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Tangerine chief executive officer Gillian Riley is departing after more than 30 years at Bank of Nova Scotia BNS-T as the lender leans on its digital bank to attract more customers and grow its deposit book.

The popularity of what are known as direct banks – virtual financial institutions without brick-and-mortar branches that typically offer higher interest rates on savings accounts and no-fee chequing accounts – has ballooned in recent years.

As part of Scotiabank’s strategic rejig, CEO Scott Thomson has pointed to Tangerine as a key driver in the bank’s future growth and source of deposits.

Scotiabank has tapped Terri-Lee Weeks, who is executive vice-president of its retail customer segment, as the next president and CEO of Tangerine, effective Nov. 1. Ms. Riley will take on a role as strategic adviser until Dec. 31, and will serve as chair of the board of Roynat Capital, Scotiabank’s alternative financial unit.

Ms. Riley, who has led Tangerine for six years, joined Scotiabank in 1994 and held positions in commercial banking, small business, retail banking and wealth management. She also founded the Scotiabank Women Initiative, a program to help clients who identify as women or non-binary pursue economic and professional opportunities.

“Together with the team, I am so proud to have built a market-leading brand in Canada that provides outstanding customer value and mobile capabilities that are best in class,” Ms. Riley said in a statement. “I feel confident that this is the right time to pass the torch to a new leader who will continue to build on our track record of success.”

Ms. Weeks joined Scotiabank three years ago, and has overseen the team that designs, develops and implements the strategic direction and execution of key initiatives and products for the bank’s retail customers. Previously, she spent 17 years at Royal Bank of Canada, most recently as senior vice-president of personal savings and investments. She also worked in wealth management and capital markets.

She will have the task of growing Tangerine’s customer base, which Scotiabank is betting will grow its deposit pool – a cheaper source of bank funding than other methods.

“Her wide-ranging financial services experiences, deep understanding of the Canadian retail landscape and her track record of success in scaling digital business, interactive customer experience design and transformation uniquely qualify her for this important role on our team,” head of Canadian banking Aris Bogdaneris said in a statement.

Tangerine has more than two million clients and more than $40-billion in total assets. Scotiabank said it plans to add more than 500,000 “primary” retail customers to Tangerine’s books, which are people who have a daily chequing account as well as another payment or investment product. This year, Scotiabank’s Canadian retail banking operation, including Tangerine, grew by 143,000 new “primary” clients, Mr. Thomson said during the bank’s third-quarter earnings results in August.

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