Columbia Banking System (COLB) The BancAnalysts Association of Boston Conference 2026 summary

Franchise and competitive position

• Western footprint spans eight states, with coastal density from the Canadian to Mexican border and growing Intermountain presence; management describes the franchise as well positioned among banks with $50B-$100B in assets.

• Greater scale supports higher lending hold limits, customer growth, technology investment across a larger base, and stronger talent recruitment.

• Deposit market share is nearly double KeyBank’s in the Northwest; the franchise ranks fifth in deposit share and targets markets where its service model can win against larger banks.

• Business diversification now spans industries, products, and geographies; quarterly wins-and-losses tracking covers transactions above $10M of TCE.

Relationship banking and customer growth

• Relationship banking remains the core differentiator, with bankers positioned as trusted advisors and active participants in customers’ businesses.

• Treasury management, commercial cards, merchant services, and international banking help turn lending relationships into broader fee-based partnerships.

• Deposit pricing considers loans, deposits, and fee income together; deposit rates are one lever in the overall relationship, rather than the primary value proposition.

• Larger scale and expanded capabilities are attracting more sophisticated bankers; recruiting emphasizes the combination of broad capabilities and community-bank service.

• A consumer onboarding enhancement is planned for H1 2027; commercial banking has no material product gaps requiring acquisition or development.

Balance sheet, margins, and capital

• Balance-sheet positioning aims for interest-rate neutrality; low- to mid-single-digit core deposit growth is helping optimize funding, while $5B of higher-cost wholesale funding is expected to run off over several years.

• Roughly $7.1B of transactional loans yielding 4.25% is being replaced with core relationship lending; runoff has been about $250M per quarter and replacement loans bring an estimated 200 bps yield pickup.

• Balance-sheet optimization has added ~25 bps to NIM; NIM was 4.11% in Q3, including ~3 bps from early loan payoffs, and is expected to stay within a few bps of adjusted Q3 in Q4.

• Q3 core client deposits grew $1.2B and deposit costs declined; Q4 debt refinancing is expected to add 3-4 bps of NIM pressure, with further margin improvement expected as optimization continues in 2027.

• A $700M share repurchase authorization was announced; repurchases are expected to continue into Q4 2027, subject to capital needs and stress testing.