Terri Dial, a former top executive at Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. and widely regarded as one of the industry's most influential women, died Tuesday in Miami. She was 62.
The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, according to news reports.
Dial spent more than 25 years at Wells, where she began as a teller and eventually rose to head of its California operations. She later joined the U.K.'s Lloyds TSB Group as the first American head of consumer banking and in 2008 she was hired by Citi as chief executive of its consumer banking in the U.S. and global head of consumer-banking strategies. She stepped down from that post in 2010, but remained with Citi as a senior advisor to CEO Vikram Pandit.
In an email to employees Wednesday, Pandit said that Dial was the first outside hire he made as CEO and led the consumer group "for two of the most critical years this company ever faced." He also said Dial was a mentor to "dozens of women who will never forget her wise counsel and who attribute much of their success to her guidance."
Dial won a number of accolades during her long career. In 2009, Forbes ranked her among the 100 most powerful women in business and American Banker Magazine listed her as No. 10 on its Women to Watch list.
