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Doing the right thing by customers like giving them a day to replenish accounts they have overdrawn crimps profits in the short term, but ultimately leads to higher retention rates, says David Clifton, Huntington's chief customer and marketing officer.
June 25 - WIB PH
The businesses Mary Walworth Navarro leads generate nearly half of Huntington's total revenue.
September 22 - WIB PH
Huntington added more than a branch a week last year. The architect of the expansion, Mary Navarro, helped increase customer households last year by 12 percent, more than three times the industry average and more than Huntington grew in the three previous years combined.
September 18
Mary Walworth Navarro
Senior EVP, Retail and Business Banking Director, Huntington Bancshares
Mary Walworth Navarro's dedication to her job shows — literally.
She's easily identifiable as a Huntington executive wherever she goes, because she always wears a Huntington hat, scarf or button, even outside of work, says Tanny Crane, one of the company's board members.
But it is how Navarro actually does her job that Stephen Steinour, the chairman, president and chief executive, most appreciates. "Her insightful ability to judge and track customer needs keeps Huntington well ahead of its competitors," Steinour says.
In her role as leader of retail and business banking, Huntington's largest business unit, Navarro has spearheaded the introduction of popular features — like a 24-hour grace period to avoid overdraft fees — that have helped spur enviable growth in recent years. Just in 2014, consumer checking account household revenue rose 7% from the year earlier and the proportion of consumer households that pay for at least six Huntington products rose to 49.4% from 47.6%. In addition, the overall number of households doing business with Huntington climbed 10%, to about 1.5 million.
Navarro also is pushing Huntington to gain a better understanding of millennials, a consumer segment many traditional banks have struggled to reach. Millennials are "more hardworking and passionate" than some might think, says Navarro, who is the mother of two members of that demographic.
As part of the effort to appeal to this generation, she is advocating for more technology-oriented products. One of Huntington's newest services, Quick Balance, is a mobile app that allows customers to check their balance with one tap on a smartphone.
