After just two years with Bank of America, Tariq Hassan, head of global wealth management marketing and global brand strategy, is leaving the company, according to sources.
A veteran marketer who previously worked at Omnicom and Element79, Mr. Hassan joined the Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant in 2014, tasked with evolving the brand strategy through research and marketing.
Mr. Hassan declined to comment. According to his LinkedIn page, Bank of America was his first job in the financial industry. Before Omnicom, he worked at HP on global brand experience and activation.
Like many of its traditional banking competitors, Bank of America is dealing with an increasing number of digital rivals including Paypal, Venmo and SoFi, as it tries to improve its customer-centric approach.
"Customers don't really care about banks -- they're more interested in what banks can accomplish," said Mark Hendrix, a 30-year banking industry veteran who currently acts as an advisor for Austin-based Peak Performance Consulting Group, which specializes in retail banking, noting that banks have never before had to think of themselves as brands. "There is an awful lot of disruptive change that is occurring in the marketplace and there is a change in consumer expectation that all banks are having to grapple with."
He added that banks like Bank of America are also dealing with legacy infrastructure, while fintech providers, immune to regulatory burdens, are able to be more nimble with their customer innovations.
In the third quarter, Bank of America reported revenue of $21.6 billion, a 3% rise over the year-earlier period, and net income of $5 billion. The company spent about $1.81 billion on worldwide advertising last year, according to Ad Age's Datacenter.
A spokeswoman from Bank of America declined to comment on Mr. Hassan's departure.
Contributing: E.J. Schultz