Only a bank can serve as the financial bedrock for vibrant communities, U.S. Bancorp Chairman and CEO Richard Davis wrote in a Wall Street Journal essay yesterday. “A strong bank fortifies the overall health of our communities,” he wrote. “It’s a symbiotic relationship that has always been built on trust.”
Davis explained how banks are working to rebuild that trust, especially in an environment where customers have lots of options and requirements. “We are listening and adjusting,” he said. “Changing customer values and lightning-like adoption of varying technologies are altering the expectations for speed, tolerance for risk, fears about data security, and visions for their personal financial freedom. It demands transparency and trust.”
He also noted that bank strength, not size, is the defining consideration for trustworthiness. “We need large banks, midsize banks, and neighborhood banks working together to build our communities,” he explained. “Size is arbitrary. Strength is measurable. Trust — banks’ true currency — is built on strength.”
