(11 September 2017 – Germany) Deutsche Bank has appointed a Silicon Valley veteran to lead digital strategy in its transaction banking unit.
The bank named Thomas Nielsen as chief digital officer of its global transaction banking arm, which includes cash management and trade finance and has generated annual revenues of more than €4 billion over the last five years.
Earlier this year, Deutsche’s head of global transaction banking said the unit was at “the flashpoint for finance and technology”, adding that new hired were planned to develop the digital side of the business.
“Our job inside the transaction bank is to embrace new technology, new partnerships and new ways of looking at our businesses, and bring it to our customers,” Gibbons said.
Most recently, Nielsen spent more than three years with Tesco, where he was the supermarket group’s chief digital officer. He oversaw platforms and apps that included Clubcard, a loyalty programme that has more than 16 million members. Prior to that, in the US he held senior executive positions at technology giants Microsoft and Adobe.
The hire comes as banks from around the world turn their focus to digital.
Last month, European rival, HSBC announced a partnership with IBM to integrate advanced robotics to bring paper-heavy trade financing process into the digital age.
JP Morgan’s head of investment banking, Daniel Pinto told shareholders in June that the US bank was “transforming transaction banking” with a 12 percent rise in the treasury services technology budget since 2014.
In Australia, ANZ Bank recruited ex-Google Australia CEO, Maile Carnegie to drive its digital banking in 2016. Since then, the bank has also established a “chief design officer” role, a position Apple’s Jonathon Ive made famous.