USAA names bank president, plucks new risk chief from Citigroup

USAA in San Antonio has named a new president of its banking unit and recruited a Citigroup executive as chief risk officer.

Paul Vincent has been promoted to president of USAA Federal Savings Bank, having most recently worked as its head of retail banking. Vincent, who has been with USAA for seven years, replaces Chad Borton. A company spokesman said Borton is leaving USAA to spend more time with his family.

Meanwhile, Neeraj Singh will become chief risk officer of the parent company, succeeding Torben Ostergaard, who is retiring.

The executive moves announced Tuesday come several months after the banking unit was hit with an enforcement action and saw its Community Reinvestment Act score downgraded.

The Office of Comptroller of the Currency imposed an $85 million fine in October for risk management deficiencies and alleged violations of the Military Lending Act and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Regulators had been raising concerns about operational shortcomings and consumer protection issues at the bank since early 2019, when it also paid more than $15 milion in restitution and fines mandated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The OCC last fall also lowered the bank's Community Reinvestment Act score to "needs to improve" from "satisfactory" based on a 2019 examination.

The promotion of Vincent and hiring of Singh were unrelated to the recent enforcement action, a USAA spokesman said.

Vincent and Singh report directly to USAA CEO Wayne Peacock, according to the company.

“Simply put, we have fallen short of our high standards and those of our members and our regulators,” Peacock said in a statement after the $85 million fine was announced.

Vincent had also worked as head of member services and senior vice president of bank operations at USAA Federal Savings Bank. Before that, he worked for Capital One Financial in operations, channels, finance, analytics and strategy.

In a press release, Peacock praised Vincent’s “financial services background and risk management experience combined with his deep appreciation for the military community.”

Singh was previously chief risk officer for Citigroup’s U.S. consumer bank and head of its global consumer risk modeling. Before Citigroup, he held customer and risk management positions with TD Bank in Canada and in the U.S. and with Barclays in the U.S. and the U.K.

Peacock said of Singh, “We are excited to benefit from his deep experience across multiple products, services and risk types, and his proven ability to build strong teams.”