Regions Bank is trimming expenses to make up for its technology transformation enhancements.

The $154 billion bank is considering expense reduction in salaries and benefits, number of employees, process improvement, leveraging technology where possible and reevaluating the bank’s need for square footage, David Turner, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, said today during the bank’s first-quarter earnings call.

“From a technology standpoint, we’re having to make room to go through our transformation we are working on right now. So, those costs are going up, and we’re able to have cuts in other places to pay for it,” Turner said.

BIGGER PICTURE: The bank’s equipment and software expenses in Q1 increased 4% to $102 million, according to the earnings supplement. This follows an uptick in equipment and software expenses in Q4 2022 reflecting continued technology investments.

BY THE NUMBERS: Regions reported for Q1:

• Noninterest expenses increased 10% year over year to $1 billion;
• Net income rose 11% YoY to $612 million; and
• Zelle transactions were up 23% YoY to 101,600.

NOTEWORTHY: In Q1, the number of the bank’s active digital users grew 6% YoY to 2.4 million, according to the earnings presentation. In addition, its mobile app received a 4.8 out of 5 rating from users.

Regions’ mobile banking app provider is digital banking solutions provider Kony, according to FI Navigator.

FLASHBACK: Regions recently chose core provider Temenos for assistance in upgrading its core legacy systems and to help overhaul its customer experiences.

“Modernizing our core system supports our ongoing focus on innovation and delivering value to our customers through personalized offerings and intuitive, streamlined experiences,” Turner said in a release last week.

FORWARD LOOK: Regions is looking to cut costs where it can for the remainder of the year ahead of economic turbulence, Turner said. “Start working on your expenses today to help 2024, and we’re doing that.”

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