Charlotte, North Carolina-based Truist is promoting its chief digital officer, Dontá Wilson, to become its head of retail and community banking and marketing, effective immediately, the bank announced Wednesday.
Huntington Bank, meanwhile, hired away Truist's previous retail and community banking chief, Brant Standridge, to become the Columbus, Ohio-based bank's president of consumer and business banking, effective in April, in a move announced at the same time.
Wilson now will oversee Truist’s 2,100 branches across 17 states and Washington, D.C., as well as its ATMs, mortgages, card-based services, retail payments, deposit and loan products, and its brand and digital marketing presence.
"Dontá is a purposeful leader with a unique, client-centered set of career experiences and he's perfectly positioned to lead our retail community banking and marketing teams into the future," Truist CEO Bill Rogers said in the bank's release. "He's helped Truist combine our distinctive human touch with innovative technology to build a better client experience."
Wilson is a 26-year veteran of Truist — or its predecessor, BB&T, which merged with SunTrust in 2019 to create the bank in its current form. He served in regional leadership roles in Virginia, Alabama and Georgia between 2005 and 2016, at which point he joined the bank's executive leadership team.
"Our clients expect a seamless experience that combines the ease of banking digitally with the distinctive personal service our Truist teammates deliver through our branches and contact centers," Wilson said in the release. "We're passionate about meeting and exceeding those expectations for each and every client, and I'm energized by the opportunity to lead this incredible team and, together, deliver on the promise of Truist."
Wilson was named chief digital and client experience officer in 2018 and since has helped develop and launch a mobile app that brings together the best features of previous digital efforts by BB&T and SunTrust, according to American Banker, which named Wilson its digital banker of the year for 2021.
Standridge, meanwhile, had served at Truist or BB&T since 2008, serving in regional leadership roles in Maryland, Georgia and Texas until 2016, when he also joined the executive leadership team as lending group manager, according to his LinkedIn page.
In his new role at Huntington, Standridge will oversee the bank's branch network, business banking, mortgage and home lending, Huntington Financial advisers, and the segment’s digital strategies and priorities and risk management.
"Brant's experience leading one of the largest consumer banks in the nation aligns well with our goal to grow within our expanded footprint and to deliver our differentiated capabilities such as small-business banking beyond our current geography," Huntington CEO Steve Steinour said in that bank's press release. "[His] deep background leading large-scale businesses across consumer and business banking makes him the ideal leader to ensure we have the resources, products and distribution mix to meet our customers' evolving needs.”
Standridge, in the release, said Huntington's "purpose of making people's lives better, helping businesses thrive and strengthening communities aligns closely with my personal purpose."
"I'm excited about the company's plans for growth that leverage its long history of excellence and its industry leadership in serving customers' needs in new and different ways," he said.
