George Bell
George Bell is an experienced information technology executive and has more than 25 years of experience in financial services, previously working for Truist, BB&T, and Bank of America. In his most recent role, he served as the Executive Vice President - Software Engineering Group Head, Business Management Manager of Truist, where he led a cross-functional team and provided technical leadership for human resources, legal, and business management functions. He brings a wealth of knowledge in improving the quality of products and services to enhance the customer experience, which will be invaluable to United.
Bell began his career in BB&T’s leadership development program in 1982 and was quickly earmarked for management opportunities in the Operations Division due to his strong quantitative instincts and knack for fostering teamwork. After rotations through the major functional bank departments, his first permanent assignment was in Management Information Systems. This initial direct exposure to computers gave Bell hands-on development experience, which became the foundation and launch into numerous technology leadership roles and contributions in Information Technology. Highlights include developing the initial marketing database, creating the first asset/liability forecasting model, implementing relational processing (DB2), developing the first client/account aggregation models, and providing methodologies to integrate disparate applications.
After eleven years at BB&T, Bell was recruited by NationsBank (Bank of America-BOA) in 1994 to assist with the “Model Bank” development efforts and their ambition to become the first coast-to-coast bank. His nine-year tenure at BOA included managing CIF and teller-related migration efforts for major acquisitions, managing nationwide applications (CIF, Teller, Debit Card, ATM, Call Center), devising the initial component-based development methodology, developing the initial CRM migration strategy, and managing the initial foray into offshore support.
In 2002, Bell rejoined BB&T with an initial focus on helping BB&T think like a big bank while developing a tangible “single view of the client” strategy. This effort led to the maturation of the technology supporting the bank’s Integrated Relationship Management strategy, which was a key differentiator for BB&T. Continued application delivery and management success led to the progressive expansion of responsibilities and accountability for over 65% of BB&T’s application portfolio. Bell also was the inaugural co-chair for the African American Affinity (AAA) group, started the ADS ambassador program, reinvigorated underperforming teams, developed skill transition models, successfully executed the first major global sourcing project (converted CIF to DB2), and established the foundation for our Faster Payments strategy (FTM – Zelle and TCH).
Within Truist, Bell was accountable for HR, Legal, Leadership Institute, and Business Management functions. His team successfully delivered the first significant conversion deliverables, bringing all teammates and sales incentive plans onto common systems. Bell also championed creating ‘operating leverage’ within the business office and set the tone for greater focus on teammate well-being.
A native of New Bern, NC, Bell received his master’s degree in business administration from East Carolina University and was an honors graduate of Barton College with a degree in mathematics. He lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife, Faye, and his daughter is entering her senior year at Fordham University in the fall.