The World’s Best Banks 2024 – US Regions

Personalized services drive growth.

With a relentless focus on expanding their franchises, this year’s winners as the Best Regional Banks in the United States continue to drive growth for their organizations through a variety of strategies to strengthen their banking model. Continuous improvement of core banking services continues; however, in a highly competitive environment, banks are increasingly offering specialized services through customized solutions for their consumer, commercial and wealth management clients, as well as new products aimed at corporate clients operating in specific industries. These initiatives are backed by robust technology capabilities, and many banks are modernizing their infrastructure with upgrades to support the deployment of new platforms and banking applications. For many, strategic acquisitions have added branch networks and access to new products and markets that must be quickly integrated to attract and retain new customers. All of our winners go on to demonstrate leadership in their communities through a variety of social programs aimed at reaching underserved communities.

Following its merger with Columbia Bank, completed last March, Umpqua Bank is one of the largest banks in the North-West. Among the 30 largest banks in the United States, it has 300 branches in eight Western states; and this is our winner in the “Best Bank in the Far West” category. Operating primarily in the high-growth markets of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and northern California, Umpqua offers a full suite of products and services for commercial, consumer and small businesses. These include specialty lending products, treasury management, mortgage banking and wealth management solutions. The bank is using this combination with new digital solutions. As part of online banking, consumer clients benefit from a chat platform that combines human interaction and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the customer experience.

The bank launched a new cloud-based accounts receivable platform to reconcile high-volume invoice payments using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies for commercial clients. Umpqua has partnered with a leading health technology firm to launch a payment solution to improve operational workflows and systems efficiency for medical practice clients. The bank’s commitment to social programs includes a community development program that includes an $8.1 billion pledge over five years for affordable housing and small business development.

Bye Fifth Third Bank is a leading regional bank in retail, corporate and asset management. The development of treasury management services helped it win an award as the best bank in the Great Lakes region. The bank has a competitive advantage in attracting new commercial clients. Newline by Fifth Third offers integrated payment solutions with integrated payment processing capabilities within business platforms or software systems that companies can use to optimize their payment processing infrastructure. This represents a rapidly growing service; and the recent acquisition of Rize Money, an embedded payments platform serving technology companies, further increases the bank’s scale and offering in this segment. With its focus on the healthcare industry, Fifth Third has built an enviable franchise in this fast-growing sector through its Provide division, which serves independent healthcare practices. Fifth Third’s 2023 acquisition of Big Data Healthcare, a payments company serving physicians and national health systems, will further accelerate its innovation and services in this industry. Fifth Third has also made significant strides in asset management. It reached a major milestone as the bank’s national Wealth Advisors platform recently surpassed $1 billion in assets under management since its inception less than 18 months ago.

Through internal initiatives and strategic acquisitions, Citizen Bank accelerates the growth of its customer base and becomes the top bank in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Its expansion into these high-density markets was supported by the acquisition of large branch networks from HSBC and Investors Bancorp, which contributed to strong deposit growth in these markets. Citizens is a leader in education and trade finance, as well as in its full business model, which includes retail, small business and commercial banking. To accelerate growth in the wealth management segment, the bank launched Citizens Private Bank in the fourth quarter of 2023 with six new offices, including offices in New York and Boston. Current initiatives to improve operational efficiency include simplifying the organizational structure and increasing automation using generative artificial intelligence to reduce costs.

In addition, Citizens is in the process of a technological transformation to modernize its infrastructure. As part of the bank’s Next Gen Tech strategy, it plans to move its data centers and banking applications to the cloud. Solid environmental, social and governance goals include a $50 billion sustainable finance goal by 2030, a local renewable energy grant program and a $500 million commitment to lending to low-income communities.

Thanks to its aggressive expansion in the US, BMO Bank is currently one of the ten largest banks serving four million customers in 32 states. We recognize it as a top bank in the Plains, Rocky Mountains and Southwest regions. BMO US is a critical market for parent company BMO Canada. The private and commercial banking segments currently account for 37% of group revenues, and also provide additional services in asset management and capital markets. Much of BMO’s success in the US can be attributed to the successful conversion, completed in September 2023, of its acquisition of Bank of the West earlier that year. This included the integration of two million customers, thousands of employees and hundreds of IT applications. This was the largest conversion in Canadian banking history. BMO continues to develop its technology platform, offering a robust line of digital services. It plans to achieve a 62% adoption rate while improving the functionality and service offerings of its mobile app.

Bank of Regions is expanding its customer engagement through specialized financial products and a suite of powerful digital offerings to expand its customer base in the Southeast, where it has become the Best Bank in the Southeast. The bank has a strong presence with a full range of consumer and commercial banking products and wealth management services, supported by a network of 1,300 branches, primarily in the region. With its long history and reliable banking services, Regions maintains a 70% presence in the top five deposit markets and is poised to attract more business as the bank’s many markets are projected to grow faster than the national average while delivering benefits. from population migration in the coverage area.

Regions is very strong in specialist banking services, especially for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and has a dedicated team specializing in financial solutions for franchise owners. At the same time, the bank’s EnerBank subsidiary serves contractors by providing financing options that contractors can offer to their clients. With intense competition for banking services, customer retention is an inherent challenge for the industry. Regions continues to provide powerful banking products, a widely recognized mobile app and personalized financial plans that deepen customer relationships, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. The adoption and use of the bank’s compelling digital offerings showed strong growth in 2023, with active digital users up 13% and mobile banking up 14%. Digital sales grew 12%; and 74% of all transactions were made through digital platforms, up from 71%.