Citizens Bank is looking to drive $100 million in savings in 2025 with its Tapping Our Potential (TOP) program efficiency program.

The $219 billion bank realized $150 million in savings in 2024 thanks to the program, according to Citizens’ earnings report, published today. The program was launched in 2014 to maximize efficiency in the bank’s operations through technology. 

Citizens launched TOP 10 for 2025, targeting savings of $100 million, Chief Executive Bruce Van Saun said during today’s earnings call. 

According to the bank’s earnings report, this year’s TOP program will focus on: 

• Transforming operations with process reengineering, automation and AI; 

• Simplifying organization structure; 

• Further optimizing its branch network; 

• Further investing in data analytics to enhance customer experience; and 

• Investing in card analytics, products and digital experience. 

THE BIG PICTURE: The bank is looking to develop products for customer retention and plans to deploy technology to consolidate some of its operations, including cybersecurity, digital offerings and technology infrastructure.  

Citizens reported equipment and software expense of $193 million, down 1% year over year, according to its earnings report. 

During the quarter, the bank launched three digital features: 

• Virtual chat assistant; 

• Citizens Savings Tracker; and 

• Guided digital onboarding. 

BY THE NUMBERS: In Q4, Citizens reported: 

• Net interest income of $1.4 billion, down 5% YoY;  

• Total revenue of $2 billion, flat YoY; and  

• Noninterest expense of $1.3 billion, down 18% YoY. 

FLASHBACK: Citizens has trained more than 600 employees in the past four years on gen AI, cloud infrastructure and data engineering, Michael Ruttledge, chief information officer and head of technology services, previously told BAN. Employees are being trained to work with gen AI on operations like: 

• Coding and code conversion;  

• Customer service application; and  

• Human resources. 

OF NOTE: Mark Williams, senior vice president of business banking and treasury management, and Joanne Wyper, head of operations at Citizens Commercial, will speak at Bank Automation Summit to be held on March 3-4 in Nashville, Tenn. 

Register here by Jan. 17 for early-bird pricing for Bank Automation Summit 2025, taking place March 3-4 in Nashville, Tenn. View the full event agenda here.