Regions Financial Corporation is an American
bank holding company
A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') or bancorporation is often used to refer to such companies as w ...
headquartered in the
Regions Center in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
. The company provides
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
and
commercial bank
A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit.
It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...
ing, trust,
stock brokerage, and mortgage services. Its banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates about 2,000
automated teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...
s and 1,300
branches in 15 states in the
Southern and
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
.
Regions is ranked 428th on the
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
and is component headquartered in
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
. Regions is also on the
list of largest banks in the United States
The following table lists the 100 largest bank holding companies in the United States ranked by total assets of September 30, 2024 per the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, along with the market capitalization of public banks. ...
.
Regions is the largest deposit holder in Alabama and
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. It is also one of the largest deposit holders in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, and
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
The company sponsors
Regions Field
Regions Field is a minor league baseball park in the Southside community of Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. It is the home field for the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League, and it replaced Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in the Birmingham suburb ...
, a
Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, and
the Tradition
The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989 Senior PGA Tour, 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlik ...
golf tournament. It sponsored the
Regions Charity Classic, a golf tournament held in 2009 and 2010.
The company has a partnership with
Operation HOPE, Inc. to provide free financial education to underserved communities. In 2019, the company expanded its
Workday, Inc. system in partnership with
EnterpriseAlumni to engage and enable ex-employees to extend their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
History

Regions Financial Corporation, formerly known as First Alabama Bankshares, was founded on July 13, 1971 with the merger of three Alabama banks: First National Bank of
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...
(opened 1871), Exchange Security Bank of
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
(opened 1928), and First National Bank of
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...
(opened 1856). The headquarters of First National Bank of Huntsville was a historic building built in 1835. It served as a hospital for Union soldiers during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, and once held a rifle owned by
Frank James
Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate States Army, Confederate American Civil War, soldier and Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War, guerrilla; in the Reconstruction era, post-Civil War p ...
as collateral for bail money when he was incarcerated across the street in the Madison County Jail.
Until their formal merger in March 1985, under revised banking regulations, the banks continued to operate independently.
In 1986, changes in the Interstate Banking Bill allowed bank holding companies to purchase bank branches outside the state in which they were chartered. First Alabama Bankshares expanded its operations first into
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, continuing into
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, and
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. In 1994, to reflect its growth into a regional company, First Alabama Bankshares changed its name to Regions Financial Corporation and the name of its banking subsidiary to Regions Bank.
Regions added banking branches in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida,
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, Texas,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, and Arkansas. The name "Regions" was purchased from First Commercial Corporation, the Arkansas Bank that Regions subsequently purchased in 1998.
In 2001, Regions acquired Rebsamen Insurance Company, which was renamed Regions Insurance Group.
In 2001, Regions acquired
Morgan Keegan & Company for $789 million. In January 2012, Regions sold Morgan Keegan to
Raymond James for $930 million. The trust department was retained by Regions and now operates as
Regions Trust.
In 2002, the company announced that it will list its common stock on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
.
In 2002, Regions acquired Independence Bank for approximately $24 million in cash.
On January 24, 2004, Regions merged with
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
–based
Union Planters Bank
Union Planters Bank was a United States financial institution and multi-state bank holding corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee prior to being acquired by Regions Financial Corporation. With over $34 billion in assets, Union Planter ...
in a $5.9 billion transaction.
Jackson W. Moore, the former CEO of Union Planters, became CEO of the merged company. He suffered a stroke after the merger closed, but was still able to assume his new post upon recovery. After the merger, Regions adopted Union Planters' former logo of a young cotton plant and used it until the AmSouth conversion. The merger significantly increased Regions' footprint in Tennessee; Union Planters had been the largest Tennessee-based bank.
In 2006, Regions acquired
AmSouth Bancorporation
AmSouth Bancorporation was a banking company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and operated for its final year in existence as a bank holding company (subsidiary) of Regions Financial Corporation after a merger between the two banks. AmSouth w ...
, another Birmingham-based bank, in a $10 billion transaction. While Regions was the surviving company, the merged entity adopted AmSouth's corporate structure.
In 2008, Regions Bank received a $3.5 billion loan as part of the
Troubled Asset Relief Program
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. Presi ...
. On April 4, 2012, Regions repaid the $3.5 billion loan.
On August 29, 2008, as a result of the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, Integrity Bank of
Alpharetta, Georgia
Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818; in 2010, the population had been 57,551.
History
In the 1830s, ...
was placed into receivership by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...
and Regions Bank assumed its operations.
In February 2009, FirstBank Financial Services of
McDonough, Georgia
McDonough is a city in Henry County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Its population was 29,051 in 2020. The city is the county seat of Henry County. The unincorporated communities of Blacksville, Flippen, ...
, was also placed into receivership by the FDIC and Regions Bank assumed its operations.
In July 2018, the company sold its insurance operations to
BB&T.
In June 2021 Regions announced they would acquire home improvement lender EnerBank USA for $960 million. EnerBank USA was previously a subsidiary of CMS Energy.
Criticism
Customer fraud
In 2011, Regions paid $200 million to settle with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
over mispricing risky mortgage-backed bonds in its conservative mutual funds in its Morgan Keegan subsidiary.
Overdraft fees
In April 2015, Regions was fined $7.5 million by the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, Payday lo ...
(CFPB) for charging consumers with inappropriate or illegal overdraft fees. Regions did not obtain affirmative opt-ins from charging overdraft fees on ATM and point of sale transactions. The CFPB also found that Regions misrepresented overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees related to the bank's short-term loan program.
On September 28, 2022, the CFPB again ordered Regions Bank to pay $50 million into the CFPB’s victims relief fund and to refund at least $141 million to customers harmed by its illegal surprise overdraft fees. From August 2018 through July 2021, Regions charged customers surprise overdraft fees on certain ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases. The bank charged overdraft fees even after telling consumers they had sufficient funds at the time of the transactions. The CFPB also found that Regions leadership knew about and could have discontinued its surprise overdraft fee practices years earlier, but they chose to wait while Regions pursued changes that would generate new fee revenue to make up for ending the illegal fees.
Account security
Regions uses text messages for multi-factor authentication which is insecure
instead of offering TOTP using an Authenticator App.
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama
Banks based in Alabama
Economy of Texas
Economy of the Midwestern United States
Economy of the Southeastern United States
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
American companies established in 1971
Banks established in 1971
1971 establishments in Alabama