Innovator: Jeff Dennes, chief digital officer, Huntington Bank
Recent Innovation: Creating a channel integration roadmap for Huntington
Why it Matters: The plan would place the bank ahead of rivals its size
What's Next: iPad, Android apps
Perhaps the best snapshot of the coup Huntington Bancshares scored when it hired Jeff Dennes last fall to make the Ohio-based regional bank a mobile banking powerhouse was found more than thousand miles away in a conference room at a Las Vegas hotel.
Speaking at an industry event on mobile banking before he even joined Huntington, Dennes drew a rapt audience of hundreds of bank execs who packed the hall, hungry for morsels of information on how to marry cutting edge mobile technology with consumer demand and comfort with the nascent channel.
"It can be tough to decide what the priorities might be for mobile, and having somebody who understands what it means to bank remotely is key," says David Albertazzi, a senior analyst at Aite, who says the melding of mobile functions like mobile RDC, location-based services, and transaction tracking requires broad expertise in both mobile technology and business strategy. "Having that experience can help prioritize the roadmap, and get to what features are needed first."
Dennes made his mark on the mobile banking wave early at USAA, where he played a central role in growing the company's remote banking services. As a financial services company serving primarily a military customer base, USAA was a first mover by necessity, rolling out native mobile apps and mobile RDC-reaching a critical mass of consumer users years before most banks. The maturation of mobile banking, and the emerging popularity of mobile RDC in particular, have given Dennes the reputation of a rainmaker in the industry.
Since joining Huntington in October of last year to fill a newly created position of chief digital officer, Dennes has been developing an integrated remote access financial services roadmap for the bank, which includes mobile and other external channels such as web banking and ATMs. Part of the effort is the buildout of web services that will connect users' mobile experience with the legacy transaction and CRM systems that manage other channels, such as the internet, branch or contact center.
The bank's also currently plotting to grow beyond its browser-heavy mobile interface through the introduction of native apps for iPad and Android, and is also working on its move into tablet technology.
"Consumers will touch [mobile] many more times than a physical branch or an ATM," says Dennes. "We want to make that experience consistent and the best it can possibly be."
These moves would position Huntington ahead of other banks of its size in terms of providing a single integrated view of all relationships via mobile.
"If you are a bank outside of the top ten, the chances of you seeing your card info on the mobile banking app are pretty low. Or your mortgage info," says Bart Narter, svp of the banking group at Celent.
But more than any individual product rollout, the mobile banking vet's hiring signals Huntington's aggressive move to make mobile a big part of its future. While the bank tried mobile quickly, launching its first capabilities as early as 2008, it did not invest heavily in the channel during the banking crisis.
But that's changing, as Dennes is expanding his staff of 20 people on the business side of the mobile operation, and increases collaboration with the IT team to plot mobile and online banking deployments. To build the products, the bank's drawing on internal talent and a new partnership with technology provider Kony Solutions, which offers a platform for writing apps that can run on multiple mobile devices, including iPads, iPhones, Androids, BlackBerrys and Windows 7, as well as 15 browsers.
