Throughout 2025 and into 2026, Kate Danella has maintained stability in Regions Bank's consumer banking group since becoming head of the business unit in 2022.
It has been an unusually difficult time for a consumer franchise of Region's size, given that several traditional engines of consumer banking — loan growth, deposit economics, housing activity and fee revenue — were under pressure at the same time, while customers expected much better digital experiences.
Regions has largely succeeded in this careful balancing act. In 2025, full-year revenue for the consumer banking group was $3.9 billion, exactly what it posted in 2024 and down slightly from 2023's revenues of $4.0 billion. Similarly, pretax income last year was $1.2 billion — again mirroring that of 2024 ($1.2 billion), but down from 2023 ($1.5 billion). The funding side of the business finished roughly 2% higher year over year: Consumer deposits grew to $80.1 billion in 2025, up from $78.5 billion the previous year.
Relative to market conditions in first-quarter 2026, Regions' consumer banking group had a solid quarter—but not a breakout quarter. It generated $981 million in revenue, versus $970 million in Q1 2025, and $318 million in pretax income, ahead of the $309 million of pretax income it posted in Q1 2025. In terms of Q1 2026 net income, the business unit delivered $239 million, essentially flat with $240 million a year earlier.
Chief Financial Officer Anil Chadha said the rise in first-quarter 2026 pretax income to $318 million came despite competitive pressures.
In September, Danella was promoted to chief administrative officer. She will succeed David Keenan, who will retire on Jan. 4, 2027. (John Jordan is the newly named head of consumer banking.)
Before assuming her new role, Danella is helping spearhead the addition of as many as 150 branches in the next four to five years. And in tandem with Danella's commitment to improving online and mobile banking, she helped lead last year's launch of the direct deposit switcher tool. The tool lets customers set up payroll direct deposits digitally rather than relying on paper forms.
"What sets Kate apart is her ability to connect strategy, technology and people around a common goal: creating a better customer experience," said Dan Massey, the bank's chief enterprise operations and technology officer. "She understands that innovation only matters if it improves outcomes for customers and associates."
To propel progress in consumer banking, Danella's group reskilled 600 bankers to serve small businesses and mass-affluent customers, leading to a 33% per-month, per-banker increase in the number of products and services provided to customers. She oversees more than 10,000 employees in Regions' retail banking, mortgage and home improvement financing operations.
"Building adaptable talent is just as important as building new capabilities," said Danella.
In addition to setting up employees for success, Danella aims to keep beefing up customer service at the bank's roughly 1,250 branches. Regions' most recent Gallup KDS360 score is 85.8%, a number that she wants to increase. This measurement means at least 85.8% of customers awarded Regions a perfect score in a satisfaction survey following a branch visit. Danella assigns some of the credit for the high rating to employee coaching and access to tech tools.
"The next phase is continuing to make banking more intuitive, personalized and proactive," she said, citing the recent introduction of a personalized insights section on the bank's mobile app.
"We want customers to know Regions understands their needs and can help them accomplish their goals, whether they're interacting through the app, online, in a branch or through our contact center," she added.
