A relationship built on preventing fraud

As CDR Global has grown from an Oklahoma City startup into an international electronics recycling and refurbishing company, one constant has remained critical to its success: a strong financial services relationship rooted in trust and long-term thinking.

Founded in 2003, CDR Global helps organizations securely manage and recycle electronics while protecting sensitive data and reducing landfill waste. Today, the company serves clients across the U.S. and around the world. Along the way, CDR Global established a relationship with Bank of Oklahoma/BOK Financial to help support the financial side of its expanding operations. (Bank of Oklahoma and BOK Financial are both affiliates of BOKF, NA.)

For CDR Global CEO Robert Brown, the value of working with Bank of Oklahoma goes well beyond products and services; it comes down to the relationship itself, which Brown said is built on trust.

“People talk about ‘Main Street banking,’ about how it used to take a handshake to get business done,” Brown said. “It’s still there. You just have to have the right company and the right financial services partner.”

As CDR Global continued to scale its business, they needed financial services capabilities that could keep pace with the increased transaction volume and growing security demands. For CDR Global Chief Financial Officer Cliff Looney III, protecting company funds is a top priority.

“It used to be that anybody with your routing and account numbers could do ACH origination on you,” Looney said. “If you didn’t catch it in time, it was hard to get those funds back.” To help reduce the risk of fraud, CDR Global now leans on safeguards provided through Bank of Oklahoma. “Nothing can be deducted from our bank account without an approval coming from accounting,” Looney said. “If it’s even a decimal out of place, it will kick it over for us to clear the exception, so it’s very protective.”

Beyond tools and safeguards, Looney values the proactive support his team receives from Bank of Oklahoma, especially when navigating high-stakes decisions. “We were looking at a huge deal, so I messaged our Bank of Oklahoma relationship manager, and they immediately got back to me,” Looney recalled. “Most bankers are short and quick to the point. They’re not there to hold your hand and guide you. But this team takes the time to do that.”

That ongoing guidance has helped CDR Global stay focused on its mission while preparing for what’s next. Looking forward, Brown says CDR Global is on the cusp of growing above and beyond their expectations as a company. “We are fixing to scale to see all the new opportunities we can unleash,” he said. And Bank of Oklahoma will be there to help them meet those new opportunities—and address any challenges that arise—each step of the way.