Santander Bank has appointed Swati Bhatia as head of retail banking and transformation with immediate effect.

Bhatia joins the firm from Goldman Sachs where she led the Marcus business. She also previously worked as co-chief executive of GreenSky, a public company in the home improvement lending space, and served as chief payments risk officer at Strip where she built the company’s risk and compliance infrastructure.

In her new role, Bhatia will lead the US consumer and banking business and all related digital transformation initiatives. She will focus on building new capabilities, simplifying existing process and enhancing customer experiences.

Bhatia has also held a variety of leadership positions at PayPal and Capital One working in a number of areas including digital banking platforms, marketing, governance and operations.

Bhatia will report to Tim Wennes, Santander chief executive and Santander US country head.

“The bank has reached an inflection point as we progress towards becoming a national, digital bank with branches, and I am delighted to have Swati leading the business during this next chapter,” said Wennes. “Her track record of innovation in consumer banking, coupled with a strong background in risk and controls, provides her with the right combination of experiences to scale the digital platform and grow the business nationally.”

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