• Making targeted investments in technology, markets and talent to
  achieve targeted adjusted ROATCE of 18-20% by 2021
• Focus on efficiency and effectiveness to achieve <55% adjusted efficiency ratio by 2021
• Strong capital levels position company to win in an evolving
  operating environment

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE:RF) today presented the company’s
three-year strategic growth plan at an Investor Day in New York. Members
of the company’s management team reviewed investments Regions is making
in talent, technology, and communities to make banking easier for
customers, expand its reach to serve more consumers and businesses, and
deliver attractive and sustainable returns to shareholders.

“At our last Investor Day in November 2015, we laid out an intentional
and measurable path to creating sustainable franchise value and
strengthening financial performance. Through the hard work of our
associates, we delivered on that commitment and met our goals by
building a stronger, more profitable and innovative company,” said John
Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer. “As we look to the
future, Regions is focused on generating consistent, sustainable,
long-term performance. Today we presented a meaningful, three-year
growth agenda anchored by our relentless focus on making banking easier
for customers and associates while enhancing profitability through
improved risk-adjusted returns. Through our ongoing commitment to
efficiency, effectiveness and continuous improvement, we will accelerate
our growth by making strategic and disciplined investments in
technology, talent and the markets we serve while also maintaining a
strong and integrated risk management culture.”

Strength of Markets

Regions’ strategic plan is built around the unique strengths of the
franchise: customer focus, markets, team, culture, and risk management.
Over the next three years, Regions will lean into these strengths by
making targeted investments to expand the reach and profitability of the
company’s core markets and to leverage its established presence in
large, growing metros.

The company today announced it will pursue opportunistic hiring and de
novo branch expansion in key growth markets including Atlanta, Houston,
and Orlando. To support growth in these key markets as well as across
the bank’s service area, Regions expects to open new branches and hire
corporate bankers, wealth management professionals, mortgage loan
originators and other customer-facing associates to meet the needs of
more individuals and businesses. Regions is funding these investments
through continuous improvement initiatives that make banking easier for
customers, simplify processes, and drive profitable, long-term growth.
By leveraging data and technology, Regions is repositioning its retail
distribution network and employing a thin network strategy to serve more
current and prospective customers while reducing costs. Over the next
three years, the company will continue expanding digital banking
capabilities, such as online account openings, digital loan
applications, and wealth management digital advisory capabilities while
also consolidating branches across its service area.

Accelerating Innovation

Through FinTech partnerships, strategic investments, and in-house
development, Regions is accelerating innovation across the enterprise to
make banking easier for customers and to operate more efficiently and
effectively. Regions continues to leverage technology through innovative
solutions around digital lending capabilities, mobile deposit
functionality, deploying flexible card controls for consumers, and
integrating artificial intelligence (AI) tools across multiple consumer
banking channels. The company’s test-and-learn approach, agile
development model, and scalable network allow Regions to make meaningful
investments with strong expected returns and adapt to a rapidly-changing
marketplace.

The company announced today it has allocated approximately $625 million
this year, or 11 percent of 2018 revenue, for technology investments,
with nearly half of that budget dedicated to new projects that will
accelerate growth and improve the customer experience. Over the next
three years, Regions will pilot voice banking capabilities and expand
its use of AI for both customer-facing and back-office applications.
Additionally, Regions is investing in data and analytics to provide more
relevant financial advice to customers, improve the customer experience,
and enhance credit risk management, as well as a variety of other
internal processes across the company.

“Technology changes and data innovation are resetting consumer
expectations, while also enabling Regions to anticipate customer needs,
improve service quality, better manage risk, and operate more
efficiently,” said John Owen, Chief Operating Officer. “This is an
exciting time for our industry, as talented people with big ideas are
leveling the playing field in a way that benefits consumers and
businesses. At Regions, we are focused on winning the customer
experience race, and we are making thoughtful technology investments to
deliver tangible benefits for customers and associates and meaningful
returns for our shareholders.”

Efficiency and Effectiveness

Regions’ Simplify and Grow continuous improvement approach was
introduced in late 2017 and has become a foundational strategic priority
for the company, integrated across the franchise. Today Regions is
committed to achieving an adjusted efficiency ratio of less than 55
percent by 2021 by growing revenue and aggressively managing expenses.
The company has approximately 35 efficiency and effectiveness work
streams in progress that will contribute to achieving this goal, and
anticipate the addition of new initiatives throughout the 3-year
planning period.

Regions continues to reduce real estate square footage, the bank’s
second-largest expense category, through branch and back-office space
consolidations, introduction of collaborative workspaces, hoteling, and
expanding remote work options. The company is in the process of exiting
2.1 million square feet, resulting in a 15 percent reduction in total
branch and non-branch space between 2017 and 2021. Regions is also
delivering reductions in third-party spending through strategic sourcing
and vendor selectivity and anticipates annual cumulative savings of
approximately $60 million between 2018 and 2021.

“Regions’ focus on continuous improvement positions us to succeed as
industry and market conditions change, and our strong capital position
provides flexibility to pursue attractive growth opportunities in any
environment,” said David Turner, Chief Financial Officer. “We are
committed to sound capital management practices that enable us to grow
organically and deliver attractive returns for our shareholders.”

As part of its Investor Day presentation, Regions provided 2019
expectations and long-term financial targets.

2019 expectations:

• Adjusted average loan growth in the low single digits
• Adjusted total revenue growth of 2-4 percent
• Relatively stable adjusted non-interest expense
• Net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans of 40-50 bps
• Effective tax rate of 20-22 percent

Three-year financial targets (2019-2021):

• 2021 adjusted return on average tangible common equity of 18-20 percent
• 2021 adjusted efficiency ratio less than 55 percent
• Annual net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans of 40-65 bps
• Annual positive operating leverage

A replay of the video webcast and presentation materials referenced
during the event are available at http://ir.regions.com.

The information above is summary and subject to numerous assumptions,
including future market and economic conditions.

About Regions Financial Corporation

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $126 billion in assets, is
a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest
full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth
management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers
across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions
Bank, operates approximately 1,500 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs.
Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and
services can be found at www.regions.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may include forward-looking statements as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The terms “Regions,”
the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” as used herein mean collectively
Regions Financial Corporation, a Delaware corporation, together with its
subsidiaries when or where appropriate. The words “future,”
“anticipates,” “assumes,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,”
“predicts,” “potential,” “objectives,” “estimates,” “expects,”
“targets,” “projects,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “would,” “will,” “may,”
“might,” “could,” “should,” “can,” and similar terms and expressions
often signify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
not based on historical information, but rather are related to future
operations, strategies, financial results or other developments.
Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current
expectations as well as certain assumptions and estimates made by, and
information available to, management at the time the statements are
made. Those statements are based on general assumptions and are subject
to various risks, and because they also relate to the future they are
likewise subject to inherent uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially from the views, beliefs and
projections expressed in such statements. Therefore, we caution you
against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. These risks,
uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the
risks identified in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on
Form 10-K and those described below:

• Current and future economic and market conditions in the United States
  generally or in the communities we serve, including the effects of
  possible declines in property values, increases in unemployment rates
  and potential reductions of economic growth, which may adversely
  affect our lending and other businesses and our financial results and
  conditions.
• Possible changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies of, and other
  activities undertaken by, governments, agencies, central banks and
  similar organizations, which could have a material adverse effect on
  our earnings.
• Possible changes in market interest rates or capital markets could
  adversely affect our revenue and expense, the value of assets and
  obligations, and the availability and cost of capital and liquidity.
• Any impairment of our goodwill or other intangibles, any repricing of
  assets, or any adjustment of valuation allowances on our deferred tax
  assets due to changes in law, adverse changes in the economic
  environment, declining operations of the reporting unit or other
  factors.
• The effect of changes in tax laws, including the effect of Tax Reform
  and any future interpretations of or amendments to Tax Reform, which
  may impact our earnings, capital ratios and our ability to return
  capital to stockholders.
• Possible changes in the creditworthiness of customers and the possible
  impairment of the collectability of loans and leases, including
  operating leases.
• Changes in the speed of loan prepayments, loan origination and sale
  volumes, charge-offs, loan loss provisions or actual loan losses where
  our allowance for loan losses may not be adequate to cover our
  eventual losses.
• Possible acceleration of prepayments on mortgage-backed securities due
  to low interest rates, and the related acceleration of premium
  amortization on those securities.
• Loss of customer checking and savings account deposits as customers
  pursue other, higher-yield investments, which could increase our
  funding costs.
• Possible changes in consumer and business spending and saving habits
  and the related effect on our ability to increase assets and to
  attract deposits, which could adversely affect our net income.
• Our ability to effectively compete with other traditional and
  non-traditional financial services companies, some of whom possess
  greater financial resources than we do or are subject to different
  regulatory standards than we are.
• Our inability to develop and gain acceptance from current and
  prospective customers for new products and services and the
  enhancement of existing products and services to meet customers’ needs
  and respond to emerging technological trends in a timely manner could
  have a negative impact on our revenue.
• Our inability to keep pace with technological changes could result in
  losing business to competitors.
• Changes in laws and regulations affecting our businesses, including
  legislation and regulations relating to bank products and services, as
  well as changes in the enforcement and interpretation of such laws and
  regulations by applicable governmental and self-regulatory agencies,
  which could require us to change certain business practices, increase
  compliance risk, reduce our revenue, impose additional costs on us, or
  otherwise negatively affect our businesses.
• Our ability to obtain a regulatory non-objection (as part of the CCAR
  process or otherwise) to take certain capital actions, including
  paying dividends and any plans to increase common stock dividends,
  repurchase common stock under current or future programs, or redeem
  preferred stock or other regulatory capital instruments, may impact
  our ability to return capital to stockholders and market perceptions
  of us.
• Our ability to comply with stress testing and capital planning
  requirements (as part of the CCAR process or otherwise) may continue
  to require a significant investment of our managerial resources due to
  the importance and intensity of such tests and requirements.
• Our ability to comply with applicable capital and liquidity
  requirements (including, among other things, the Basel III capital
  standards and the LCR rule), including our ability to generate capital
  internally or raise capital on favorable terms, and if we fail to meet
  requirements, our financial condition could be negatively impacted.
• The effects of any developments, changes or actions relating to any
  litigation or regulatory proceedings brought against us or any of our
  subsidiaries.
• The costs, including possibly incurring fines, penalties, or other
  negative effects (including reputational harm) of any adverse
  judicial, administrative, or arbitral rulings or proceedings,
  regulatory enforcement actions, or other legal actions to which we or
  any of our subsidiaries are a party, and which may adversely affect
  our results.
• Our ability to manage fluctuations in the value of assets and
  liabilities and off-balance sheet exposure so as to maintain
  sufficient capital and liquidity to support our business.
• Our ability to execute on our strategic and operational plans,
  including our ability to fully realize the financial and non-financial
  benefits relating to our strategic initiatives.
• The risks and uncertainties related to our acquisition or divestiture
  of businesses.
• The success of our marketing efforts in attracting and retaining
  customers.
• Our ability to recruit and retain talented and experienced personnel
  to assist in the development, management and operation of our products
  and services may be affected by changes in laws and regulations in
  effect from time to time.
• Fraud or misconduct by our customers, employees or business partners.
• Any inaccurate or incomplete information provided to us by our
  customers or counterparties.
• Inability of our framework to manage risks associated with our
  business such as credit risk and operational risk, including
  third-party vendors and other service providers, which could, among
  other things, result in a breach of operating or security systems as a
  result of a cyber attack or similar act or failure to deliver our
  services effectively.
• Dependence on key suppliers or vendors to obtain equipment and other
  supplies for our business on acceptable terms.
• The inability of our internal controls and procedures to prevent,
  detect or mitigate any material errors or fraudulent acts.
• The effects of geopolitical instability, including wars, conflicts and
  terrorist attacks and the potential impact, directly or indirectly, on
  our businesses.
• The effects of man-made and natural disasters, including fires,
  floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, and environmental damage,
  which may negatively affect our operations and/or our loan portfolios
  and increase our cost of conducting business. The severity and impact
  of future earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods
  and other weather-related events are difficult to predict and may be
  exacerbated by global climate change.
• Changes in commodity market prices and conditions could adversely
  affect the cash flows of our borrowers operating in industries that
  are impacted by changes in commodity prices (including businesses
  indirectly impacted by commodities prices such as businesses that
  transport commodities or manufacture equipment used in the production
  of commodities), which could impair their ability to service any loans
  outstanding to them and/or reduce demand for loans in those industries.
• Our ability to identify and address cyber-security risks such as data
  security breaches, malware, “denial of service” attacks, “hacking” and
  identity theft, a failure of which could disrupt our business and
  result in the disclosure of and/or misuse or misappropriation of
  confidential or proprietary information, disruption or damage to our
  systems, increased costs, losses, or adverse effects to our reputation.
• Our ability to realize our adjusted efficiency ratio target as part of
  our expense management initiatives.
• Possible cessation or market replacement of LIBOR and the related
  effect on our LIBOR-based financial products and contracts, including,
  but not limited to, hedging products, debt obligations, investments,
  and loans.
• Possible downgrades in our credit ratings or outlook could increase
  the costs of funding from capital markets.
• The effects of a possible downgrade in the U.S. government’s sovereign
  credit rating or outlook, which could result in risks to us and
  general economic conditions that we are not able to predict.
• The effects of problems encountered by other financial institutions
  that adversely affect us or the banking industry generally could
  require us to change certain business practices, reduce our revenue,
  impose additional costs on us, or otherwise negatively affect our
  businesses.
• The effects of the failure of any component of our business
  infrastructure provided by a third party could disrupt our businesses,
  result in the disclosure of and/or misuse of confidential information
  or proprietary information, increase our costs, negatively affect our
  reputation, and cause losses.
• Our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries could affect
  our liquidity and ability to pay dividends to stockholders.
• Changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the
  FASB or other regulatory agencies could materially affect our
  financial statements and how we report those results, and expectations
  and preliminary analyses relating to how such changes will affect our
  financial results could prove incorrect.
• Other risks identified from time to time in reports that we file with
  the SEC.
• Fluctuations in the price of our common stock and inability to
  complete stock repurchases in the time frame and/or on the terms
  anticipated.
• The effects of any damage to our reputation resulting from
  developments related to any of the items identified above.

You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date made. Factors or events that could cause
our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not
possible to predict all of them. We assume no obligation and do not
intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements that are made
from time to time, either as a result of future developments, new
information or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Contacts

Media Contact:
Evelyn Mitchell
(205) 264-4551

Investor Relations Contact:
Dana Nolan
(205) 264-7040