Lloyds TSB has appointed Terri Dial, a former head of retail banking at US West Coast bank Wells Fargo, to lead its UK retail banking business.
Dial, currently chairman of Internet search firm LookSmart, replaces Peter Ayliff who was forced out at the end of March. She will retain her chairmanship at LookSmart and a directorship at US CRM firm Onyx Software.
Dial (55) retired from Wells Fargo in 2001 after 28 years at the US bank and has since held directorships at several small tech firms.
She joins Lloyds TSB with a ringing endorsement from Dick Kovacevich, chairman and CEO, Wells Fargo & Co.
"In her time at Wells Fargo, she and her team introduced new and innovative products, technology, and distribution strategies that have now been adopted throughout the United States banking industry," he says. "She is a real coup for Lloyds TSB and is sure to make a terrific contribution to their business."
The appointment represents a £550,000 annual salary bet by Lloyds TSB's US-born chief Eric Daniels that Dial can transfer her expertise from the North American markets and revive the bank's profitable, but stagnating UK retail division.