SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bank of the West announced today that Kirsten Garen has joined the company as Chief Information Officer responsible for the technology platform that serves the Bank’s 1.6 million customers.
Garen, an executive vice president reporting to the Bank’s Chief Administrative Officer Mike Bracco, has more than 25 years of experience in financial services. She joins Bank of the West from Visa, where she was the Head of Global Distributed Technology. At Visa, she led a large global team that developed new products and services across Visa’s commercial and consumer product divisions.
“Kirsten Garen is an innovative business and technology leader with a customer-centric approach to technology that makes her an ideal fit with Bank of the West,” said Bracco. “She brings to Bank of the West outstanding experience in leading organizations through transformational change during times of rapid growth.”
Prior to Visa, she was Senior Vice President for Brokerage and Trading Solutions at Charles Schwab & Co. In her six years in that role, she was responsible for brokerage and trading technology services supporting all enterprise business groups. She led strategic planning, development and integration for the group’s portfolio of technology projects.
Garen holds an MBA from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA from the University of Michigan.
About Bank of the West
Founded in 1874, $61.9 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com), member FDIC and equal housing lender, offers a full range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services. The bank operates more than 700 retail and commercial banking locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, one of the world's largest and best rated banks* with more than 200,000 employees in more than 80 countries.
*Rated AA- by Standard & Poor’s as of October 14, 2011