Discover forms new Data and Analytics unit to advance data-driven business decisions

By Pavithra R

Discover Financial Services, a leading digital bank and payments services company has announced the formation of a new internal Data and Analytics (DNA) organization and named newly promoted Executive Vice President (EVP) Keith Toney as Chief Data and Analytics Officer to lead the unit.

The new unit represents Discover’s commitment to technological advancement in financial services with an emphasis on customer engagement and marketing technologies. It combines several existing functions, such as data science, analytics, data engineering, enterprise data management and enterprise decision platforms. Toney joins Discover’s Executive Committee and will report directly to CEO and President Roger Hochschild.

“This leading-edge move elevates the critical importance of DNA throughout the organization. The market demands greater business value from our data-driven decision-making across all of Discover’s lines of business and functional areas. Our investment in DNA will furnish us with more insights and solutions that go to the heart of our goal of providing an extraordinary customer experience through our customer service and products,” said Hochschild.

Toney joined Discover in December 2019 as Chief Data Officer to lead the Enterprise Technology organization building on the strong data & analytics foundation and further expanding Discover’s end-to-end digital data ecosystem. He champions the Greenhouse engineering approach to unlock value through accelerated analytics in partnership between Discover’s consumer banking, credit card issuing, and global payments business units.

Previously, Toney served for various other organizations such as LexisNexis; Ernst & Young, LLP; Connexion Point, LLC; and Hartford Financial Services. He holds bachelor and master of science degrees in mathematics from Ohio State University.

“These are exciting times to work in technology at Discover, and I am thankful for the support of the company to build an organization that adds business value and brings more great talent to our doors. Discover’s DNA group will foster a fintech-like delivery culture that builds unique business and advanced analytics, capitalizes on artificial intelligence and machine learning, and integrates effective data and decision engineering. We’re taking the traditional corporate constraints off of our teams and letting them explore new data-centric business solutions,” said Toney.

Established since 1985, Discover Financial Services is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, which offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. The firm’s mission is to help people spend smarter, manage debt better, and save more to achieve a brighter financial future.