M&T Bank has turned to Ishet Dhar, a former Bank of America technology executive, to lead efforts to overlay digital services across the company's 12-state footprint.
Dhar began last week as chief digital officer, which is an enterprise-wide role, the Buffalo, New York, bank said Monday. Dhar is based in Wilmington, Delaware, and reports to Christopher Kay, M&T's head of consumer banking, business banking and marketing.
Dhar's job, according to M&T, is to integrate the bank's ongoing tech overhaul with its community-focused approach to customer service. He spent more than 17 years at BofA, most recently leading digital consumer delivery.
In an interview, Dhar said that banks are now expected to combine reliable and easy-to-use digital services with personalized support and relationships built at branch locations.
"Whether it's a customer of M&T or any other national bank, the expectations for service are the same," Dhar said. "We have to figure out ways to make it easy for customers to do what they need to do with us at any time and place they need."
Over the last decade, as fintechs have emerged as digital banking disruptors, traditional institutions have sought to keep pace.
During Dhar's time at BofA, digital banking became a key differentiator for the nation's second-largest bank by assets. Now regional banks are making their own big bets on digital capabilities.
In May, Regions Financial
Dhar said the pace of digital transformation across the banking sector has been "rapid" and that the success of new tech investments depends on "providing a minimum level of service a customer expects."
"The beauty of digital is being able to present meaningful products that allow, if a customer is interested, to click, apply and be done," Dhar said. However, he added, "the minimum level of customer service is defined in each market differently."
M&T has focused on community-based customer service as it has grown over the decades — expanding from an upstate New York community bank into a regional institution with branches as far south as Virginia and as far north as Maine.
In 2017, when CEO René Jones took the reins at M&T, he began a strategic shift by investing more in digital services, while also aiming to turn Buffalo into a burgeoning tech hub for young banking talent.
Last year, M&T opened a 330,000-square foot
The Buffalo, New York, bank flagged urban hotels and construction projects as potential sources of trouble. “But there’s nothing that’s flashing red right now that says there’s a big crisis coming,” said a top executive.
Mike Wisler, M&T's chief information officer, said in a
"When you think about the modern bank, or the modern company at all, that has a lot to do with technology and data and design experience," Wisler said.
After touring M&T's headquarters last week, Dhar said the bank's tech hub is nurturing the "nucleus of sharp minds" that will determine the banking sector's future.
"What I love about the investments in technology happening now are the investments being made in people," he said. "I'm energized by the whole purpose of making a difference in people's lives by supporting and still committing to being in their communities."
