Tandem Bank Appoints New Chief Technology Officer to Accelerate Value-Driven Digital Transformation

Tandem Bank has welcomed Russell Strevens as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Russell brings a proven track record in building and scaling modern technology across financial services and other regulated industries – experience that will help power Tandem’s next phase of growth as the bank sharpens its focus on delivering value for customers to help them get more from their money and choose more sustainable lifestyles.

In his new role, Russell will steer Tandem’s continued digital transformation: simplifying the bank’s propositions, boosting app performance and capability, and accelerating its use of AI to enhance both customer and colleague experiences.

Russell joins Tandem from Small World Financial Services, where he served as CTO, leading global engineering, cybersecurity and technology teams, and modernised its core infrastructure and built a cloud-first architecture for efficiency and scale. Prior to that, he was CTO at Bó, NatWest’s digital challenger, where he took its mobile banking proposition from concept to a live current account serving 10,000 users. He also spent nearly a decade at BT, rising to CIO for BT Consumer and shaping technology strategy across broadband, mobile, TV, digital services and cyber-security, playing a key role in the launch of BT Mobile, BT Sport and Ultrafast Broadband.

Neil Chandler, CEO of Tandem Bank, commented: “Russell brings the energy, ambition and technological firepower we want at Tandem. He’s an expert at turning complex, cutting-edge tech into intuitive experiences for customers – across both challenger brands and big businesses. As we continue our journey towards being digital-first and delivering even more value for customers, we’re thrilled to have Russell on board.”

Russell Strevens added: “Tandem is at a hugely exciting moment. There’s a real opportunity to push the boundaries of what digital-first, value-led, customer-focused banking looks like, and I’m delighted to join a team that’s hungry to make it happen. My focus will be building the platforms and technology foundations that help us move faster and deliver products people genuinely benefit from – products that deliver value and support sustainable choices.”

Russell will now lead Tandem’s technology, engineering and digital transformation roadmap as we continue to strengthen our position as a challenger bank committed to delivering meaningful value for customers in 2026 and beyond.