GLASTONBURY, Conn., Dec. 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- William H. W. Crawford, IV, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rockville Bank and Rockville Financial, Inc. ("Rockville Financial" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:RCKB), today announced the hiring of Donna Patel, a seasoned, respected and national banking business leader, to take on the Bank's newly-created position of Senior Vice President of Virtual Banking.
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In this leading role, Patel will be responsible for managing Rockville's non-branch delivery channels to provide an enhanced, integrative high-tech customer experience. This includes providing the direction, planning and execution of the virtual banking offerings Rockville Bank wants to deliver to its customers, ensuring anyone who banks with Rockville benefits from a seamless customer experience.
In addition, Patel will be in charge of Rockville Bank's Contact Center - which is now open seven days a week, the website and ATMs with the goal of effectively integrating them with Bank's virtual banking capabilities.
Patel comes to Rockville Bank from Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was Senior Vice President, Online & Mobile Product Executive, at Bank of America. In that role, she directed product strategy for a full suite of digital products for the Bank's 30 million digital customers, including online banking, online bill pay, transfers, online wires, online document suppression and alerts. She also developed a digital customer service strategy to support Bank of America's goal of becoming number one in customer service by 2014.
Patel also spent ten years with Wells Fargo National Bank/Wachovia, holding the position of Senior Vice President, Consumer Online Banking Executive, where she managed the Bank's online banking products for the combined Company's 17 million online customers.
"At Rockville Bank, superior customer service is more than just words. It is what we offer our customers so they benefit from a first-class banking experience. As customer visits to branches become less frequent and more of them rely on their mobile phone and tablet to complete a bank transaction, it was critical for us to conduct a thorough national search to find the right leader to make sure we stay ahead of the latest technology in banking," said Crawford.
"We already know we outperform our peers when it comes to the personal service and customer experience we provide in our branches. Now, we have Donna Patel who will help us earn the same reputation when it comes to providing a superior virtual banking experience for our online and mobile customers."
"What made coming to Connecticut and being a part of the Rockville Bank Team so appealing was Rockville's vision and commitment to growing its virtual banking capability. Rockville is known for providing superior customer service and that means as our customers' banking habits change, we must continue to stay ahead of the curve in providing the most convenient, customer-focused options they require. I am confident we will create an online and mobile banking experience that will complement the great job we do in our branches," said Patel.
Patel is based in Rockville Bank's Executive Offices in Glastonbury, Conn. and reports to Marino Santarelli, the Bank's Chief Operating Officer.
About Rockville Bank:
Rockville Bank is a 22-branch community bank serving Tolland, Hartford, New Haven and New London counties in Connecticut. It provides convenient banking for the residents and businesses of Colchester, Coventry, East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Glastonbury, Hamden, Manchester, Rockville, Somers, South Glastonbury, South Windsor, Suffield, Tolland, Vernon, West Hartford and is opened seven days a week at its Big Y supermarket locations in Enfield and Manchester. For more information about Rockville Bank's products and services, call (860) 291-3600 or visit rockvillebank.com.
About Rockville Financial, Inc.:
Rockville Financial, Inc. the parent of Rockville Bank, which is a 22-branch community bank serving Tolland, Hartford, New Haven and New London counties in Connecticut. For more information about Rockville Bank's services and products, call (860) 291-3600 or visit www.rockvillebank.com. For more information about Rockville Financial, Inc., visit www.rockvillefinancialinc.com or download the Company's free Investor Relations app on your Apple or Android device.
To download Rockville Financial, Inc.'s investor relations app on your iPhone, which offers access to SEC documents, press releases, videos, audiocasts and more, please visit https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=725271098&mt=8 or
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=725271098&mt=8 for your iPad or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theirapp.rockville for your Android mobile device.
