Citizens Financial Group history

In 1871, the Rhode Island legislature gave a second charter to establish the Citizens Savings Bank which eventually acquired its parent group to form Citizens Trust Company.

1943: Citizens Savings gains control of High Street Bank, its former parent.

1947: Citizens begins developing a branch network.

1950: Citizens joins the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), becoming the first mutual savings bank to do so.

By 1971 Citizens Savings was the 80th largest mutual savings bank in the United States.

1981–92: Emergence of Citizens As Unit of Royal Bank

Over the next 50 years the thrift expanded into the suburbs of Cleveland, then in 1982 was converted from a mutual to a public company and adopted the Charter One name.

In 1983 the bank opened its first commercial loan office outside of Rhode Island, locating it in Boston.

To prepare to convert from a mutual savings bank to a stock savings bank, Citizens Bank became a federal savings bank in October 1984.

Then in mid-1985, Citizens Financial Group, Inc., was created as a bank holding company for both Citizens Bank and Citizens Trust.

In 1986 the group acquired Gulf States Mortgage Company, an Atlanta-based residential mortgage origination and service firm with a loan portfolio of just over $1 billion.

By 1988 Citizens Financial was the fifth largest bank in New England but was far smaller than the top four at the time: Bank of Boston, Fleet Financial Group, Bank of New England, and Shaw-mut National.

In fact, Citizens reached an agreement to acquire BankWorcester Corporation of Worcester, Massachusetts, for $149 million in early 1990, only to pull out of the deal later in the year because of the growing size of Bank Worcester’s nonperforming assets.

Davis, Paul, “Citizens Acquires Bank in Mass.,” Providence Journal-Bulletin, September 19, 1992.

Also in 1994, Citizens Financial became one of the last large banks to begin selling mutual funds through its branches.

1995: Quincy Savings Bank is acquired.

In late 1996 Citizens Capital, Inc. was formed as a Boston-based subsidiary specializing in making loans to small and medium-sized businesses.

Continuing to fill in geographic gaps in its New England base, Citizens spent $57.2 million for Bank of New Haven in August 1997.

Kraus, James R., “Bank of Ireland Selling Its Stake in R.I. Regional,” American Banker, August 20, 1998.

While continuing to emphasize personal, branch-based banking, Citizens in 1999 also launched Citizens Bank Online, a full-service electronic banking and bill payment service.

Overall, the State Street and UST deals helped increase Citizens Financial's assets to nearly $31 billion by the end of 2000, making the bank one of the 30 largest banks in the nation.

———, “With Mellon Deal, Citizens Financial’s Business Model Branches Out,” Providence Journal, July 18, 2001.

In May 2002 Charter One converted itself from a thrift into a nationally chartered bank.

In July 2003 the group laid out $285 million for Port Financial Corp., parent of CambridgePort Bank, which operated 11 branches and 15 ATMs and had $1.5 billion in assets.

In April 2004 the Philadelphia Phillies moved into their new ballpark, which was named Citizens Bank Park as a result of a $95 million naming rights deal between Citizens and the major league baseball team.

A new corporate logo designed to show Citizens Bank's connection to the Royal Bank of Scotland debuted on April 26, 2005.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc., is a leading commercial bank holding company in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest regions, and it ranked as the ninth largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of assets in late 2006.

In February 2007 the group spent $180 million for GreatBanc, Inc., a Chicago-area bank with ten branches and $1.2 billion in assets.

In May 2008, Citizens Financial Group failed to publicly announce that it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its involvement in the sub-prime mortgage crisis that devastated the United States housing market and bond investors around the world.

In October 2009, Citizens Bank opened a full-service branch inside a Dunkin' Donuts in Bellingham, Massachusetts.

A Philadelphia developer sued Citizens Bank January 27, 2010, for $8 billion, under a claim that the bank used sham accusations of default to recall loans in an effort to prop up its failing parent companies, Citizens Financial Group and "its ultimate parent, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group."

In 2012, public pressure in the United Kingdom grew for RBS to focus on its home market and sell foreign assets, including Citizens Bank, in order for UK taxpayers to earn their money back.

Finally in November 2013, RBS announced that it would divest all of Citizens Financial Group.

With conflicting names no longer an issue, Citizens Bank announced June 30, 2014, that Charter One branches in Michigan and Ohio would be rebranded as Citizens Bank.

The name change officially took place on April 27, 2015, bringing to an end the name Charter One in Cleveland; the city in which it was founded.

In June 2016, it was announced that Citizens Financial Group had joined the Fortune 500 for the first time.

In August 2018, Citizens completed its acquisition of Franklin American Mortgage in a deal valued at $511 Million, expanding its presence into Tennessee and Texas.

*as of December 31, 2019 excludes loans in Other

On May 26, 2021, Citizens entered into an agreement with HSBC Bank USA to purchase HSBC's retail operations on the East Coast, including 90 branches in New York City, Washington D.C., and Southeast Florida.