Truist kicks off a major branch expansion
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A Truist branch in Charlotte. Photo: Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Charlotte-based Truist is embarking on a major expansion, with 100 new branches and 300 branch renovations planned over the next five years in "high-growth and economically vibrant markets" like Charlotte.
Why it matters: With its latest growth, Truist, the 2019 merger of SunTrust and BB&T, aims to expand its offerings for affluent customers, grow its business in hot markets and complement its digital offerings.
Zoom out: Aside from Charlotte, Truist is also adding branches in or renovating locations in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Between the lines: Truist is calling the new branches "insights-driven" — with modern designs and new technology.
- The branches will have "premier" advisers to assist with more complicated financial needs, Truist said in a statement, such as debt management.
Zoom out: Banks continue to expand in fast-growing areas with retail locations, even as customers tend to rely on digital banking for everyday needs.
- JPMorgan Chase, for instance, recently opened a prominent location in SouthPark on the site where Harper's used to be on Fairview Road.
- "While (customers) enjoy using our digital banking, they place a lot of value in engaging with us in person in moments when they need expertise and advice to solve problems," Dontá Wilson, Truist's chief consumer and small business banking officer, tells Axios.
Yes, but: The bank isn't yet saying where the branches will be in those markets. Truist relies on criteria from traffic to incomes to population growth to determine branch locations, Wilson said.
- That's why you see bank branches crop up in prime spots all over Charlotte, from the U.S. Bank in the former Dean & Deluca spot Uptown to a Fifth Third Bank branch in the former Babalu spot in Dilworth.
What they're saying: "Charlotte is our headquarters market, and we're excited to be here. We are the bank of Charlotte, and we'll continue to invest in a way that reflects that," Wilson said.