Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Client Experience Officer
For the third year in a row, Kate Danella’s role at Regions Financial has changed.
In December, Danella transitioned from her dual role as head of strategic planning and retail products to a new leadership post overseeing a group tasked with reimagining customer experience at a time of rapid change in how customers are interacting with their banks.
The new group brings together teams that support customers, associates and communities, including strategic planning, digital banking, customer experience, corporate communications, corporate marketing and community affairs.
“We know that the customer’s relationship with the bank includes in-person interactions with our bankers, but also encompasses their experience with Regions on our digital platforms, events we sponsor, and the customer’s perception of how the bank engages in the community,” she said. “This is the era of the customer experience and by bringing these teams together we are more empowered to differentiate Regions by providing a first-in-class experience across all of these areas.”
During the pandemic, Danella’s primary focus was upgrading Regions Bank’s digital capabilities to simplify transactions for customers who were suddenly doing more of their banking remotely. She prioritized three projects: electronic signatures, mobile banking and digital sales.
The results for all three projects improved the experience at Regions. E-signatures were adapted to over 100 manual forms, allowing customers to sign needed documents from the comfort of their homes. Within mobile banking, the company was able to add recurring transfers, enable customers to view check images, and added the ability for customers to see their credit scores. Users increased 14% year over year.
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Meanwhile, enhanced digital sales capabilities allowed customers to begin the process of opening an account online and complete it in a branch. Consumer digital sales increased 141% year over year as of March 31.
Danella led the Birmingham, Alabama, company’s pandemic customer assistance efforts as well, creating a rapid response team that was able to assess and activate assistance programs. For example, Regions adapted its check-cashing processes, even for noncustomers, so that pandemic-related stimulus checks could be processed with no fees.
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Danella also fast-tracked changes to allow customers in overdraft status to be able access their stimulus funds and oversaw efforts to offer customers penalty-free CD withdrawals, loan deferrals and extensions and to suspend vehicle repossessions and residential foreclosures.
