyond day-to-day operational and tactical risk management, and think much bigger.”

Babwah brings a wealth of Coastal and industry experience to the role.  She joined Coastal in 2005, and most recently served as VP, Risk Management. She also chairs Coastal’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Bank Secrecy Act, Business Continuity and Risk Operations committees.

Her 17 years of Coastal experience includes time as Risk Operations Manager, as well as Retail Operations Manager and Business Operations Manager for Coastal’s Wealth Management division. During her time as Retail Operations Manager, she was instrumental in the centralization of teller services, which included rolling out video teller machines to the entire branch network and establishing Coastal’s signature 7am to 7pm, seven-days-a-week teller hours. Her 29 years in financial services also includes roles at large national financial services companies. 

Babwah served a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Credit Union Advisory Council for 2 years, and is currently serving a second term on the Credit Union National Association’s CFPB Sub-Committee. She also volunteers with Angels for Veterans, Durham Literacy Programs and the Oak Island Preservation Society.