Truist Financial is enhancing customer experiences and attracted new customers through its upgraded digital lending and onboarding efficiencies during the first quarter of 2023.
The $574 billion bank’s noninterest expenses increased slightly by 0.5% year over year to $3.6 billion, driven by personnel expenses and enterprise technology investments, according to the bank’s earnings presentation.
“Continued investments and progress in digital will be even more critical due to the close relationship between digital engagement, primacy of relationships and deposits,” Chief Executive Bill Rogers said during today’s earnings call.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: One of the bank’s main tech investments included improvements to its Truist One checking onboarding experience, according to the earnings presentation. The friction was identified in the bank’s T3 Accelerator Lab — the bank’s latest innovation hub that brings the Truist team together to improve digital and technology offerings.
Additionally, Truist launched a data-driven deposit pricing engine and a commercial loan dashboard during the quarter, Rogers said, noting that the dashboard “allows wholesale lending clients to track the status of their loan, upload documents and eventually electronically sign documents.”
BY THE NUMBERS: Truist reported for Q1:
- Revenue grew 15% YoY to $6.1 billion;
- Net income rose 6% YoY to $1.4 billion;
- Number of mobile app users climbed 5% YoY to 4.5 million; and
- Digital transactions increased 6% YoY to 67.3 million.
NOTEWORTHY: Truist is working to bring LightStream, a fintech first launched by SunTrust in 2013 under the bank’s name and is upgrading its own lending operations using LightStream’s technology to create more cohesion across consumer offerings and to mitigate spending, Chief Financial Officer Mike Maguire said during the call. Truist was formed when BB&T and SunTrust banks merged in 2019.
“We’re in the process of realigning our LightStream platforms with our broader consumer business with the goal of bringing the innovation, digital capabilities, efficiencies and cloud-based infrastructure of LightStream to Truist’s broader client base,” he said. “This will reduce the cost of supporting a separate brand and strategy and enhance the experience and privacy with our existing and prospective clients.”
FLASHBACK: The bank acquired BankDirect Capital Finance during Q4 for $3.4 billion to provide life insurance, additional team members and better risk management solutions to Truist, Rogers said during the bank’s Q4 2022 earnings call.
“BankDirect’s focus on technology and digitization to enhance client experience also mirrors our strategic initiatives at Truist Insurance Holdings,” Truist Chief Insurance Officer John Howard previously said in a release.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The bank is committed to remaining vigilant on the digital investment front to help meet growing client demand and improve the ease at which a customer can use Truist products and services, Rogers said.
“The good news is Truist prioritized digital early in the [SunTrust and BB&T] merger, building the Truist digital experience organically and in the cloud, which allows us to fully own the digital experience for our clients,” he said.
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