German fintech GFT Technologies has tapped Rishi Chohan as its U.S. chief executive to grow its U.S. operations.

With clients including Deutsche Bank, Salt Bank and VP Bank, GFT provides digital banking solutions to financial institutions. Chohan, who was named to the position March 25, told Bank Automation News he plans to train all GFT employees on AI tools and build AI-enabled platforms to transform how the company operates and delivers value.

“We have recently launched AI Impact, designed to boost productivity for our teams working on client engagements,” Chohan said. “Early tests show that this can cut our service delivery costs by 20% to 30%, and we are just scratching the surface.” 

Before joining GFT, Chohan was executive vice president and head of banking, financial services and insurance, and North America retail at fintech SoftServe, and had been a managing director at consultancy EY, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

ClearBank names Mark Fairless as CEO 

Bristol, U.K.-based clearing agency ClearBank promoted former Chief Financial Officer Mark Fairless to replace retiring CEO Charles McManus. 

The change was effective immediately upon ClearBank’s March 12 announcement.

A financial services industry veteran, Fairless served as CFO at global investment manager M&C before joining ClearBank in 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also held leadership positions at Santander U.K. and Barclays Capital, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

McManus and the board have been planning his succession for some time, with Fairless increasing his leadership role during the past two years, a ClearBank spokesperson told BAN. 

A new CFO has not been named. 

Fairless’ primary goal is supporting ClearBank’s expanding customer base across the United Kingdom and Europe and driving the company’s growth, he told BAN. 

“Our vision is to enable financial services innovation on a global scale, powering the digital economy,” Fairless said. 

ClearBank in December announced that its cloud-native banking solution is available to customers who use Microsoft’s AI-enhanced Azure. By integrating AI, ClearBank can process 30 million payments per month, compared with 8,000 without AI, it shared with BAN at the time. 

TD taps Robinson, Stuart to head consumer divisions 

TD Bank has appointed Allison Robinson as head of U.S. retail distribution and Andrew Stuart as head of U.S. consumer products, auto finance and wealth, according to a March 13 release.

Robinson will be tasked with managing and improving 1,100 branches and retail operations for TD. She previously served as the head of consumer solutions, service and operations. 

Stuart will manage $130 billion in deposits from 8 million customers and aims to grow TD’s credit products, the release stated. He had been head of U.S. consumer deposit and payments products. 

The leadership moves come on the heels of Matt Boss, TD’s U.S. consumer-banking chief, leaving to join Citizens Bank to lead consumer banking efforts, according to a Citizens release on March 3. 

Lindsay Soergel appointed Fintilect CEO 

AI-powered digital banking solutions provider Fintilect has named Lindsay Soergel as its chief executive, the fintech announced March 5. 

Soergel had been chief client officer at marketing consultancy Ratio, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also worked at AI banking solutions firm Kasisto as chief client officer, according to her LinkedIn.

Soergel’s marketing and digital banking experience has shown her that AI is the key to being competitive in financial services, she told BAN. 

“The combination of predictive and generative AI represents a game-changing opportunity for financial services providers, including banks, credit unions, motor finance providers and wealth managers to deliver their brand in differentiated ways,” Soergel said. 

FIs that invest strategically in AI will not only keep pace with industry giants but also gain market share, she said. 

The fintech’s top three goals this year include: 

1. Engaging existing clients through service and software quality; 

1. Gaining clients through new offerings; and 

1. Refining its business strategy through a unified leadership team. 

The fintech is also enhancing its online account opening solutions, Soergel said. 

BlackRock, Connect One Bank and Capitol Federal Financial are among some of Fintel’s customers. 

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