Tech spend is on the rise at regional banks as smaller institutions look to differentiate themselves in a crowded digital banking marketplace.

First Republic Bank

San Francisco-based First Republic Bank completed a core conversion during Q1, which bank executives last week called the largest technology project in its history.

Information systems expenses totaled $107 million for the quarter, jumping 27% year over year. Details of the tech spend were hazy, but the $187 billion bank made its Q1 digital core conversion a centerpiece of its earnings call.

“Our new core system lays the foundation for continued growth by further enabling digital banking innovation, driving the scalability of the entire enterprise in support of our bankers and wealth professionals, and enhancing client customization and security,” Chief Executive Michael Roffler said during the call.

The conversion will strengthen regulatory adherence, along with enabling real-time data processing as the bank scales business operations, Roffler said.

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Signature Bank

First-quarter tech spend at New York-based Signature Bank reached $14.5 million, a 27% YoY increase from Q1 2021, while equipment and occupancy expenses grew to $12 million, a 2% increase YoY.

The $122 billion bank touted a range of technology initiatives during its Tuesday earnings call, with Chief Executive Joseph DePaolo praising the “tremendous positive momentum” of the bank’s digital business.

“The business continues to grow, as evidenced by the onboarding of a record 160 new clients,” DePaolo said during the call. “We doubled the amount of major exchanges to eight of the top 12 where we are now the primary bank, which should bode well for future growth.”

New features for Signet, Signature Bank’s digital payments platform, were specifically broken out as technology wins. Commercial clients will now be able to enact automated FedWire transactions from the platform, along with blockchain-based payments and existing real-time capabilities. DePaolo expects more Signet enhancements later this year.

The bank also provided a breakdown of its digital asset deposit book.

“We had $7.2 billion in stablecoin issuers, OTC desks and institutional trades were $5.6 billion, digital asset exchanges were $12.8, and blockchain technology and digital miners were $3.6 billion,” DePaolo said.

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Synchrony Financial

Information processing expenses at Synchrony Financial rose to $145 million in Q1, a 10% increase YoY, while marketing and business development fees reached $116 million, a 22% increase YoY. First-quarter digital loan volumes also rose by double digits, the Stanford, Conn.-based bank announced during its Monday earnings presentation.

The $95 billion company, which operates the digital Synchrony Bank, saw Q1 digital purchase volumes reach $11 billion, a 20% increase YoY, and period-end loan receivables hit $21 billion, an 11.5% increase YoY. Brian Doubles, president and chief executive at Synchrony, attributed the success to the bank’s Venmo and Verizon card partnerships before giving details on a new digital integration with PayPal.

“The PayPal card experience will be fully integrated with the PayPal app empowered by native APIs,” Doubles said during the call.

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