Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: UMPQ), has been named the Best Community Bank, U.S. 2020, by Capital Finance International for its Human Digital Banking strategy and support of consumers and businesses during the unprecedented disruptions of 2020. Launched in 2017, Umpqua’s Human Digital Banking strategy continues to earn global attention for the way it leverages technology to empower deeper customer relationships and deliver solutions more efficiently and at scale.
“The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the fact that human connection in the banking relationship is still needed and vital to the financial wellbeing of people, businesses and communities,” said Tory Nixon, Umpqua Bank president. “In the last few years, Umpqua’s commitment to elevating the power of that connection has inspired us to look at technology differently and to organize our company around the personal delivery of solutions customers truly need from bankers they know and trust. As a result, Umpqua was uniquely prepared to help people and businesses navigate the initial economic shock of the pandemic, and why we’re positioned to continue supporting them in the years ahead.”
Capital Finance International noted that Umpqua’s Go-To app, the industry’s first Human Digital Banking platform, has proven to be a uniquely powerful tool during the pandemic as consumer and small business customers continue to face uncertainty and disruption. Through Umpqua Go-To, customers can choose a banker devoted to their financial needs and engage with them in a secure chat environment to ask questions, troubleshoot accounts and receive personal and small business advice for their specific financial situation. Umpqua Go-To enrollment and usage has increased nearly 40 percent in recent months.
Umpqua also quickly mobilized operations and implemented Human Banking Digital solutions to become one of the first banks in the country ready to provide financial relief to struggling businesses through the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Banking teams and hundreds of associates worked around the clock to help thousands of businesses qualify for more than $2 billion in financial relief that helped West Coast companies save more than 250,000 jobs.
According to Capital Financial International: In these troubled times, when a visit to the local branch is no longer a breeze or indeed risk-free, Umpqua Go-To…has proven to be an immensely powerful tool. So has the company’s investment in business and corporate bankers who — powered by smart digital solutions and Umpqua’s culture of service — helped roughly 17,000 West Coast businesses save more than 250,000 jobs as the pandemic hit. (Read more…)
Capital Finance International (CFI.co) is an international thought leader on global trends in business, economics, finance and the leaders and companies driving change. Its award program seeks to identify and reward excellence and best practices from around the world to inspire others to improve their own performance. To learn more, visit cfi.co.
