Citi Has a New Head of Fintech

Citigroup has named Yolande Piazza as the permanent head of its fintech unit, American Banker reports.

Piazza had been serving as head of Citi FinTech since August, replacing Heather Cox who left the firm to become the chief tech and digital officer at USAA, according to American Banker.

Stephen Bird, the chief executive of Citi's global consumer bank, praised Piazza's work at as interim CEO of the fintech unit in a memo obtained by American Banker.

“Under her leadership, we successfully launched a new set of features for U.S. Retail Bank clients that make us the first global bank to integrate banking and wealth management on mobile — epitomizing ‘playing to win,' " Bird said in the memo.

Citi FinTech, he wrote, “is charged with delivering a radically simple, connected customer experience on mobile. Through co-creation with customers, an agile operating model and next generation technology, their mandate is to dramatically change and accelerate how we design, build, create, work and ultimately, deliver.”

Piazza has been with Citi for almost three decades, which includes serving as chief operating officer of Citi.

Photo: Spencer E Holtaway