Silicon Valley Bank Names New COO and Digital Chief

Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, Calif., has hired a chief operations officer to replace Bruce Wallace, as he shifts to a more digital-focused role.

The $40 billion-asset bank, a unit of SVB Financial Group, named Michael Dreyer chief operations officer, effective Nov. 11. Dreyer was previously COO at Monitise, a U.K. mobile banking and payments technology group. He has also been chief information officer at Visa and held senior leadership positions at American Express and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Wallace will become the bank's full-time chief digital officer; he had previously assumed those duties in March, alongside his COO responsibilities. 

The bank's decision to create a separate role of chief digital officer was a response to its growing presence in the U.S. and internationally, and to its expanding digital product line, said Carrie Merritt, a spokeswoman for the bank.

"The digital experience focus Bruce is taking on for our customers really warranted that it was two separate things," she said. "It turned into a situation where we needed really great emphasis in both areas."

The bank recently acquired application programming interface startup Standard Treasury to develop an API banking platform and it plans to continue to working with innovators to develop technology and innovation strategies in banking.

Wallace will remain responsible for certain fee-based products, in addition to the digital experience, Merritt said. Dreyer will oversee all other core operations, including enterprise project management, client service and information technology teams.

Wallace joined Silicon Valley Bank in 2008 as head of global service. He became COO in 2011.