The World’s Best Banks 2024: US Regional

Customized services drive growth.

With a relentless focus on expanding their respective franchises, this year’s winners as the top regional banks in the U.S. continue to drive growth in their organizations through various strategies to strengthen their banking model. The continued refinement of core banking services continues; However, amid intense competition, banks are increasingly offering specialized services through tailor-made solutions for their consumer, commercial and wealth management clients, and new products designed for corporate clients operating in specific sectors. These initiatives rely on robust technology capabilities, and many banks are modernizing their infrastructure with upgrades to support the rollout of new platforms and banking applications. For many, strategic acquisitions have created branch networks and access to new products and markets, which must be quickly integrated to acquire and retain new customers. All of our winners continue to demonstrate leadership within their communities through many social programs designed to reach underserved segments of the population.

Following the merger with Columbia Bank, which was completed in March last year, Umpqua Bank is one of the largest banks in the Northwest. It is one of the top 30 U.S. banks and has a footprint of 300 branches in eight Western states; and it is our winner as Best Bank in the Far West. Umpqua operates primarily in the fast-growing markets of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Northern California, offering a comprehensive suite of products and services for commercial, consumer and small business customers. These include specialist lending products, treasury management, mortgage banking and asset management solutions. The bank uses this combination with new digital solutions. As part of the online bank, consumer customers benefit from a chat platform that combines human engagement and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve customer service.

The bank launched a new cloud-based accounts receivable platform for reconciling high volume billed payments, using machine learning and AI technology, for commercial customers. Umpqua partnered with a leading healthcare technology company to launch a payments solution to improve operational workflows and system efficiencies for healthcare practice customers. The bank’s commitment to social programs includes a community development program with a commitment of $8.1 billion over five years for affordable homeownership and small business creation.

While Fifth Third Bank is a leading regional bank in retail, corporate and asset management. Advances in its treasury management services have earned it the award as the best bank in the Great Lakes region. The bank has a competitive advantage in attracting new commercial customers. Fifth Third’s Newline offers integrated payment solutions with integrated payment processing capabilities within enterprise platforms or software systems that companies can use to streamline 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. Fifth Third focuses on the healthcare sector and 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 healthcare systems, further accelerates its innovation and service to this sector. Fifth Third is also making solid progress in asset management. It has reached a significant milestone as the bank’s national Wealth Advisors platform recently surpassed $1 billion in assets under management since its inception less than 18 months earlier.

Through internal initiatives and strategic acquisitions Citizen Bank accelerates growth within its franchise, winning the title of Best Bank in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Expansion in these high-density markets was boosted by the acquisition of large branch networks from HSBC and Investors Bancorp, which contributed to strong deposit growth in those markets. Citizens holds leadership positions in education and trade finance, in addition to 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 locations in New York and Boston. Current initiatives to improve operational efficiency include simplifying organizational structure and driving automation through generative AI to reduce costs.

Furthermore, Citizens is in the midst of a technological transformation to modernize its infrastructure. As part of the bank’s Next Gen Tech strategy, the bank plans to migrate its data centers and banking applications to the cloud. Solid environmental, social and governance goals include a sustainable finance target of $50 billion by 2030, a local renewable energy grant program and a commitment of $500 million in lending to underserved communities.

With its aggressive expansion in the US, BMO bank is now a top 10 bank serving four million customers in 32 states. We recognize it as the best bank in the Plains, Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions. BMO in the US is a crucial market for parent company BMO Canada. The personal and commercial banking segments now account for 37% of group revenue, with additional services in wealth management and capital markets. Much of BMO’s momentum in the US is due to the successful conversion, completed in September 2023, of the Bank of the West acquisition earlier that year. This involved integrating 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 with a solid offering of digital services. It looks to build on a 62% adoption rate while improving functionality and service offerings on its mobile app.

Regional bank deepens customer engagement through specialist financial products and a range of effective digital offerings to expand its franchise across the South East, where it won the award as our Best Bank in the South East. The bank is firmly established with its complete range of consumer and commercial banking products and asset management services, supported by its network of 1,300 branches, mainly in the region. With its long history and solid banking services, Regions has a top-five deposit market share in 70% of its footprint and is poised to attract more revenue as many of the bank’s markets are expected to grow faster than the national average, while also benefiting from population migration within the footprint.

Regions is very strong in specialist banking, especially for entrepreneurs and small businesses, with a dedicated team focused on financing solutions for franchisees. At the same time, the bank’s EnerBank subsidiary is targeting contractors by offering financing options that contractors can offer their customers. Intense competition for banking services makes customer retention an inherent challenge for the industry. Regions continues to offer effective banking products, a highly recognized mobile app and personalized financial plans that deepen customer relationships, resulting in high customer satisfaction and loyalty. The adoption and use of the bank’s attractive digital offering saw solid growth in 2023, with active digital users increasing by 13% and mobile banking by 14%. Digital turnover grew by 12%; and 74% of all transactions were made via digital platforms, up from 71%.