Citizens Financial Group Inc., the regional lender spun off from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, will offer a robo-advisory platform next year as the firm builds out its wealth management business.
Citizens' digital-investing service will be available online and by mobile phone through a partnership with robo-advisor SigFig, the Providence, Rhode Island-based lender said Thursday in a statement. It allows Citizens to offer wealth management services to customers at various stages of saving for retirement, said John Bahnken, the bank's president of wealth management.
"These platforms also can be lower cost for clients that are comfortable doing some of the work themselves," Bahnken said in a telephone interview. "I expect to continue to invest in things like digital, as well as advisory teams and subject-matter experts."
Regional banks have sought to improve technology and expand fee-rich businesses such as wealth management as historically low interest rates have squeezed lending margins. Citizens increased the number of its financial consultants by 14% this year to 350 from 2015, the bank said in an October presentation, with a focus on hiring in Boston and Philadelphia.
