David Lindberg

Mr Lindberg joins from Westpac where he is currently chief executive of its consumer division.

He will report directly to chief executive officer Alison Rose and will be a member of the executive committee of NatWest Holdings. Mr Lindberg’s start date will be announced in due course.

This appointment also confirms that the current CEO, personal banking, Les Matheson, will be stepping down. Mr Matheson will be returning to Australia where he has strong family ties. Mr Matheson will remain in his role over the coming months while Mr Lindberg’s start date is finalised and in order for a suitable handover to take place.

Mr Lindberg was appointed chief executive, consumer of Westpac in April 2019 and was responsible for all consumer distribution, digital, marketing, banking and insurance products and services under the Westpac, St.George, BankSA, Bank of Melbourne, BT, and RAMS brands.

Prior to this, he was chief executive of the bank’s business bank from June 2015, after three years as chief product officer for the group’s retail and business products, as well as overseeing the group’s digital activities.

Before joining Westpac in 2012, Mr Lindberg was executive general manager of the cards, payments & retail strategy division at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He was also former managing director of the strategy, marketing & customer segmentation division at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited and vice president and head of Australia for First Manhattan.

In his current role at Westpac, Mr Lindberg has been responsible for running the Group’s largest division, with 9 million customers, 1,000 branches and 13,000 staff. He’s had end-to-end accountability for consumer banking, life and general insurance across all distribution channels and brands and delivery of Westpac’s largest technology platform project, focused on a new Customer Service Hub. 

Chief executive Alison Rose said: “David’s insight and expertise will be invaluable in helping us to bring our new Purpose to life for our retail customers and help them to thrive. With a wealth of experience, he is the perfect person to lead our team through what will be a challenging, but dynamic new chapter in our history and I am delighted to welcome him to the bank.

“Under Les’ leadership, we’ve made great progress in transforming our Personal Banking business around the needs and goals of our customers, including helping customers transition from physical to digital. We now have more than 7 million customers regularly using our mobile app. We’ve also grown our market share and seen strong improvement on NPS in key strategic areas including mortgages. I’d like to thank Les for his years of contribution to the bank.”

David Lindberg added: “I am very pleased to be joining an organisation that has a stated goal of becoming purpose-led.

“I believe that banking, at its best, embraces the role of supporting its customers and communities as its core purpose. This role is particularly important for NatWest at this time, as the UK people and economy deal with COVID-19 and prepare for recovery.

“I am really looking forward to working with Alison and her team to build upon the bank’s strong foundations and to continue to transform the customer experience.”