Regional President of Pennsylvania & New Jersey, Truist Financial
Search every verified Travis Rhodes interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Travis Rhodes, Regional President of Pennsylvania & New Jersey at Truist Financial, has discussed the bank's role during the COVID-19 pandemic. He stated that the bank was the fourth largest producer of Paycheck Protection Program loans in the nation, helping over 2,500 companies with more than $700 million in his region alone. Rhodes said the bank invested over $50 million in direct COVID relief, including employee bonuses and free childcare, and that in the Lehigh Valley it invested close to half a million dollars into food banks, literacy programs, and technology access. Rhodes has also spoken about the 2019 merger between BB&T and SunTrust that created Truist, describing it as complementary and increasing the bank's ability to serve clients in a strategic advisory capacity. He emphasized the bank's commitment to a local, community-based model with 24 separate regions, each with a regional president, to maintain a small, local feel while delivering the power of a large bank. Rhodes described the bank's philosophy as "T3," which he said marries personal touch with technology to build trust with clients.
“The payroll protection program was rolled out and the banks really rallied around their clients, working 18-hour days to help them get these PPP loans. We were the fourth largest producer of PPP loans in the nation, helping over 2,500 companies with more than $700 million in our region alone.”
“The merger between BB&T and SunTrust created Truist, now the sixth largest bank in the nation. The two companies complemented each other, increasing our ability to serve clients in a more strategic advisory capacity, bringing Wall Street-type services to middle market and main street clients.”
“We committed to staying local despite being a big bank, with 24 separate regions each having a regional president reporting to the C-suite. This allows us to be very close to our communities and make investment decisions that meet local client needs while delivering the power of a large bank with a small, local feel.”
“Margins in the financial services industry are razor thin, so efficiencies and economies of scale are critical to continue having the capital levels needed to serve clients effectively.”
“Our CEO talks about T3: marrying personal touch with technology to form a deeper level of trust with clients. We want to combine technology and personal relationships to elevate our organization and meet client needs.”
“We are committed to the branch banking system; it is the bedrock of personal touch. While many clients prefer digital banking, there is still a strong need for face-to-face interactions, especially when solving problems.”
“Our core mission is to inspire and build better lives and communities. During the COVID crisis, we invested over $50 million in direct relief, gave one-time bonuses to employees, and provided free childcare to support our teammates.”
“In the Lehigh Valley alone, we invested close to half a million dollars into COVID relief, supporting food banks, literacy programs, and technology access to help the community during this difficult time.”
“Our model is to have strong local relationships with bankers who are more than order takers; they lean in to understand businesses and anticipate solutions. This approach is transferable across markets and is key to maintaining a community-based feel despite being a large bank.”
“We offer a full suite of services beyond basic banking, including insurance, financial planning, SBA loans, investment banking, and wealth management. Our relationship bankers navigate the bank for clients to provide tailored solutions for all stages of business.”
“BB&T Bank is soon to be the sixth largest bank in the nation about four hundred and fifty billion dollars in assets serving the south and the mid-atlantic regions.”
“Honesty and integrity is the foundation of the bank and what it stands upon and that's the reason that I work there and ultimately that came from my father.”
“Foundationally honesty is the very foundation of relationships if you cannot have honesty and integrity you will not have relationships and/or meaningful relationships.”
“There’s three things that I talk about to my employees all the time and it's a triangle: heart, hustle and competence. At the very foundation is heart as the value system with honesty and integrity at the foundation.”
“Hustle means you outwork everybody, you have a blue-collar work ethic, you outwork the competition.”
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