Citizens Financial Group reported net income of $2.3 billion for 2021, up 119% year over year, citing customer gains and a deepening digital product portfolio during its fourth-quarter earnings call today.

The $187.5 billion Citizens credits technology as key to its earnings, citing the bank’s efforts to “transform and reposition” itself to deliver a “customer-centric approach, backed by a full range of product offerings and strong digital data and technology capabilities,” Bruce Van Saun, chairman and chief executive officer, said during the call.

Total revenue for the bank in 2021 was $6.6 billion, 4% from $6.9 billion in 2020. The bank reported total revenue in Q4 of $1.72 billion, with revenue of $1.71 billion year over year and up 6% from revenue of $1.66 billion in Q3 2021. Q4 net income was $530 million, a 16% increase $456 million for Q4 2020 and even with revenue of $530 million for Q3 2021.

Citizens reported “equipment and software” expenses for Q4 2021 of $146 million, an increase from $141 million in Q4 2020. That expense for all of 2021 was $610 million, compared with $565 million for 2020.

The bank’s digital product portfolio includes Citizens Pay, a buy now pay later (BNPL) product for merchants, as well as products offered through the bank’s cloud-based digital platform Citizens Access, which offers savings accounts, home loans and student loan refinancing. Student loan refinancing accounts for $4.5 to $5 million in revenue, said Citizens Chief Financial Officer John Woods.

Citizens will look to add new products to its platform this year and “will also leverage the strategy to accelerate our technology transformation of our core bank as we ultimately aim to converge the operating platforms into one national, digital-first structure,” Brendan Coughlin, executive vice president and head of consumer banking, said during the call.

“Our national push will be led by our digital capabilities,” he said, which includes “the integration of our full range of products and services on a modern, cloud-based platform.”

An expansion of consumer, commercial cloud platforms

Citizens’ digital-first approach is driving engagement and boosting customer experience and satisfaction, Woods said. The bank’s strategy this year is to focus on and expand its cloud-based platform for consumers and businesses, which includes “continuing our multiyear journey of digital transformation across consumer and commercial, looking at further organizational streamlining, accelerating and building on our next-gen tech initiatives, and doing more in the cloud,” he said.

The bank has an advantage with its mid-size status in that it can be nimbler, bringing new products to market faster and better competing with fintechs than “the mega bank weight classes,” Van Saun said. Citizens will look to unify previously siloed offerings under a single, more national umbrella, he added.

Shares of Citizens [NYSE: CFG] closed at $52.16 today, down 4.05% from market open.

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