U.S. Bank will combine two core departments ahead of its top community banking executive's retirement and will add a chief digital officer position, the Minneapolis company said Wednesday.
John Elmore will retire as vice chairman of community banking and branch delivery in March. Elmore, 62, has been in the banking industry for 38 years and has spent most of his career with the $461 billion-asset U.S. Bank.
The bank will combine community banking and branch delivery with its consumer banking sales and support function into one community and business banking department. Tim Welsh, who is currently vice chairman of consumer banking sales and support, will run the combined department, which basically will oversee retail and small-business services. (The bank uses the title vice chairman for executives; these are not board seats.)
Elmore's departure provided the bank "an opportunity to rethink our retail banking organization and to create the best possible structure that aligns with our vision for the future,” President and CEO Andy Cecere said in a press release. “This simplified structure will allow us to operate more effectively and efficiently, particularly at a time when innovation and speed to market is essential."
The company is also searching for a chief digital officer, a newly created role within the organization that Cecere called a “key step” to making U.S. Bank a digital-first bank.
Elmore has been with U.S. Bank since 1999 and has been vice chairman of community banking since 2013.
Cecere said in the announcement that Elmore "is an exceptional leader who will leave behind a distinguished legacy of professional achievement and personal integrity.”
