Truist streamlines digital account opening with direct deposit switching

Rhea-AI Summary

Truist (NYSE: TFC) announced on Dec. 18, 2025 the launch of embedded electronic direct deposit switching in its digital account opening flow, developed with Atomic, to simplify moving payroll/direct deposits to Truist.

The company said that since the feature's August launch 19% of new digital applicants who used the tool completed the switch. The announcement highlights this addition alongside other investments: 100 new insight-driven branches over five years, >300 branch renovations, AI tools Truist Assist (averaging 440,000 conversations/month) and Truist Insights (providing 550 million personalized insights/year).

Positive

• Direct deposit switch feature reached 19% conversion among engaged applicants
• Truist Assist averages 440,000 conversations per month
• Truist Insights delivers 550 million personalized insights per year
• Plan to build 100 new insight-driven branches over five years

Negative

• Conversion rate 19% indicates majority of engaged applicants did not complete switching

Key Figures

Direct deposit adoption 19% New digital account applicants engaging with switching feature since August

New branches planned 100 branches Insights-driven branches to be built over the next five years

Branch renovations 300+ branches Renovations in high opportunity markets

Truist Assist volume 440,000 conversations/month Average monthly AI assistant interactions

Truist Insights activity 550 million insights/year Personalized financial insights delivered annually

Time horizon Five years Planned timeline for building new insights-driven branches

Market Reality Check

$50.15 Last Close

Volume Volume 8,781,531 vs 20-day average 7,758,437, indicating slightly elevated trading interest pre-announcement. normal

Technical Price $50.15 is above the $42.95 200-day MA and within $0.28 of the 52-week high $50.43.

Peers on Argus

TFC was up 0.89% while key peers were mixed to negative: ITUB -0.14%, DB -0.16%, PNC -0.12%, NU -1.43%, with only USB slightly positive at 0.07%, pointing to a more company-specific move.

Historical Context

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Dec 16	Share repurchase plan	Positive	-0.1%	New <b>$10B</b> buyback replacing prior authorization with remaining capacity.
Dec 10	Rate change	Neutral	+0.3%	Prime lending rate reduced to <b>6.75%</b> from <b>7.00%</b> effective Dec 11.
Dec 10	Digital wealth platform	Positive	+3.4%	Launch of mobile-forward investment platform integrated into Truist digital banking.
Dec 09	Earnings scheduling	Neutral	+0.5%	Announcement of Q3 2025 earnings release and conference call details.
Dec 02	Research expansion	Neutral	-0.2%	Nine new hires to expand Equity Research and Sales & Trading coverage.

Pattern Detected

Recent TFC news around digital initiatives and capital actions often saw modest positive price reactions, with a slight divergence on the large buyback announcement.

Recent Company History

Over the last few weeks, Truist reported multiple developments, including a new $10 billion stock repurchase authorization on Dec 16, 2025 and a prime rate cut to 6.75% effective Dec 11, 2025. It also launched a modern mobile-forward wealth platform on Dec 10, 2025 and expanded Equity Research coverage on Dec 2, 2025. Today’s announcement extends that digital focus into retail onboarding with embedded direct deposit switching, reinforcing the broader shift toward enhanced client-facing technology.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement underscores Truist’s emphasis on digitally empowered banking, integrating direct deposit switching into onboarding and scaling tools like Truist Assist and Truist Insights, which deliver over 440,000 conversations per month and 550 million insights per year. Combined with plans for 100 new branches and 300+ renovations, it reflects a hybrid physical-digital strategy. Investors may watch client adoption of these features and subsequent deposit growth and engagement trends over time.

Key Terms

direct deposit financial

"launch of electronic direct deposit switching capabilities to the Truist client"

An electronic transfer that sends money—such as paychecks, dividends, or benefits—directly into a bank account instead of using a paper check or cash. It matters to investors because it speeds up and secures receipts of cash, reduces processing costs and delays for companies making payments, and gives a clearer, timelier view of cash flow and dividend distribution—like having your mail delivered straight to your mailbox instead of waiting for a letter to arrive by hand.

onboarding technical

"embedded into Truist's digital account opening process, allowing clients"

Onboarding is the process a company uses to bring new customers, employees, partners or clients up to speed with its products, services and procedures so they can start getting value quickly. It matters to investors because efficient onboarding speeds revenue growth, reduces churn and lowers support costs—like giving a new neighbor a useful map and keys so they settle in fast—while poor onboarding can stall adoption and raise expenses.

AI-enhanced technical

"Truist Assist: An AI-enhanced digital assistant that helps clients quickly"

AI-enhanced describes products, services, or business processes that use artificial intelligence to improve accuracy, speed, automation, or decision-making compared with human-only methods. Investors watch AI-enhanced claims because they can signal potential cost savings, faster growth, or a stronger competitive edge—like adding power steering to a car makes it easier to drive—while also bringing higher development costs, technical risk, and possible regulatory scrutiny.

digital assistant technical

"Truist Assist: An AI-enhanced digital assistant that helps clients quickly"

A digital assistant is a computer program that understands and responds to human requests by voice or text, performing tasks like answering questions, booking appointments, retrieving data, or automating routine work. For investors it matters because these tools can reduce labor costs, speed customer service, unlock new revenue channels and create data-privacy or regulatory risks—think of a tireless employee that handles repetitive tasks but whose performance and controls affect the bottom line.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) today announced the launch of electronic direct deposit switching capabilities to the Truist client digital onboarding process, further enhancing the ease and speed of opening new accounts.

Developed in partnership with Atomic, this new capability is fully embedded into Truist's digital account opening process, allowing clients to easily transfer direct deposits from other accounts. Since its launch in August, 19% of new digital account applicants that engaged with the feature officially made the switch.

"With a faster and more intuitive onboarding experience, we're empowering clients with the flexibility to quickly and easily choose Truist as their primary financial partner," said Truist Head of Digital, Client Experience and Marketing Sherry Graziano. "Whether clients prefer digital, in-branch or over-the-phone, we're providing the flexibility and tools to pursue financial goals in a way that works for them."

Today's announcement builds on Truist's ongoing series of investments to create an experience that is digitally empowered and deeply relational to help clients achieve financial success. Some of these include:

• New insights-driven branches: As announced in August, over the next five years, Truist is building 100 new insights-driven branches, renovating more than 300 branches in high opportunity markets and hiring additional Premier advisors to serve clients with more complex financial needs.
• Enhanced digital tools and capabilities: These include smarter scheduling for appointments, a more intuitive account opening process with onboarding self-service capabilities and access to digital planning and tracking tools for financial empowerment.
• Truist Assist: An AI-enhanced digital assistant that helps clients quickly get answers to the most asked questions with the option of being seamlessly transferred to a teammate, now averaging up to 440,000 conversations per month.
• Truist Insights: An AI-enhanced tool providing clients with more than 550 million personalized, real-time financial insights per year to help with cash-flow summaries, income and expense analysis, proactive balance monitoring and more.
• LightStream: Offering the award-winning LightStream unsecured lending solution through Truist.com and as part of the branch experience.
• Payments enhancements: Additional client capabilities for real-time payments, Zelle^®, Bill Pay and digital money transfers.
• Truist Client Pulse: A patent-pending AI tool currently being piloted to aggregate client feedback across millions of conversations to deliver holistic insights and trend analysis to quickly identify and address client behaviors and challenges.

To learn more about Truist's banking solutions, visit www.truist.com/checking/truist-one-banking.

About Truist

Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist has leading market share in many of the high-growth markets in the U.S. and offers a wide range of products and services through wholesale and consumer businesses, including consumer and small business banking, commercial and corporate banking, investment banking and capital markets, wealth management, payments, and specialized lending businesses. Truist is a top-10 commercial bank with total assets of $544 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Learn more at Truist.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/truist-streamlines-digital-account-opening-with-direct-deposit-switching-302645016.html

SOURCE Truist Financial Corporation

FAQ

What did Truist (TFC) announce on December 18, 2025 about direct deposit switching?

Truist launched an embedded electronic direct deposit switching capability in its digital account opening process, developed with Atomic.

How many new digital applicants completed the direct deposit switch for Truist (TFC) since August 2025?

Truist reported that 19% of new digital account applicants who engaged with the feature officially made the switch.

How does the new direct deposit switch affect Truist account opening speed for TFC clients?

The feature is designed to simplify and speed digital onboarding by allowing clients to transfer direct deposits during account opening.

What other digital investments did Truist (TFC) highlight alongside the switching feature?

Truist referenced Truist Assist (AI assistant averaging 440,000 conversations/month), Truist Insights (providing 550M insights/year), and payments and onboarding enhancements.

Will Truist (TFC) expand its branch network after the December 18, 2025 announcement?

Truist said it plans to build 100 new insight-driven branches and renovate more than 300 branches over the next five years.