Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has tapped the chief executive of its neobank Up to hold the additional role of chief digital officer, a newly created role.
Xavier Shay (Up and Bendigo Bank)
Alongside his new role as Bendigo’s digital chief, Xavier Shay will continue to serve as Up CEO, which he has held for the past three years.
According to Bendigo, Shay will “bring together the bank’s digital capabilities and will be responsible for driving greater penetration of our digital offerings across the Bendigo and Up brands”.
Shay first joined Up in April 2019 as a software engineer before being promoted to head of Up and then CEO in August 2021.
The move comes as Bendigo makes “significant progress on its transformation program” and is “focused on tapping the strong pipeline of demand that exists for its products and services”.
The transformation saw Bendigo undergo an extensive cloud migration, which included shifting its digital banking system, app and web platform onto Google Cloud, as well as investment in AI and new security measures.
“Xavier’s experience in leading high-performing digital teams at Up and as director of payments engineering and analytics at Square will support the growth of the business and continue to improve returns for shareholders,” Bendigo said in a statement.
The promotion follows recent leadership changes, one of which saw Nathalie Moss step in as interim CIO following the departure of Andrew Cresp, and the appointment of new CEO and managing director Richard Fennell.