At TD Bank in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the consumer deposits, products, and payments (CDPP) team is in charge of every aspect of the bank's deposit products. It's not a short list: product development, business analysis, sales strategies and support, customer experience and engagement, driving portfolio growth, getting products to market, efficiency, profitability and customer experience all fall under its umbrella.
In 2022, the bank's head of CDPP resigned. Four women leaders, all department heads, formed a CDPP leadership team to fill the gap. Not only did Courtney Mitchell, Hong Bloom, Angel Kadelski and Angeline Arumainayagam lead and manage the business, but they also navigated the bank through changes that benefited both the bank and its customers.
Chief among these was an overhaul of overdraft charges. Along with Dana Davis and Stephanie Rainero (marketing), Ankana Carpenter (technology) and Kelly D'Alessandro (finance), the CDPP team increased TD's overdraft fee threshold from negative $10 to negative $50 in an account. If a customer's available balance is overdrawn by more than $50, the customer now has until 11 p.m. the next day to bring the total account balance to $0. TD also decreased the number of possible daily overdraft fees from five to three for personal banking customers.
TD also eliminated transfer fees for overdraft protection services and nonsufficient funds fees, and it began applying deposits to personal customers' accounts before making withdrawals. The bank's website now has an overdraft selector tool, so customers can choose the right policy for them.
The new policies are popular with customers. The bank's data shows that more than 500,000 TD customers now avoid overdraft fees every month, saving more than $511 million in overdraft fees. Now, 67% fewer customers incur fees, and the bank has achieved an 80% year-over-year decrease in overdraft complaints.
The team also built an enterprise customer alerts platform with a real-time balance display and overdraft grace period alerts, and 45,000 customers have enrolled in that service since February 2023.
Based on these successes, the team's next goals include eliminating returned deposit item fees for consumer savings accounts, updating transaction processing to avoid overdraft fees that are the result of timing and finding solutions to support customers' liquidity needs, including early access to paychecks.
The year also saw TD Bank achieve 10 million customer deposits and 127,000 certified checking accounts for minors and those without a strong banking relationship. The bank introduced new financial wellness tools, launched new customer alerts and launched its Signature Savings accounts, which have grown to more than $14 billion in deposits.
As a result of the team's initiatives, Courtney Mitchell was tapped to be the new head of CDPP on an interim basis in March 2023 and permanently in August 2023. Mitchell praised the bank's culture of inclusivity as key to helping her do her best work.
"TD Bank separates itself from other banks and organizations by its inspiring culture of inclusivity," she said. "Employees are truly encouraged to bring our best, authentic selves to work, with an understanding that it's necessary to acknowledge our whole self to perform at our best.
"While that sentiment means different things to different people, I have personally found solace in knowing that I am accepted at TD as a working mother of two daughters, one of whom lives with physical and mental disabilities. TD has always allowed and enabled me to meet the needs of my family while also accelerating my career," Mitchell continued. All of the other CDPP team members are also working mothers, and Mitchell said they banded together to complete the project while also supporting one another.
Team Members:
Hong Bloom, Head of CDPP Growth and Engagement
Angeline Arumainayagam, Head of CDPP Revenue Management
Angel Kadelski, Head of CDPP Operations & Product Management
Courtney Mitchell, Head of Consumer Deposit Products and Payments (CDPP)
Dana Davis, Head of Customer Marketing Strategy
Ankana Carpenter, Head of Consumer Deposit Technology
Kelly D'Alessandro, Consumer Bank CFO
Stephanie Rainero, Head of Product Marketing
