In the rapidly changing financial services sector, where technology and customer expectations are in constant flux, delivering an outstanding customer experience is vital. Financial institutions must provide smooth, personalized, and empathetic interactions to maintain their reputation and achieve success.
With that in mind, the customer experience experts at CX Network have highlighted a list of the financial sectors’ high flyers in customer experience. They reviewed the financial institutions recognised for their customer service this year and customer experience (CX) functions through awards such as Forbes’ World’s Best Banks, Digital Banker’s Top 100 Banks for Digital CX, and Global Finance’s World’s Best Banks, ensuring a diverse geographical representation. From those institutions, they selected individuals from their CX leadership teams based on their experience and accomplishments.
The complete list can be found below.
Luis Angel-Lalanne
American Express
Vice president, customer voice
As vice president for customer voice at American Express, Luis Angel-Lalanne has global responsibility for the voice of the customer (VoC) program and for complaints reporting.
The VoC program is the primary measure of customer experience success for the organization as well as for individual frontline employees, and over the past few years Angel-Lalanne has helped transform and modernize the entire program by upgrading its infrastructure and improving the survey experience.
Lalanne joined American Express in 2000, initially as a credit risk manager. Prior to this he worked as a naval architect.
“Experience is so central to who American Express is, what we’re all about,” he said in a 2023 interview with Diginomica. “Customer experience is something we’ve been measuring for about 20 years. It’s so deeply embedded in our culture and who we are, no one would ever accuse us of it just being a fad.”
- Read more from Luis Angel-Lalanne in Diginomica
Thiranun Arunwattanakul
MONIX
Chief operating officer
Thiranun Arunwattanakul is the chief operating officer at MONIX, a Thai fintech company created to make loans accessible, in particular through its award-winning FINNIX app, a digital lending platform powered by AI and machine learning.
Her career has seen her take senior roles at Accenture, Microsoft Thailand and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), where at the latter she helped establish a new financial agency called SCB10X. From here she joined MONIX, a joint venture between SCB and Abakus Group, a Chinese fintech unicorn.
Arunwattanakul is also a lifestyle influencer with more than 10k followers on Instagram, and a Distinguished Member of the Leading Women Fund Thailand, a UN agency that supports refugees, in particular women and children. Earlier this year she was named a ‘Leader of Tomorrow’ by Tatler Asia.
MONIX has been ranked among the top 10 banks for digital CX by Digital Banker, of which Arunwattanakul said: “MONIX’s breakthrough into the top 10 on the prestigious list is a testament to our commitment to reshaping the financial landscape. Beyond the rankings, MONIX is continuously driving financial inclusion, empowering lives through innovative financial solutions.”
- Find out more about Thiranun Arunwattanakul on MONIX’s website
Roxana Bogdan
ING
Global lead customer insights
ING has numerous initiatives that demonstrate its commitment to customer centricity, including hosting the annual Global CX Day, when employees from more than a dozen countries put their heads together to come up with ideas to create superior customer experiences.
As the global lead for customer insights at ING, Roxana Bogdan is responsible for retail segments across all ING markets: private individuals, business banking, private banking and wealth management. In this role she is focused on enabling data-driven decisions based on customer analytics, while overseeing measurement of customer KPIs and CX metrics.
She was previously the global Center Of Excellence lead for digital and customer interactions at ING, where she led a global interaction strategy that aligned the priorities of 10 local business units.
Before joining ING, Bogdan was senior digital and CRM manager at VodafoneZiggo, the Dutch venture between Vodafone and Liberty Global.
- Find out more about Roxana Bogdan on LinkedIn
Damon Burrell
GEICO
Chief marketing officer
Damon Burrell joined insurance firm GEICO in 2022, bring with him more than 20 years of experience in leading marketing strategies across different sectors. Before this he served as chief marketing officer (CMO) and senior vice president of marketing, North America, at The Estee Lauder Companies, where he was responsible for guiding the companies’ portfolio of brands during their digital transformation phase.
He also had a stint as the senior vice president of marketing at Viacom, leading the Nickelodeon and MTV brands.
Named one of Business Insider’s most innovative CMOs of 2023, Burrell has increased GEICO’s digital spend on platforms like Google, Amazon, and Snapchat — further boosting the profile of one of the largest advertisers on US television.
- Find out more about Damon Burrell on LinkedIn
Steven Denison
Monzo
VP, head of customer operations
Steven Denison joined Monzo in 2020, a so-called ‘challenger bank’ founded five years earlier in London and one of the very first app-based banks in the UK.
After setting a record for the fastest crowd-funding campaign in history, the online-only bank set out to transform consumer banking, giving customers a detailed view of their spending and enabling them to set aside money from their primary account for specific items, all through its mobile app.
Denison initially joined Monzo as director of customer operations, earning successive promotions before landing the role of VP of customer operations earlier in 2024.
His career began in 2000 at Capital One, where he held various roles from customer relations advisor to eventually taking up the role of head of UK operations, leading 350 staff across all UK teams.
- Read more about Steven Denison on LinkedIn
Rosalind Gichuru
KCB Group
Group director, marketing and communications
KCB Group is the largest financial services organization in East Africa. The bank is more than 124 years old, having started in Mombasa in 1896. It now numbers 354 branches, serving 26.8 million customers across the region. In 2023, it was named Kenya’s best bank of the year by The Banker Magazine, a publication owned by the Financial Times.
Rosalind Gichuru was appointed to the role of director of marketing and communications for the group in 2019, where she leads all aspects of the bank’s strategy, corporate affairs, sustainability agenda and strategic corporate social responsibility.
She has previously held leadership roles at NCBA Group PLC, Coca-Cola SABCO and The Gillette Company (now Procter & Gamble).
- Find out more about Rosalind Gichuru on LinkedIn
Katja Forbes
Standard Chartered Bank
Executive director, head of client experience
As head of client experience at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, Katja Forbes leads a team that creates products and services that promote financial inclusion while contributing to net-zero goals. She is also the diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) director on the Data Visualization Society global board, as well as a keynote speaker and author.
Forbes has been named one of Westpac/Australian Financial Review’s ‘100 Women of Influence’. She is also chairperson of CX Network’s sister brand CX Asia Week.
Forbes tells us that the best advice she has received in her career is to “always assume positive intent. Reframing any action or statement as coming from a positive place ensures you come to the interaction as your best rather than as your defensive worst.
“Even if the intent isn’t positive, it creates the space for the other person to pivot and lean into being positive. You can’t control how others behave, but you are 100 percent in control of how you react.”
- Read more about Katja Forbes on her website
Millie Gillon
Northwestern Mutual
Innovation strategy and research
Millie Gillon sets the strategic direction for innovation at Northwestern Mutual, where she leads a team of researchers, engineers and designers to explore emerging technologies. She has designed initiatives on decentralized finance including Web3 and blockchain, immersive experiences and digital twins.
Before joining Northwestern, Gillon was the global head of client experience at Standard Chartered Bank, and has also held senior roles at Prudential Financial, JPMorgan Chase & Co and American Express.
Gillon is enthusiastic about empowering customers to use their own data. “As consumers gain more control over their data and privacy, they will also be able to take a more proactive approach to their financial wellness,” she tells us.
“This shift will democratize advanced financial tools and insights, empowering all consumers to make informed financial decisions.”
- Read more from Millie Gillon on LinkedIn
Vicki Heslop
Covéa Insurance
Director of customer and compliance
Covéa Insurance is the UK subsidiary of Covéa Group, a European leader in insurance. Vicki Heslop is the company’s director of customer and compliance, having joined in 2006 as claims manager when it was still known as Provident Insurance.
Under her leadership, Covéa has implemented customer panels and virtual focus groups to identify customer needs at all points of their journey. “Our most recent piece of research into vulnerability in customers has been really eye opening and has led us to introduce a range of additional support options; from training for our people to changing wording in our communications and policies,” she says.
“It is a no brainer that as an industry, we should be designing and building products and services around customers and not adapting something pre-existing to provide a ‘best fit’.”
Covéa has won a number of awards including the Insurance Times Award for Insurer Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award, and the Modern Insurance CX Award for Best Vulnerable Customer Initiative.
- Read more from Vicki Heslop on Covéa Insurance
Helda Lemus
BBVA Mexico
Head of customer satisfaction, engagement and communications
Helda Lemus is the head of customer satisfaction, engagement and communications at BBVA Mexico, where she is responsible for monitoring the level of satisfaction for internal clients, leading comms and marketing, and community engagement and corporate culture programs. She joined the bank in 2018 as brand and communications manager, before moving up to her current role.
Spanish bank BBVA has won multiple awards in recent years, including the impressive accolade of being named one of Time’s best companies in the world in 2023. Its Latin American businesses are also gaining praise: The Banker has recognized BBVA as the best bank in Mexico, and called BBVA a “leading bank in Latin America, standing out from its peers in various markets in the region.”
- Read more about Helda Lemus on LinkedIn
Matthew Malady
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
General manager customer engagement and communications
Matthew Malady has spent 20 years at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, one of the country’s “big four” banks and a multinational enterprise with businesses across Asia, the US and the UK.
Much of Malady’s expertise over the last decade has been focused on data analytics to inform decision-making. His achievements include the creation of an AI-powered weather data model that draws from data sources such as official emergency and weather alert systems, as well as internal insurance information to identify customers that may be impacted by natural disasters.
Thanks to this, when thousands of customers were impacted by floods in New South Wales in 2022, the bank was able to offer support such as AUS$1,000 grants to buy essentials.
Malady also spearheaded the bank’s AI-powered loyalty program. “I am lucky enough to have led the launch of CommBank Yello, our recognition and loyalty program which is providing great value to our more than eight million eligible customers,” he tells CX Network. “To ensure we create the most engaging experience we use AI to select the most relevant offers for each customer and present them in a tailored way.”
- Read more about Matthew Malady on LinkedIn
Ekaterina Mamonova
Allianz Commercial
Global lead, marketing and customer experience
As the global lead for marketing and customer experience at commercial insurance firm Allianz Commercial, Ekaterina Mamonova is responsible for driving global initiatives aimed at delivering best-in-class experiences to both clients and broker partners.
Prior to this she held a similar role at insurance firm AIG, having also worked in research, consulting and sales.
We asked Mamonova what achievement she was most proud of at Allianz: “Our CX ambassador program involves bringing together employees from across organizational levels and roles to provide input and engage in moving the CX strategy and action plans forward. This initiative creates an internal network of customer experience advocates that the CX team can work with, as well as provide an opportunity for employees who are passionate about CX to get involved,” she explains.
“Our brilliant ambassadors have the chance to learn and develop new skills and to raise their profile within their department or across the company, while building grassroots support for a more customer-centric culture. Setting up this community, and watching colleagues thrive in this environment, is a truly rewarding experience!”
- Find out more about Ekaterina Mamonova on LinkedIn
Holly O’Neill
Bank of America
President of retail banking and chief client care executive
Holly O’Neill is responsible for the growth of the retail banking business at Bank of America, focused on empowering clients with products and services to achieve financial wellness.
In her dual role of chief client care officer, she leads a team that provides financial solutions to 69 million clients each year, with a focus on helping customers however they prefer to bank and serving diverse communities.
She first joined the bank in 1996 as a credit analyst trainee. Under her leadership, Bank of America ranked No 1 in the US for its retail banking advice in the J.D. Power US Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study, which measures the quality and relevancy of financial advice and guidance.
In 2024, O’Neill was on Barron’s list of the ‘100 Most Influential Women in US Finance’ for the third consecutive year. She has also been recognized as one of the most powerful women in banking by American Banker, and included in Forbes’ ’50 Over 50′ list.
- Read more about Holly O’Neill on the Bank of America’s website
Eric Pinatti
Bradesco
Head of strategic transformation, marketing and CX
Bradesco is the third largest bank in Brazil, where Eric Pinatti leads on marketing and CX. He is responsible for the customer centricity vertical, leading the voice of the customer program and guiding the complete process of transforming the customer’s voice into action plans. He also oversees key strategies such as branding, communication, market research, media, growth and partnerships.
“I am particularly proud of the advancements we’ve made in prioritizing the customer’s voice and turning it into actionable strategies,” Pinatti tells us.
“The implementation of the Net Promoter System (NPS) in more than 3,000 branches has been a significant milestone. Furthermore, leveraging advanced statistical modeling has allowed us to anticipate each customer’s NPS score, enabling us to tailor our interactions proactively.”
- Watch Eric Pinatti discuss the bank’s NPS methodology at All Access: Predictive CX 2024
Gustavo Saiago
Nubank
CX foundations senior manager
Gustavo Saiago is a seasoned executive with over a decade of experience in some of the world’s leading multinational corporations. His career began at Avon, where he worked mostly in supply chain and industrial engineering. In 2017, he transitioned to customer experience at online marketplace Mercado Livre.
For the past five years, Gustavo has held a senior leadership role in CX at Nubank, overseeing operations across multiple business units. In the last year he has focused on strategic process and product improvements leveraging the customer centric culture at Nubank, and leading major projects aimed at enhancing customer experience and cross-team collaboration.
Over two years ago, Gustavo decided to channel his expertise into entrepreneurship. He and three close friends co-founded Arte de Atender (which translates as ‘the art of serving’), to provide training for professionals wanting to advance their careers in CX.
“What I find most rewarding about working in this industry is the direct impact we can have on people’s lives,” Saiago says. “Every innovation, whether it’s a streamlined app feature or an optimized customer service process, holds the potential to significantly enhance user experience and democratize access to financial services.”
- Read more from Gustavo Saiago on LinkedIn
Diego Scotti
PayPal
EVP, general manager – consumer group and global marketing and communications
In his role at PayPal, Diego Scotti oversees the integration and enhancement of the group’s consumer products and services, with the aim of creating seamless customer experiences and strong value propositions. He also drives brand awareness and usage at Venmo, the payment app acquired by PayPal in 2013.
Scotti’s career began with a 15-year tenure at American Express, where he led global advertising and branding, and managed loyalty and engagement programs. He has also held leadership roles at J. Crew and Vogue, and prior to joining PayPal, he served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Verizon, where he played a pivotal role in transforming the company from a phone service provider into a technology-driven, purpose-oriented brand.
Scotti is an advocate for diversity in marketing and advertising, having founded Adfellows, a fellowship program aimed at upskilling diverse talent and promoting gender inclusion.
- Read more about Diego Scotti on LinkedIn
Pedro Sousa Cardoso
Emirates NBD
Chief digital officer (CDO), retail banking and wealth management
Emirates NBD, one of the leading banks in the MENAT region (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey), has won awards for its customer service, including ‘Best CX Business Model’ at the 2021 Digital CX Awards, and ‘Best App for Customer Experience’ at the 2024 MENA Banking Excellence Awards.
Pedro Sousa Cardoso is at the helm of the bank’s digital strategy, responsible for leading on cloud, data and analytics initiatives to deliver customer-centric solutions. It is in fact his second stint at Emirates NDB, having worked here between 2011 and 2017 as head of multichannel and digital transformation.
Cardoso previously held leadership roles at Standard Chartered Group in Singapore and at Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, giving him more than 20 years of experience in fintech and banking.
- Read more about Pedro Sousa Cardoso on LinkedIn
Javier Tomé Muguruza
Santander
Head digital banking – Europe head of digital experience and digital channels
Javier Tomé Muguruza joined Santander in 2016, after spending 12 years at BBVA. While at Santander he has led voice of the customer initiatives, processing more than 387,000 opinions and suggestions from customers, and developing a mobile app designed specifically to assist customers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As well as his role leading digital banking at Santander, he is a professor of customer experience at Inesdi Business Techschool in Madrid.
Muguruza is a regular contributor to articles on banking and finance and a keynote speaker, sharing his valuable insights acquired over more than 20 years in the financial sector.
- Read more from Javier Tomé Muguruza on LinkedIn
Matthieu Vacarie
Société Générale
Managing director, GTB head of customer experience
Matthieu Vacarie began his career at Société Générale in 1995 in corporate and investment banking. In 2005, he joined the group’s strategy department and in 2009, he was appointed head of corporate investment banking at the group’s Geniki Bank in Athens.
In 2013, he became commercial director of Société Générale in Algeria before moving to Senegal in 2016 where he founded and managed YUP, a business unit specialized in mobile payments with a presence in seven African countries.
In recent years he has returned to France, and he is now head of client experience at the bank’s global transaction banking (GTB) division.
“Listening continuously to clients’ needs and expectations is key,” he tells CX Network. “It goes all the way up to co-designing solutions and paths together with the clients themselves. Design thinking methodology is always of great help to do so.”
- Read more from Matthieu Vacarie on LinkedIn
Carla Zakhem-Hassan
JPMorgan Chase
Chief marketing officer
Carla Zakhem-Hassan oversees marketing efforts including advertising, media, sponsorships and talent, customer insights and analytics for JPMorgan Chase.
A Lebanese war refugee, she moved to the US where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and completed an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Over the years she has held several leadership roles including chief marketing officer at the Dubai office of Pepsi, executive vice president and global chief marketing officer at Toys “R” Us, and chief marketing officer at Citigroup. She was named chief marketing officer at JPMorgan Chase in 2021.
While at Citigroup, her team worked with The Female Quotient to launch the Advancing Equality Calculator, a free tool to help organizations of all sizes calculate their gender pay gap. In 2023 she was listed as one of the world’s most influential CMOs by Forbes.
- Read more about Carla Zakhem-Hassan on Forbes
Photo by Adrian Raudaschl on Unsplash
