Huntington's new president looks like its CEO-in-waiting

• Key insight: Huntington Bancshares is adding "president" to Brant Standridge's title, a move that lines him up to become the bank's next chief executive.
  
• What's at stake: Standridge is in line to succeed Steve Steinour, who has served as chairman, CEO and president of the Ohio-based regional bank since 2009. Steinour, 68, said he expects to remain in the top job for around two more years.
  
• Forward look: Standridge's new title gives him oversight of two additional revenue-generating businesses — commercial banking and payments — in addition to his existing role leading consumer and regional banking. 

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, is lining up its future chief executive, even as its current CEO says he plans to keep leading the regional bank for around two more years.

Brant Standridge has been appointed president of the $284 billion-asset regional bank, a role that Stephen Steinour has held since January 2009.

Standridge, 50, is a former executive at BB&T Corp. and Truist Financial who joined Huntington in April 2022 and serves as its president of consumer and regional banking. He will maintain that role while adding the responsibilities of president, which means that in addition to consumer and regional banking he will oversee Huntington's other revenue-generating businesses, commercial banking and payments.

Standridge will continue to report to Steinour, 68, who will remain chairman and CEO of the holding company, in charge of the overall business strategy and execution. The promotion, which is effective immediately, is the outcome of "an extensive succession planning process" over several years, the bank said Tuesday in a press release. It comes on the heels of two back-to-back acquisitions and the two subsequent integrations, both of which Standridge led.

Standridge's presumed promotion to CEO will take place when the board decides the time is right, Steinour told American Banker. He said it could be "another two-ish years" away.

The "orderly transition" provides an opportunity for Standridge to "get deeply exposed" to the other parts of the bank, including the commercial bank and the payments business, Steinour said.

"Brant has the full confidence of the board, as he does with me, and I have no doubt he will do very, very well in this role," he said. "He's an outstanding leader and an excellent executive."

Standridge's promotion is taking place amid a period of fast growth for Huntington. It acquired Dallas-based Veritex Holdings in October, and then completed the related systems conversion three months later. Also in January, two of its subsidiaries acquired parts of an investment bank. In February, Huntington closed on its purchase of Cadence Bank. In late June, it finalized the Cadence systems conversion.

The Veritex and Cadence deals supersized Huntington's presence in Texas, making it one of the largest deposit holders in some of the Lone Star State's biggest metropolitan areas. The deals also added new businesses and capabilities, along with several thousand new employees.

The bank has said its Texas acquisitions are a way to accelerate its plans to expand in the Southeast. Post-acquisition, Huntington has about 140 branches in Texas. In addition to the pair of bank deals, the historically Midwest-focused Huntington is growing its presence in the Carolinas. It plans to open 55 branches in North Carolina and South Carolina. In July, it opened its 11th branch in the two-state region, in Summerville, South Carolina.

At Huntington, Standridge has already played a role in defining the bank's future growth. After establishing the company's growth council, which brings together leaders of the bank's revenue-generating businesses to identify and realize long-term growth opportunities, he leads the group. As the president of consumer and regional banking, he's been in charge of consumer, private and business banking, including branch banking, regional banking, consumer finance, insurance and wealth management. He also oversees corporate marketing.

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Now he's primed to get a better understanding of the other revenue-generating businesses.

"The next number of years gives me an opportunity to learn from Steve and his almost two decades leading a large regional bank," Standridge told American Banker. "That's a fantastic opportunity that I don't take lightly."

Prior to joining Huntington, Standridge was the chief retail community banking officer at North Carolina-based Truist. Standridge previously worked at BB&T, which merged with SunTrust Banks in 2019 to form Truist. At BB&T, he held several roles, including an eight-year stint as a regional president in Baltimore, Atlanta and Dallas. He was also part of BB&T's executive leadership team for five years, overseeing retail banking, indirect auto finance and other businesses.

Following the recent M&A activity, Huntington is focused on organic growth, Steinour and Standridge said.

"We believe we have a significant amount of runway with the things we have in front of us," Standridge said. "That's where our focus is."