Regions Bank's Strategies to Train Small and Medium-sized Business Bankers among the Affluent Population
In a bid to stay competitive in the highly contested Southeast market, Regions Bank is reskilling 600 of its bankers, focusing on small-business and mass-affluent clients. This strategic move comes as the bank faces stiff competition from regional and national players like Bank of America, PNC, and Fifth Third.
The reskilling initiative aims to equip bankers with specialized knowledge and capabilities that better address the financial needs and challenges of these customer bases. This move is expected to enhance client trust and satisfaction through tailored solutions, improve personalized service, and boost sales effectiveness to deepen client relationships and capture greater market share.
Key elements of the strategy include targeted skill development, driving growth via reskilling, competitive differentiation, addressing talent gaps and transformation needs, and empowering bankers to meet evolving customer demands.
Targeted Skill Development
Regions is focusing on understanding its customers better, including their cash flow and business origins. Bankers are learning to manage a portfolio of customers, rather than serving one in a more transactional way. On the mass-affluent side, the bankers are getting enhanced training on credit and wealth offerings.
Driving Growth via Reskilling
Reskilling supports the bank’s broader goals of scaling revenue and earnings. Regions' recent strong financial performance, with a 12% EPS growth and 10% revenue increase in Q2 2025, demonstrates how internal talent development contributes directly to sustainable growth.
Competitive Differentiation
This initiative helps Regions differentiate itself in a crowded Southeastern market by combining enhanced human expertise with improvements in digital capabilities like AI and cloud migration. This offers both high-touch and high-tech services, setting Regions apart from competitors.
Addressing Talent Gaps and Transformation Needs
The move aligns with broader industry trends where skill gaps and the rapid evolution of customer needs require ongoing training and role evolution to stay competitive. The reskilling applies to 300 small-business bankers and 300 mass-affluent-focused senior consumer bankers.
Empowering Bankers to Meet Evolving Customer Demands
Branch managers at Regions are prioritizing outreach to small businesses and understanding their needs. The training is a mix of virtual, instructor-led sessions, video learning, and one-on-one guidance from a dedicated "performance advocate." The reskilling initiative also includes a career development opportunity, potentially leading to roles like branch manager.
Regions Bank's reskilling strategy is designed to improve service quality, accelerate regional growth, and stand out against strong competitors like Bank of America and PNC in the Southeast US market. John Jordan, head of retail banking at Regions, joined the bank a year ago from Bank of America, and this reskilling initiative is a testament to his vision for the bank's future.
- "The reskilling initiative at Regions Bank, focusing on small-business and mass-affluent clients, aims to equip bankers with specialized knowledge in finance and business education-and-self-development, enabling them to better understand customer cash flow and business origins, manage a portfolio of customers, and offer enhanced credit and wealth offerings to the mass-affluent side."
- "This reskilling strategy, anticipated to enhance client trust and satisfaction, also includes competitive differentiation by combining human expertise with improvements in digital capabilities, offering both high-touch and high-tech services that set Regions Bank apart from competitors like Bank of America and PNC in the Southeast US market."
