Key Commercial Bank Appoints Industry Veteran Eric Girard to Head Embedded Banking

Key Commercial Bank has named its head of commercial onboarding, Eric Girard, to be its head of embedded banking and its co-head of commercial product management.

In his new roles, Girard will develop and implement a vision for the embedded banking team and will lead a commercial product team that oversees merchant services, commercial card and automation, KeyBank said in a press release emailed to PYMNTS.

Girard served in a variety of roles at KeyBank for nearly 17 years, until July 2019, and then rejoined the bank as head of commercial onboarding in May 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In between those times at the bank, Girard served as chief operations officer at Laurel Road, a division of KeyBank, and as chief operating officer and then CEO at TrustedSec, per his profile.

According to the press release, Girard led the cybersecurity firm “through a growth phase.”

Key Commercial Bank President Ken Gavrity said in the release that Girard’s expertise makes him the “ideal leader” for the embedded banking strategy.

“With nearly two decades of experience at KeyBank and a strong track record in building scalable solutions, he brings invaluable insight into both our organization and the evolving needs of our clients,” Gavrity said. “We’re excited about the innovation he’ll bring to this critical initiative as we work to meet clients where they are.”

KeyCorp said in January that growth opportunities lie within embedded banking offerings.

“Over the last decade, payments has been an area of focus and an area of consistent investment,” KeyCorp CEO Christopher Gorman said during a Jan. 21 earnings call. “We were one of the first banks to build embedded banking capabilities. We will continue to develop our differentiated platform with plans to invest in additional software advisers and relationship bankers, enhanced digital and analytics tools, while concurrently continuing to invest in embedded banking.”

In July, KeyCorp said it was increasing its number of frontline bankers and client advisers by 10% and had boosted its investment in technology by nearly $100 million this year to support the company’s growth and its pursuit of opportunities in areas like wealth management and embedded banking.