Spotlight On: Luciano Noir-Jones, Jacksonville Market President, Ameris Bank

Key points:

• • Ameris Bank is expanding its Jacksonville presence as the city continues attracting residents, businesses, and investment.
• • Luciano Noir-Jones says balancing digital banking with relationship-based service remains central to Ameris’ strategy.
• • Real estate lending, homebuilding, and community investment continue driving growth across North Florida.

June 2026 — Invest: sat down with Luciano Noir-Jones, Jacksonville market president of Ameris Bank, to discuss the bank’s momentum in North Florida, Jacksonville’s role as its second-largest market, and the importance of balancing digital tools with relationship-based service. “We’re trying to create a one-bank, one-team mentality,” Noir-Jones said.

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How has Ameris Bank performed in the Jacksonville market over the past year, and what major milestones stand out the most?

May will mark one year for me at Ameris Bank, and it has been a very good first year. Ameris is a $27 billion bank headquartered in Atlanta, but Jacksonville is its second-largest market, so it is really an Atlanta-Jacksonville bank. I am proud to lead the Jacksonville market, which includes about 13 offices in Jacksonville, about 26 overall when including Gainesville, St. Augustine, and surrounding counties.

We have about $2 billion in deposits in Jacksonville, which makes us the fifth-largest bank in the city. That gives us a strong position from which to help consumers and business owners run their households and businesses effectively.

Over the last year, one of our main priorities has been strengthening how the organization works together. We’re trying to create a one-bank, one-team mentality. The customer experience is the priority, and we are aligning our resources to enhance that experience. We have about 340 employees in Jacksonville across sales, technology, and back-office roles, so this is a large and important market for us. We are also trying to leverage technology to create capacity, while leading with passion and building a culture of accountability.

Ameris has expanded its local footprint, including a new downtown office. What is driving that strategy, and what impact do you expect it to have?

We did open a new downtown office, and we are very excited about it. There is a lot of momentum downtown right now. You have the new stadium, the Four Seasons, new multifamily projects, Publix moving in, and when you add the port, the quality of life, and the fact that Jacksonville is still, relatively speaking, affordable, there is a lot going for the city.

We wanted to be downtown because we see a lot of growth there. We are also under construction on that office because we are adding a drive-through. We still believe customers want the option to come into a bank or use a drive-through for convenience. The branch itself is open, and the drive-through is under construction, but the investment reflects our confidence in where downtown Jacksonville is heading.

What trends are you seeing in lending and banking behavior as Jacksonville continues to grow?

A figure I recently heard is that about 125 people move to Jacksonville every day. Those people need housing, professional services, and all the things that support daily life. Business owners are moving in as well, and others are expanding to serve that population growth.

We are seeing our business clients manage that growth as best they can, despite all the economic noise in the market. From our perspective, real estate lending continues to be very active. A core competency for Ameris in North Florida is homebuilding. We have been a bank to homebuilders for a long time, and we remain very active in that space. We are helping provide the capital that builders need to acquire lots, build homes, and get them sold to end users.

We also have a strong residential mortgage lending network. In Jacksonville alone, we have nearly 16 residential mortgage bankers helping homeowners move in, refinance, buy homes, and access down payment assistance programs. Homeownership remains a major focus for us.

At the same time, our commercial banking team is helping clients buy office buildings, warehouses, and flex space, while our commercial real estate division is involved in projects such as shopping centers and apartment complexes. We are participating in many of the areas required to support a growing city.

How do community investments and partnerships fit into the broader mission of the bank in Jacksonville?

Ameris has done a good job of giving back to the community. Broadly speaking, we have supported initiatives ranging from down payment assistance programs for first-time homebuyers to philanthropic efforts in other markets. In Jacksonville specifically, we are very focused on doing our part to strengthen the urban core and support affordable housing and community development efforts.

Because Jacksonville is such an important market for us and we have a strong employee base here, community involvement is a major part of how we operate. We support events through the chamber, social service organizations, and nonprofits, and our employees volunteer a lot of time throughout the year. There is really a calendar of things we do in the community, and our people are generous with their time.

From a local budget standpoint, we are trying to put well over $100,000 back into the community. That is part of what it means to be a strong local bank.

Jacksonville is a really large city, but it still feels small. Being part of the community and knowing other leaders and business owners goes a long way here. In cities like Tampa or Miami, it can be easier to get lost. Jacksonville still has a true community feel, and that matters.

How is Ameris balancing digital transformation with the personal relationships customers still want from their bank?

We have to meet clients where they want to meet. I love that we have a large branch network because I do believe people still want to come into a branch for certain things, whether that is opening an account, talking to a commercial banker, meeting with a mortgage officer, or even doing a wire. Some people simply feel more secure handling those things in person.

There is also a generation that expects to do everything on a phone. So we have to provide the full range of mobile and digital capabilities. We are opening accounts online now, and we are seeing a significant increase in people opening accounts and making deposits digitally.

We also added Zelle payments about six months ago, and people are using that. The last figure I saw was more than 70,000 transactions per month after only a few months. So it is clearly a digital world, and we have to serve clients there.

Still, branches matter. We need to continue investing in branches while also investing in technology. AI is a major theme across industries right now, and anything we can do to make the customer experience better and create more capacity for employees is important.

How are you helping clients adapt to these changes while maintaining trust and service?

Banks have had to catch up to clients in the digital world, and in some ways, that has been the easier part. Clients want efficiency and simplicity from technology, but when something goes wrong, they want to talk to a human being. That is where we believe our model stands out.

We have an 800 number and digital chat support, but we tell clients that the first call should be to their commercial banker or branch manager. We should be able to resolve 80% of issues through that first phone call. That human service model is one of the things driving our growth.

We are seeing business clients at other institutions being told they no longer have a local banker and will instead be served remotely from somewhere else in the country. As a regional bank, we offer something different. If you are a business owner, you are going to be assigned a commercial banker. You are going to know your branch manager. That local representation is important, and people are willing to change banks for it.

What are Ameris Bank’s top priorities over the next three to five years in Jacksonville and the broader Southeast?

We definitely want to continue doubling down on the one-bank, one-team theme. Banking and finance are complex, and running a business is complex, so we need to bring all of our internal partners together to help clients with mortgages, business lending, moving money efficiently and securely, and everything else they need. It is a team sport.

We will also continue to focus on the Southeast. Ameris is a Southeastern bank, with Georgia and Florida as the primary markets, along with some presence in the Carolinas. We like those markets, and we will continue to grow organically in them.

The bank has not made an acquisition in several years, so I do think there could be an opportunity in the future, especially if the economy softens and creates openings to acquire a bank, assets, or capabilities we do not have today.

The bank is built for opportunity at this point. We have strong capital levels, we are buying back shares, we are maintaining our dividend strategy, and we are committed to organic growth. I’m excited about the future at Ameris Bank in Jacksonville.

Want more? Read the Invest: Jacksonville report.