Erminia Johannson

Erminia "Ernie" Johannson is BMO’s Group Head of North American Personal and Business Banking and a member of the bank’s Executive Committee. Ernie leads a team of 16,500 responsible for serving nearly 10 million personal and business banking customers.

In her current role, Ernie supports BMO’s efforts to accelerate growth, building on her passion for delivering exceptional customer service and her track record of innovating and generating sustainable profit growth in a rapidly changing environment. Her North American mandate allows her to scale BMO’s technological and cultural transformations already underway in both geographies. Under her leadership, the Personal and Business Banking teams have been recognized regularly for best-in-class products and customer experience, including receiving the highest ranking for customer satisfaction with retail banking advice in J.D. Power’s 2020 Canadian Retail Banking survey.

Previously, Ernie led U.S. Personal and Business Banking. She launched a bold strategy that changed the business’ trajectory, increased revenue by double digits, and improved employee engagement significantly despite a heavy change agenda. She also championed the launch of enhanced digital banking to both meet growing customer expectations and compete with larger-scale U.S. banks.

Since joining BMO in 2012, Ernie has delivered results leading diverse businesses and corporate groups, including serving as North American Chief Risk Officer.

Before joining BMO, Ernie was EVP of Customer Strategy and Integration at Fidelity Investments, and held senior positions at CIBC, including SVP of Marketing and Strategy, and SVP of Credit Cards.

Ernie serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Consumer Bankers Association. She previously served on the boards of Payments Canada and Moneris Solutions Corporation, and was chair of the Canadian Marketing Association. In 2019, American Banker magazine named Ernie one of the Most Powerful Women in Banking.