Karen Larrimer, head of retail banking and chief customer officer at PNC, will retire after more than 27 years with the bank. Larrimer will remain as the bank’s chief customer officer through the end of 2022 and transition out of her role as head of retail banking on July 1. Alex Overstrom, PNC’s current head of small business and deputy head of retail banking, will assume responsibility for leading PNC’s retail banking line of business.
Larrimer has led PNC’s retail banking business since July 2016, following her appointment to chief customer officer in 2014. Prior to that, she held several executive positions at PNC, including chief marketing officer, executive vice president for business banking and leadership roles within treasury management. Before joining PNC, Larrimer was an assistant director for Ernst & Young and served as a vice president in corporate banking at Mellon Bank.
“I am personally grateful to Karen for her leadership during my time as CEO,” William S. Demchak, chairman, president and CEO of PNC, said. “She is an exceptional executive and banker whose guidance and insights have benefitted the bank and our customers in many ways. She has played an instrumental role in PNC’s growth, and she has driven key initiatives that were squarely focused on improving PNC’s retail offerings and our customers’ satisfaction. She will be missed, and I wish her all the best in her next chapter.”
During her tenure at PNC, Larrimer, as the head of retail banking, led PNC’s digital expansion, the creation of solution centers in PNC’s expansion markets and several rebranding efforts through acquisitions. She also led the launch of Low Cash Mode last year, which represented a move to address overdraft fees and the dissatisfaction they cause for customers. As PNC’s first chief customer officer, Larrimer also established the office of the customer, led several efforts designed to improve the bank’s customers’ experience and rolled out an analytical measurement tool to gauge employee and customer satisfaction.
Across her career, Larrimer has been recognized through numerous honors and awards, including being named one of the Most Powerful Women in Banking by American Banker for seven consecutive years (2015 to 2021) and receiving the Girl Scouts of America Award of Distinction in Business (2013). She was named a “Mother of the Year” by Working Mother magazine (2010), designated a “Women Worth Watching” by Diversity Journal magazine (2009) and named one of the Best 50 Women in Business in Pennsylvania (2003).
As the new head of retail banking at PNC, Overstrom will report directly to Demchak. Overstrom has been with PNC for nearly eight years, during which time he has served in a variety of roles, including head of merchant services, chief operating officer of corporate and institutional banking and asset management, and head of aviation finance.
In addition to his business leadership roles across PNC, Overstrom has helped lead several initiatives for the bank, including the enterprise integration and conversion of BBVA USA, through which PNC signed, closed and converted 2.6 million customers, 9,000 employees and nearly 600 branches in less than one year. Overstrom joined PNC in 2014 from Goldman Sachs, where he worked in strategy and investment banking.
