Santander has appointed Barclays' group head of innovation, Michael Harte, as chief operating officer of its UK business, where he will help oversee the digital transformation of the bank.
Arriving next spring, Harte will be in charge of Santander UK’s business divisions and investments in the areas of technology and operations, networks, property and digital change management. In addition, he will take joint responsibility, with Sigga Sigurdardottir, for customer and innovation services to lead the digital transformation of the bank.
Harte comes to Santander after nearly four years at Barclays, first as chief operations and technology officer and then group head of innovation. Before that, he was CIO at Commonwealth Bank of Australia and has also held tech roles at Citigroup and PNC Financial Services.
Commenting on Harte, Nathan Bostock, CEO, Santander, says: "He brings extensive knowledge and experience of both the banking and wider financial services sector, specifically the transformation and disruption occurring across products and business models.
"Michael will be pivotal in delivering our ambitious innovation agenda and our digital transformation, creating a more agile organisation that is responsive to our customer needs and market leading innovation."