The ultimate team of powerful women in banking: Zions Bancorp.

Zion Bancorp. has spent more than a decade transforming the digital system that serves as the hub for all deposit and loan accounts at the bank, aptly called the central banking system – which is comparable to replacing an airplane engine in mid-air, according to experts who consulted with banks on the assignment.

Kristiane Koontz, executive vice president and chief banking transformation officer at the company Zionled a team consisting mainly of women in day-to-day activities. Jennifer Smith, chief technology and operations officer, provided executive oversight of the project, which enabled the bank to simplify processes and implement key initiatives.

The transformation covered stakeholders of the entire corporation, which in 2023 had assets worth USD 87 billion and a return on equity of 13.4%. The team overseeing the transformation initiative includes representatives from affected business lines and local management at Zion six affiliated banks that operate in 11 Western states.

While it’s difficult to mark a clear end to an overhaul as large as a core system change, last year was a milestone in the end of the project. In 2023 and 2024 Zion successfully converted all of its deposit systems to the new infrastructure, which enabled the bank to completely phase out six previously used systems. The conversions follow subsequent releases in 2017 and 2019, when the bank fully converted the company’s core lending systems.

The conversion of the lending system proved particularly timely. During the pandemic Zion has gained notoriety far beyond the 11 Western states in which it operates, punching well above its weight in Paycheck Protection Program lending.

“Even though we were the 40th largest bank in the nation, we were a top 10 PPP lender in terms of the number of loans made in the first phase,” Koontz said in 2022.

This result was largely due to the core transformation team. Before the pandemic broke out, Zion has transferred most of its lending business to TCS Bancs, a product of Mumbai-based Tata Consulting Services. When the Paycheck Protection Program was introduced in the US, Zion it launched its automated PPP lending product within three days.

The success of the PPP is only a microcosm of the broader benefits brought by the bank’s new core system.

Spokesperson for Zion said that with Core Transformation, the bank is fully prepared for 7-day processing if the US introduces real-time payments. This helped the bank improve its branch account opening capabilities, reducing the opening of complex accounts by 75%. Additionally, the bank reduced manageable branch losses by 33% through improved fraud detection and reporting based on real-time processing and data visibility.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the basic transformation has not always been smooth. Koontz said the bank’s main problem – and part of the reason the initiative took 10 years – is that “we couldn’t make decisions fast enough.”

But the expediency also paid off because it made regulators happy. Koontz said the bank has integrated its compliance partners with agile teams that are driving the transformation.

“Every feature we create has acceptance criteria,” Koontz said. “This is an incredible way to show our regulators that we take this matter very seriously.”

Women have played an invaluable role in the fundamental transformation of Zion; Women made up 62% of the senior leadership team – those holding the title of senior vice president or higher – and 52% of the supporting design team.

most importantly, Zion and the bank’s core system team also supported women in the project to meet the needs of not only their employees but also their families. That was the case for Jennie Swindell, senior vice president and senior manager of business transformation at the company Zion.

Swindell joined in Zion a little over 10 years ago as a junior analyst and a young mother. She said that when she joined the team as a new mom, she was working on a project that required periodic travel Zion The Salt Lake City headquarters and its Phoenix office wondered how it would handle it all.

“Zion I knew the answer,” Swindell said. “I was allowed to take a caregiver and child with me on longer business trips. Suddenly the road ahead seemed less daunting.”

Years later, as a senior leader at the company, she said she was grateful for the “support and sponsorship” the company provided her.

“The project we started over a decade ago changed the company, but it also changed me,” Swindell said. “Zion not only invested in a technological project; they built a bridge between my professional aspirations and the needs of my family.”

Jennifer Smith, corporate executive vice president, chief technology and operations officer

Kristiane Koontz, Executive Vice President, Chief Banking Transformation Officer

Jennie Swindell, Senior Vice President, Senior Manager, Business Transformation

Carina Freeze, Senior Vice President, Senior Manager, Functional Product Streams

Melanie Jordan, Executive Vice President, Director of Enterprise Retail Analytics and Strategic Initiatives

Karen Nielsen, Executive Vice President, Division Head, Commercial Enterprise Products

Laura Schaeffer, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations and Technology Officer, Arizona National Bank

Diane Maben, executive vice president, chief operating officer, Amegy Bank (Texas)

Jennifer Troyan, Executive Vice President, Business Operations and Strategy, California Bank & Trust

Ashley Dewey, vice president, retail sales manager, Nevada State Bank

Heather White, Executive Vice President, Director of Community Banking, Vectra Bank Colorado

Allison Riley, Vice President, Learning and Development Manager

Jessica Sorensen, vice president, retail product implementation manager

Nicole Curfman, Senior Vice President, Head of Banking Operations