Citigroup Hires Capital One Exec Heather Cox

Citigroup (NYSE:C) has joined the growing number of banks that have hired chief digital officers.

Heather Cox, most recently the head of card operations at Capital One Financial (COF), has been named the chief client-experience, digital and marketing officer of Citi's global consumer banking unit.

Several large banking organizations have appointed digital czars to oversee all the electronic channels, including computers and mobile devices, that consumers use to do their banking:

• Christopher Cox became head of digital-experience delivery at USAA in January. USAA hired him from Regions Financial (RF), where he was executive vice president of digital channels.
• Mark Jamison was named chief digital officer at Capital One Bank in July; for the three preceding years he had been managing vice president of Capital One Labs. 
• JPMorgan Chase (JPM) hired Gavin Michael, the chief information officer of Accenture, to be head of digital for the bank's consumer and community banking division nearly a year ago.
• Jeff Dennes became SunTrust Banks' (STI) chief digital officer in January 2013. He had held the same type of job for at Huntington Bancshares (HBAN).

Cox, who was unavailable for an interview, will oversee development and implementation of Citi's digital strategy, which will emphasize a uniform client experience across its various electronic products and customer satisfaction.
She will report to Manuel Medina-Mora, Citi's chief executive of global consumer banking. "Heather has a unique blend of expertise in digital, customer data and insights, product development, marketing and a strong track record of success," he said in a press release Tuesday.

"As we globalize our business, delivering a client experience that is differentiated and consistent across all channels and products, particularly in digital, will be critical to our success."

Cox was honored as one of American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Banking in 2013, when she was still at Capital One. Part of her job at the card company was to lead the integration of the HSBC portfolio, which Capital One bought in 2011. Before working at Capital One, Cox was head of North America Operations at E*TRADE.