After Citizens Bank of Edmond launched a digital-first bank focused on service members in August 2023, word of mouth reeled in 671 accounts by the end of 2024.
The bank, confident in the technology behind the initiative, called ROGER, rolled out a limited social media campaign at the start of 2025, according to Jill Castilla, chairman, president and CEO of the $440 million-asset Citizens, based in the suburbs of Oklahoma City.
Within four months, the bank added about 2,500 accounts, outpacing the ability of its capital to support it, Castilla said. "We knew that it was going to resonate. We just had no idea that it was going to be such an immediate hit."
The bank is now raising additional capital to support continued growth. The bank also plans to add services to support veteran entrepreneurs, military spouses and military service organizations, said Castilla.
"The magic of community banking is we know our local communities well," said Castilla, a veteran herself.
But given new ways to reach customers online, the bank found a way to expand the definition of community – just as Castilla has spent her career expanding the role a community banker can play on the national stage.
Federal officials have called on her repeatedly over the last several years to provide a Main Street perspective in policy debates. In November 2025, for example, she testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services at a hearing on the future of deposit insurance and depositor confidence.
On Christmas Eve, meanwhile, a Trump administration official texted her requesting input on an executive order that President Donald Trump was preparing to issue on mortgage lending, Castilla said. Her recommendations included making the VA lending process more like the FHA process so that military service members can be more competitive when bidding on homes.
As important as what she brings to the national conversation is what she brings back to Edmond. She has gained insights into capital markets, technology vendors and large-bank services that she has leveraged for the benefit of Citizens, which she's led since 2009.
"There's no way that we would have had the exposure to the technology firms that enabled ROGER without having a national presence," she said. "There's no way, I think, that we would have the same relationship with our regulatory counterparts without having some engagement at a higher level."
That national exposure has not drawn Castilla's attention away from Edmond, according to the city's mayor, Mark Nash, who has known the banker for more than a dozen years. He tapped her last year to serve on a task force making budget reforms for Edmond.
"When she speaks, people listen, which is wonderful, because she has our city's best interest at heart on everything she does," Nash said.
