Executive Director, Retail Bank
Cassandra McKinney had been through big changes before COVID-19 came along.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, she went to work at IBM as a systems engineer and over time gravitated to sales and marketing. She later joined Bank of America as chief technology officer for the national consumer asset group and went on to move through an assortment of jobs there as a senior vice president.
She has been at Comerica for nearly two decades in various upper management roles, including her latest role as the Dallas company’s executive director of retail banking, overseeing a $28 billion portfolio.
She started this job in April 2020, a month into the coronavirus pandemic. But McKinney took the upheaval in stride.
As the director of 425 branches with more than 3,200 employees, she had to ensure that employees and customers were safe while also trying to meet revenue objectives in a very uncertain lending environment.
McKinney had to carry out all these imperatives while coordinating with colleagues by Zoom and conference calls — including meetings with Chief Executive Curtis Farmer, who started his new role in January 2020.
“I’m used to dealing with change,” McKinney said.
She introduced a lot of changes herself as well.
To better serve customers, McKinney made video interaction units available in drive-thrus and select lobby locations and transformed customer support services to a completely remote function.
McKinney also had the idea to create a mobile, full-service bank on wheels that serves as a stand-in when branches are forced to shut down because of disruptions like COVID-19.
She said that, going forward, ensuring that employees can continue to perform at their best whether working remotely, in the office or both will be crucial.
“The hybrid environment that evolves post-pandemic will be more rewarding, but we will be challenged to sustain and measure the impact on productivity, performance and continuity,” she said.
The pandemic also moved McKinney to come up with ways to increase banking services for minority- and women-owned businesses, two groups hit disproportionately hard by COVID. In May, Comerica
“I’m so very proud to work for a company that values diversity, equity and inclusion,” McKinney said.
