Dive Brief:
- Jason Strle will serve as Discover’s next chief information officer, joining the company July 18 as an executive vice president, the card network announced Wednesday.
- Strle comes to Discover from Wells Fargo, where he served as EVP and group CIO of payments, virtual solutions, innovation and community banking business units for nearly six years. He spent nearly 13 years at JPMorgan Chase as chief technology officer and managing director of global technologies prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile.
- Strle helped Wells Fargo launch a digital banking platform and implement Agile practices during his tenure with the company. “Jason’s vast experience with a product-centric model and agile way of working will help grow, improve and expand our digital banking and payments capabilities,” Discover CEO Roger Hochschild said Wednesday.
Dive Insight:
Strle comes to Discover after Wells Fargo reconfigured its tech leadership team in April. The bank chose Saul Van Beurden, its then-head of technology, to succeed Mary Mack, who retired as CEO of consumer and small-business banking.
Tracy Kerrins, then-head of consumer technology at Wells Fargo, was tapped to succeed Van Beurden as the bank’s head of technology.
Strle will replace Amir Arooni, who told Discover he would be leaving his CIO post in February, a company spokesperson said.
Discover recruited Arooni in 2020 from NN Group, where he led the company’s technology and security operations. At the time, CFO John Greene emphasized the credit and financial services company’s investments in robotic process automation and advanced analytics.
Arooni forged a product-based IT development process at Discover and implemented an internal tech academy, initiatives he detailed in a 2021 Medium post. The company launched an open source software development website in February.
"Arooni led his team to implement programs like the Discover Technology Academy, which allow Discover technologists to learn, network, share knowledge and upskill,” the company said Wednesday.
Tech investments have driven revenue for Discover. The company reported first-quarter net income of $1 billion for the three-month period ending March 31. Hochschild characterized it as “an all-time record quarter in terms of consumer deposit inflows,” a development he attributed to customer-facing digital enhancements.
“Technology is the foundation of every element of our digital banking and payments strategy, allowing us to provide innovative solutions and a superior customer experience,” Hochschild said in Wednesday’s announcement.
