Optus Bank names new COO

Listen to this article

Benita Lefft is the new COO for Columbia-based Optus Bank.

She comes to Optus with more than 30 years of banking experience, including a long career at Wells Fargo, according to a news release.

At Wells Fargo, she served as COO, senior vice president and head of the middle market credit services division, area city executive e-market place director, and community banking state Community Reinvestment Act officer.

“I am honored to join Optus Bank as COO and excited to leverage my experience to further advance the bank’s mission to transform opportunities into wealth,” Lefft said in a statement. “I am passionate about the role that minority depository institutions play to impact the lives of the underserved in the markets we serve.”

Lefft is a native of South Carolina and a graduate of the University of South Carolina and University of Dayton. Her community service includes serving as president of the Rock Hill chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and treasurer of the Pearls of Service Foundation. She has also served on the board of directors for Discovery Place and the Palmetto Richland Cancer Center.

“Benita is the right executive leader at the right time to help us enter the next chapter of our growth and success,” said Dominik Mjartan, president and CEO of Optus Bank. “Over the last five years, we’ve grown more than 650%, recently closed a $100 million capital raise and built a foundation for continued exponential growth of our community impact. Benita’s mission focus and track record of executive leadership is what we need to fulfill our commitment to help our customers and communities build generational wealth.”

Optus Bank, founded in 1921 as Victory Savings Bank, is a federally designated minority depository institution and a U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution.