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Banks of all sizes are struggling to increase the revenues and profits that they can eke out of their retail operations while trying to elbow their competitors out of the same turf. To do so, bankers need to face some hard truths about their branches, technology and M&A ambitions.
March 11 -
For his new book, Kevin Roose shadowed new hires at the countrys biggest investment banks. His conclusion: Banks problems go well beyond the misdeeds of a few and include doubts about whether they can attract and retain top talent and future leaders.
February 19 -
Catherine Bessant, head of global tech and ops at Bank of America, shares updates on her bank-wide IT streamlining project, new technologies the bank is testing, and tech terms she'd like to see eliminated.
April 29
ORLANDO Big banks know they're losing the
"It's hand-to-hand combat," says Catherine Bessant, who oversees global technology and operations for Bank of America (BAC).
"You can only do it with the individual it's hard to do en masse. It takes classic recruiting, the classic element of, get someone to come listen," she said in an interview Thursday. "You put a job out on a website and it won't get the reaction that you want it to, because it is a personal sell."
The Silicon Valley brain drain from Wall Street is especially challenging for the massive technology operations inside banks like Bessant's, which lack a certain coolness factor next to the likes of Apple or Google. That's not to mention the reputational hit that banks have taken since the financial crisis, the generally slow and conservative approach to innovation within the industry, or the regulations affecting banks' traditional profitability and allocation of resources.
"Banks do not have a technology brand," even though "I run a huge fintech organization," says Bessant, who has a
Bessant wants banks to become better known for their technology efforts, especially in the minds of prospective employees: "It isn't about having a different brand from Bank of America. It's about having that brand be recognized in the attraction of talent, for being a fintech brand."
To that end, she says, the bank has changed its traditional recruiting tactics. For example, it has switched its focus from universities where B of A "had historical relationships" to the top schools for operations, engineering and technology.
"We run development programs for our senior-level people in ops and tech, and in information and data security, and we run those in conjunction with these top universities to get our people on campus," she says, adding that she also does student forums. "That's why I say it's back- to-basics recruiting."
Bessant was speaking at
