Lisa Murray, Massachusetts President, Citizens

In an interview with Invest:, Lisa Murray, Massachusetts president of Citizens, talked about the key advantages that Massachusetts offers for businesses, the M&A landscape in the industry, and collaborating with the public sector. “I am impressed with how collaborative the administration and the business community are as well as by the collaboration within the business community,” she said.

What are the issues at the center of the conversation of the business community in Massachusetts?

The overarching topic is the competitiveness of Massachusetts and how to maintain the competitive edge that we have. We are known for having one of the most educated workforces, and there is so much innovation going on in Massachusetts. Massachusetts has produced a very high concentration of Nobel Prize winners, which demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit here and we need to maintain that.

Greater Boston’s economy is doing better than most, but there is always room for improvement. The Massachusetts business community is resilient, and we have come through the last few years well-positioned for continued success. We have a strong life sciences industry. We plan to start leaning more into areas where we can compete on a national and global level. Cleantech is one of them since we are in a good position to take leadership in that area. Nevertheless, there is competition from other parts of the country that want to own that space. We already have a lead, so we will lean into that and make sure that we stay ahead.

How have the mergers and acquisitions that Citizens closed in 2023 helped the bank expand its presence?

The acquisitions that Citizens did last year have been a home run for us. We are now one of the Top 10 banks in New York, which is an impressive feat given how overbanked that market is. We have been well-received there, which has allowed us to fill in our geography from New England to the mid-Atlantic and to solidify our footprint. 

We have also made a big push with our Citizens Private Bank initiative in the past 12 months. We picked up a lot of First Republic bankers who chose to come to Citizens because we have the same focus on excellent client service. We now have more than 200 private bankers across our footprint, including 40 in the recently inaugurated Boston office. We are doubling down on wealth advisory to help serve all of our clients, too. 

With the view that interest rates will soon start to drop, what can the banking sector expect in terms of certainty in the economy?

Everybody is looking for that certainty because businesses love it. Nevertheless, people are taking a wait-and-see approach. There is a lot of good business activity in the Massachusetts marketplace. It is a lot more active than it was last year, but there is still a lot of pent-up demand. The upcoming election and some geopolitical issues have given everybody a reason to pause, but most business leaders are feeling good about where they are. They want to wait and ensure that they have better visibility before they either go out and acquire another company or make any push for growth.

How would you describe the openness of the Massachusetts state government to collaborate with the business community?

Massachusetts has had pro-business governors who are willing to work with the business community. There has been a lot of collaboration since I took over the role of Citizens president two and a half years ago. The government is bringing the business community together and looking for ways to figure out collectively how to solve the problems in front of us. Everybody is ensuring that we are putting our best foot forward. Additionally, the talent in Massachusetts has many thinkers and doers. With those factors together, you can enact change.

How is collaboration between banks and the public sector driving a higher quality of life for residents in Greater Boston?

I am impressed with how collaborative the administration and the business community are and how well the members of the business community work together. One of my favorite stories is how the weekend that SVB went under, I received a call from our Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao. She put together a consortium of bank leaders in Massachusetts to talk about both the situation and what her administration could do to help us.

She was coalescing around the banks in recognition that there would be rough weather, so the state would try to find ways to smooth it out for us. Banks working together during that time was very telling. We are not talking about just our business, but about the entire state and how to improve it.

What were your expectations for the banking sector after the bank failures of 2023?

The banking industry knew that First Republic and SVB were idiosyncratic banks. They had a completely different business model than most banks. We felt comfortable that such a failure was not a situation that we would find ourselves in. Nevertheless, perception is reality, so everybody thought that there was going to be another shoe to drop.

We spent extra time with our clients to discuss the differences between Citizens and the banks that failed. Citizens is in a very strong position from a capital perspective. Therefore, we just had to tell our story, which ended up being a net positive for Citizens.

How is Citizens working to incorporate new technologies, such as AI, into its operations?

We are always exploring new technologies and see AI as a potential opportunity to streamline some of our processes and make them a little bit smarter, but we are proceeding very carefully and strategically. Nevertheless, there will never be a scenario where we do not need humans as part of the process. Banking is a people business at its core, so the relationships that we strive to strengthen every day will never change. The challenge is in finding ways to leverage technology to spend more high-quality time on the things that matter.

AI is here to stay, so those who stick their head in the sand and do not try to leverage it will be left behind.

Considering the declining number of FDIC-insured banks in the United States, do you think consolidation will continue to be a trend in the next couple of years?

I do not see a significant shift on that front. Consolidation is going to continue, but a healthy, competitive industry is good for the consumer. 

I hope that banking will not get too consolidated as we need players at every stage. We need the big banks but also the smaller community banks and everything in between.

Citizens really has found its niche in terms of being large enough to have all the products that our clients need, but also small enough that we are active in our communities. We are putting in the good work, and we know and take care of our neighbors. 

What is your outlook for the banking sector and for Citizens over the next two to three years?

We hope to help kickstart the attraction of new talent to Massachusetts. This is such an innovative economy, and we are welcoming to everyone. We want more people to know the Massachusetts story and move or start a business and raise their family here. We have so much to offer and need more workers. Massachusetts has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, which means we have businesses that want to grow but cannot because they lack employees. Massachusetts is an important market for Citizens and we will continue to support businesses and customers here. As business leaders, our challenge is to work to attract even more talent to come here.