Vernon lender Rockville Bank has cemented its mobile-banking intentions with the seating of Donna Patel as its first ever virtual banking chief.
Patel, previously with U.S. giants Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank, is a senior vice president who reports to Rockville’s Chief Operating Officer Marino Santarelli.
According to bank CEO William H.W. “Bill’’ Crawford IV, Patel will manage Rockville’s non-branch delivery channels, such as computers and smartphones, to provide a “seamless customer experience.’’
Banks increasingly view their mobile-banking products, services and platforms as tickets to building and deepening relationships with today’s technology-savvy consumers.
Patel, too, Crawford said, will oversee the bank’s new, seven-days-a-week customer contact center, its website and automated teller machines with the goal of “effectively integrating them with the bank’s virtual banking capabilities.”
Patel comes to Rockville Bank from B of A in Charlotte, N.C., where she was senior vice president and online and mobile product executive overseeing products and services delivered to that lender’s 30 million digital customers.
Patel also spent 10 years with Wells Fargo/Wachovia, as a consumer online banking executive.
Rockville Bank awaits approval and completion next year of its $369 million merger with West Springfield’s United Bank to create an institution with $4.8 billion in assets.
