Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG)

How it makes money

Like any bank, Citizens earns money in two ways. The larger part is net interest income — the difference between what it charges on loans and securities and what it pays on deposits and other funding — which was $5,853 million in 2025. The smaller part is noninterest income: card and service fees, mortgage banking, wealth management, capital markets and advisory work, foreign exchange and rate hedging sold to clients, which totalled $2,394 million in 2025. Together they made consolidated total revenue of $8,247 million in 2025, against $7,809 million in 2024, and net income of $1,831 million.

Revenue by segment

The durable advantage of a bank like this is its deposit base: $183.3 billion of deposits gathered from more than 1,000 branches and millions of everyday current accounts, which customers rarely move because direct debits, payroll and payment habits are tied to them. Cheap, sticky funding is what lets the bank lend profitably. But the advantage is narrow, not wide: Citizens has no pricing power over a national rival, digital banks can open an account in minutes, and the filing itself flags technological competition and the cost of keeping deposits as risks.

A regional bank's business follows the economic cycle closely, and from both ends. When growth is strong, households borrow for houses and cars, companies draw credit lines and invest, and the capital markets and advisory fees inside Commercial Banking pick up. When the cycle turns, loan demand falls, deal fees dry up, and loan losses rise at exactly the moment revenue is weakening. On top of that sits the interest rate cycle, which the filing lists as a risk in both directions: rates set by the central bank move the spread between what the bank earns on loans and pays on deposits, largely independently of how many customers it has.

Key risks

• Interest rates cut both ways — The 10-K lists both rising and falling rates as separate risks: changes in rates affect profitability, and a decrease in rates can reduce net income. Net interest income is the bank's largest revenue line, so its earnings depend on a variable it does not control.
• Borrower credit quality — The company discloses that deterioration in the credit quality of its borrowers is a principal risk, alongside the effectiveness of its risk management framework and the subjectivity of the estimates used to size loan loss reserves.
• Liquidity and cost of funding — Access to liquidity and funding, and the cost of that funding, are disclosed risks — as is a reduction in the company's credit ratings, which would make borrowing more expensive.
• Cybersecurity and technology dependence — The filing flags cyber threats, dependence on communications and information systems, reliance on third-party IT providers, and competition from technology-driven entrants in financial services.
• Heavy and shifting regulation — A whole group of risk factors covers regulation: comprehensive supervision, restrictions on operations, evolving requirements, capital and liquidity standards, the obligation to act as a 'source of strength' for the subsidiary bank, regulatory enforcement actions, litigation, and anti-money-laundering compliance.
• The holding company lives off its bank — Among the regulatory risks the company discloses that the parent's revenue depends on its subsidiary bank — dividends up from the bank can be restricted by regulators, which in turn constrains buybacks and the dividend to shareholders.
• Economy, industry and climate — Industry-level risks disclosed include deterioration in national economic conditions, competitive pressure, physical and transition risks from climate change, and the effect the condition of other financial institutions can have on Citizens.

The annual report does not disclose a share of revenue coming from the largest customers, and for a retail deposit-taking bank with $183.3 billion of deposits spread over millions of household and small-business accounts the question is largely moot. What the filing does describe is the concentration it actually manages: credit exposure to individual borrowers is governed by policy guidelines set on the perceived risk of each borrower or related group, with limits on industry sectors, asset classes and loan quality. Concentration risk for this company is a lending-portfolio matter, not a revenue-customer one.