Highlighter green branch signals go-go-go for Huntington Bank's initial Triad presence

When the color of your business front door is highlighter green, it's a prime example of how Huntington Bancshares Inc. is not content to be in the background of the Triad communities it has entered.

Huntington, based in Columbus, Ohio, is the 10th-largest U.S. financial institution by total assets at $285.4 billion as of March 31. The bank also has nearly 1,400 branches in 21 states.

After debuting in a small office in downtown Winston-Salem in 2024 as a get-feet-wet strategy, Huntington opened in March its first free-standing branch in the Triad at 578 S. Westview Drive located at the intersection with South Stratford Road.

The color scheme - also identified as "energy green" - helps the branch to stand out on the busy corridor that's packed like sardines with national, super-regional, regional and super-community competitors.

"You can go up and down Stratford, which has a who's who of bank branches, but you have to admit this, our branch is the best looking one," Brant Standridge, Huntington's president of consumer and regional banking, said with a chuckle.

Standridge is a familiar face and name to the Triad's banking market, having served as chief retail community banking officer for BB&T Corp. when its headquarters were in downtown Winston-Salem.

"What we would say is that we want you to be able to see this branch from the moon, and that it would be something you'd want to see from the moon," Standridge said.

"We want our branches to be locations where people drive by and say 'gosh, that really looks interesting, that's somewhere I would like to visit.' "

Yet, Standridge said, the boldness of the bank's color scheme is not enough on its own to bring would-be customers into the branch.

"Frankly, fundamentally, what will cause us to stand out here and in this market are our people," Standridge said.

"We want to create the atmosphere and culture where we can hire the absolute best people and customers feel at home, because if we can do that, we can win."

The gameplan

Winston-Salem is among six metro focal points of Huntington's Carolinas expansion initiative, along with Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston, Columbia and Greenville.

The plan is to open a combined 55 branches over five years with a combined workforce of more than 350. It has opened a regional headquarters in Charlotte.

Also in March, the bank opened its branch at 194 E. Hanes Mill Road in Winston-Salem. The bank plans to open at least two more branches in Winston-Salem by 2027.

Meanwhile, Huntington debuted in Greensboro on May 11 at 1401 Four Seasons Station Drive.

Huntington has applied with its federal regulator to open its first Kernersville branch at 250 E. Mountain St., the site of a former Mrs. Winner's restaurant.

"With each new branch, we are deepening our relationships in the communities we serve and bringing Huntington's capabilities and expertise to more individuals, families and businesses across the region," said Trent Holland, the bank's regional president for the Carolinas.

Not BB&T lite

The business model similarities between Huntington and legacy BB&T are many.

Both legacy BB&T and Huntington thrived in operating through market regions - 22 currently for Huntington - that emphasize local decision-making on most issues by local bankers or regional presidents.

"When I think about businesses, it's really small businesses, medium-sized businesses, middle-market businesses. That would be a place that we play very, very effectively," Standridge said.

Legacy BB&T and Huntington were linked at times as potential merger partners, whether BB&T expanding into the Midwest or Huntington into the Southeast.

Tony Plath, a retired finance professor at UNC Charlotte, said the Huntington branch initiative into the Carolinas is likely in responses to BB&T's $33.4 billion purchase of SunTrust Banks Inc. in December 2019 that formed Truist Financial Corp.

"Back in the days when BB&T was still BB&T, and headquartered in Winston-Salem, I don't think Huntington would ever have made this sort of move," Plath said.

"Huntington is simply BB&T lite. It may be a good time for a reincarnation of the old legacy BB&T to enter the Winston-Salem market."

Standridge stressed that while the Huntington business and customer models are similar to that of legacy BB&T, it has been the standard for the bank for decades.

"As Huntington made the decision to invest more in the Carolinas, we've taken the same approach that we take in every market, which is have local leadership, try to hire the absolute best people, and give them a model in which they're empowered locally to serve customers," Standridge said.

Standridge said Huntington still "understands customers value having a team that they can depend on and trust and know can deliver for them."

"They also value the capabilities of a larger institution with more capability, national industry expertise."

Not alone

Huntington is not alone in finding Winston-Salem and the Triad banking markets too attractive to stay away.

Other out-of-state, top-10 bank entrants is led foremost by the largest U.S. bank in JPMorgan Chase & Co., along with Fifth Third Bancorp.

The other top-10 U.S. banks serving the Triad are: No. 2 Bank of America Corp.; No. 4 Wells Fargo & Co.; No. 7 PNC Financial Services Group; and No. 8 Truist. There's also a rapidly expanding No. 15 First Citizens BancShares Corp.

For most out-of-state entrants, their biggest challenge has been growing the North Carolina deposits market share beyond what they spent hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars to acquire.

Achieving modest-to-sizable increases in deposit holdings doesn't necessarily move the needle.

Just ask some other banks, including First Horizon Corp., PNC, SunTrust and Bank OZK.

Standridge said the common denominator among the out-of-state banks trying to establish a foothold in the Triad and North Carolina is "North Carolina is doing so well economically, and the Triad in particularly is doing quite well."

"We compete in lots of markets where there's lots of players in the market and lots of players coming to the market. In a place that is vibrant and dynamic and growing, you're going to have lots of competition.

"So that's why it's really important that we're very clear about who we are and what we do and how we deliver in the market."

In commercial and retail banking, service is a key differentiator, said Roger Beahm, a retired marketing professor at Wake Forest University and a former marketing executive.

Beahm said Huntington's approach to the Triad is similar to other out-of-state banks "by attempting to leverage its growing number of branches in these expansion markets as a reason why it can offer better service to customers, particularly in-person."

"One of the main reasons people switch banks is because they are not satisfied with the service they are getting from their current bank.

"As major banks have continued to cut in-person support - including lobby hours in many locations - this creates an opportunity for a bank to further enter a market like Winston-Salem, and pick up those in-person services that other major banks may be perceived as cutting back on or only making available online."

Familiar presence

Standridge said recent in-migration patterns into North Carolina, particularly from the Midwest, presents Huntington with the opportunity to regain former customers.

"We're already seeing people who are familiar with Huntington wanting to resume their banking relationship with us," Standridge said.

"Regardless of age, customers may use branches differently in their day-to-day, but when there's a problem, they generally want to see someone."

"At the very same time, we offer a world-class digital experience for customers, including younger adults, so we really have the best of both."

Going back to the South Stratford Road branch, Standridge said "we've been open just a few weeks, and this branch is within 10% of the level of deposits that we would expect at the end of year one."

"When we make a big investment, like we're making here in the Carolinas, we have big expectations and that's not an easy goal to achieve."

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