As president of Bank of America's global commercial banking division since September 2021, Wendy Stewart has helped the bank turn a year full of uncertainty into one of opportunity.
"At the beginning of 2023, there was a lot of uncertainty facing the banking industry," Stewart said. "We could never have expected all the market disruption."
The economy's performance, and whether the U.S. would go into a recession or find a soft landing, was a worry. So too were the questions about whether inflation would persist or subside, whether interest rate hikes would continue or cuts would ensue or if labor market conditions would change.
Stewart noted that quantitative tightening means that the money supply is shrinking, so bank deposits will likely decline. "This will become a challenge for banks that are most reliant on deposits to fund loans" she said. Lower occupancy, higher rates and fewer lenders in the commercial real estate sector also brought the bank concerns about lending and the health of current CRE loans.
It all boiled down to one big question: "What does all of this mean for our clients?" Stewart asked. "Uncertainty can be very difficult for our client base. Where will they invest, grow and allocate their resources?"
Finding ways to answer those questions for clients and prospective clients has helped Stewart grow Bank of America's global commercial banking division, which is one of the bank's eight primary lines of business. It delivers integrated financial solutions to public and private companies with annual revenues of between $50 million and more than $2 billion across eight industries that include middle-market banking, real estate, healthcare, education, dealer financial services and nonprofits.
"We've been very focused on investing in banker effectiveness, so our bankers around the country can deliver advice and guidance," Stewart said. "We're also making sure the right bankers are in the right cities, and that they fully understand the industry that a client company operates in. The banker also has to understand the company and its strategy and growth plan. How can we help accelerate that growth?"
Stewart's division has invested in new bankers for the long term, growing its banker head count by 40% since 2015. Since June 2023, its new client count has grown by 91%, and revenue is up 20.4%.
The global commercial banking group is also working to have effective conversations about ways that clients can approach net zero by reducing their firms' carbon loads. Stewart's group is taking a particular interest in companies that are in the supply chains of larger businesses that have committed to net zero. "It's fact-based, not political," Stewart said. "We ask if they have any net zero plans and what they're thinking about this topic. It's very rare that a client just says, 'No, I don't want to talk about it.'"
Bankers' in-depth knowledge of different industries is also helpful in talking about net-zero efforts. Some industries are more carbon intensive than others, and it takes a lot of planning and preparation to know which companies are in which supply chain, Stewart said. "We've had good conversations that have also led to green financing and green leases," she added.
Bank of America's global commercial banking has also created a digital client portal called CashPro, which has won awards, Stewart said. In August, she reported that 73% of clients used CashPro, up 17% year over year. CashPro also has a chat feature dubbed "Erica" that lets clients ask questions and get answers in real time. CashPro Forecasting debuted in 2023, and usage is up 115% since it launched.
Rather than apply digital technology to just one aspect of banking, such as opening an account or moving money from one account to another, Bank of America and her division are working to remove friction from the entire client experience, Stewart said.
Before becoming head of global commercial banking for Bank of America, Stewart was co-head of global commercial banking for the southeast region. She initially joined the bank in 1996 and has also worked as chief of wholesale credit strategy for Bank of America, where she was in charge of strategy, data and analytics, business controls and quality assurance across the wholesale credit operation, which delivers end-to-end solutions for the bank's wholesale clients around the world.
In addition to her current work at Bank of America, Stewart is vice chair of Bank of America's global diversity and inclusion council. She convened nonprofit leaders, elected officials and corporate partners to find ways to improve local economic mobility as part of Bank of America's commitment to advance racial equality. In 2021, Bank of America teamed with the Black Economic Alliance, Spelman College and Morehouse College to announce the development of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship in Atlanta.
Stewart is also president of Bank of America Atlanta, an affiliation that extends her charity work. She is on the board of directors and executive committee for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Atlanta Committee for Progress and a board member for Atlanta's Grove Park Foundation. Through her work with Grove Park Foundation, Stewart helped raise $50 million to build a neighborhood elementary school, Woodson Park Academy. The next phase of the campaign focused on neighborhood investments, including an affordable housing complex and a community theater.
