A partner for progress

Business leaders are responding to stakeholder expectations related to sustainability and focused on investments that yield clear business benefits and mitigate potential risks to their business. Clients want to know what trends are emerging in their sector and how to integrate sustainability into their business strategy.

"The transition to a lower-carbon future is an important conversation we're having with our clients," McCree says. "First and foremost, their constituencies really care about the topic. It's a topic business leaders continue to talk about to understand what strategies make sense for their individual company."

Whether an organization has its sights on becoming net zero or simply wants to better control its energy use and costs, we can help clients identify the best technologies, solution providers and strategies that help them achieve their goals. Sharing the knowledge and insights we gain from conversations across a wide range of industries enables us to deliver tailored, relevant ideas to our clients that solve the challenges they are facing.

We've also learned that clients are interested in finding out more about Citizens' own sustainability journey. In our conversations with clients, we share the approach we took to develop strategy and insights from our own operations — including our virtual power purchase agreement and how we measure our emissions and disclose our progress.

"We want our clients to think of Citizens as the go-to institution where they can call up their lead banker and say, 'I've got this problem,'" McCree explains, "and it could be 'I need to build a plant' or 'I need to do a mergers and acquisitions transaction' or 'I need some advice on sustainability topics and how I should be thinking about them.'"

Strengthening our skills to provide advice and expertise

To ensure that we are able to help our clients prepare for and finance lower-carbon economy initiatives, we are working continuously to prepare our colleagues to effectively advise clients.

"All of our frontline commercial and business bankers are fully trained on climate-related topics so they are prepared to listen, learn and share insights with clients," says McCree.

This training, developed and taught by Citizens' sustainability, commercial and business banking leaders, covers relevant climate and sustainability -related topics that bankers need to know. The content is continually updated so bankers can share the latest information and trends with clients.

"To date, we have found our clients are interested in insights, expertise and advice including sector-level trends related to reporting, target setting, investment in technology, risk assessment and emerging policy and regulation," McCree notes. "We want to make sure our clients are aware of the current landscape and aren't leaving anything on the table."

Engaging with a trusted advisor gives companies access to experts who understand climate and effective strategies for more sustainable business practices.

Building solutions that meet clients' needs

Through our ongoing conversations with clients, we work to understand their challenges and opportunities and develop solutions that help them achieve their goals. Our existing products and services can support clients in a variety of ways, including financing facility upgrades or equipment that reduces emissions.

We also offer two targeted solutions for commercial clients: Sustainable Deposits and Carbon Offset Deposit Accounts.

Sustainable Deposits (originally called Green Deposits when launched in 2021) allows commercial clients to earmark their deposits against a portfolio of eligible investments such as renewable energy, green buildings and affordable housing. This enables our clients to support socially and environmentally beneficial activities while still receiving daily liquidity, earning interest and remaining FDIC insured. The idea behind Sustainable Deposits was to provide our clients with a deposit option that complements and expands their existing sustainability and social impact programs.

Our second solution, the Carbon Offset Deposit Account, provides clients with a simple way to have an immediate environmental impact while continuing to work on longer-term emission reduction strategies. With credit earned on deposits, we purchase carbon offsets on the client's behalf, which are retired for their exclusive use. Clients benefit from our vendor relationships, quality standards and ongoing monitoring of market developments, giving them confidence in the impact.

Both solutions were born from Citizens' Innovation Forum, an internal think tank where colleagues are invited to submit new ideas to improve our customers' experience. We see a direct link between innovation and sustainability and encourage our colleagues to continuously aim to develop new solutions and services to help clients reach their goals.

Dedication to building a more sustainable future

At Citizens, we value our role in helping to ensure customers, colleagues and communities are ready for long-term successes. We're committed to supporting positive climate impact by partnering with clients and customers, assessing our risks, and reducing our operational emissions, — because we recognize that we're all in this together.

What you can do to learn more about sustainability at Citizens

• Read our sustainability announcement featuring our sustainable finance target, client engagement goals and commitment to achieve carbon neutrality.
• Learn more about our support for renewable energy through a virtual power purchase agreement with Ørsted.
• View our latest Sustainability & Impact Report, which outlines our progress on activities important to our business and stakeholders.
• Connect with the Citizens commercial banking team, who are ready to help you evaluate your sustainability needs and offer solutions.