WEST READING, PA — Customers Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: CUBI) reported $78.4 million in third-quarter 2026 earnings available to common shareholders as expanding commercial lending and deposit growth lifted net interest income, allowing the Pennsylvania-based bank holding company to increase its full-year financial guidance.
The parent of Customers Bank earned $2.25 per diluted share during the quarter ended September 30, while total deposits reached a record $22.6 billion and total loans climbed to $18.5 billion, according to the company’s financial results.
Deposits increased $831 million, or 3.8%, from the second quarter and $2.2 billion, or 10.6%, from a year earlier. Total loans rose $496 million, or 2.8%, during the quarter and $2.2 billion, or 13.5%, year over year.
The expansion reflects Customers Bancorp’s strategy of adding commercial banking relationships while increasing lending across corporate, real estate and other business segments.
Non-interest-bearing deposits, which provide a lower-cost source of funding, increased $295 million during the quarter to a record $7.2 billion. Those balances represented 31.9% of total deposits at September 30.
New commercial banking teams hired since the second quarter of 2023 generated approximately $415 million in additional deposits during the quarter, with non-interest-bearing accounts accounting for 28% of that growth.
The bank added a net 618 commercial accounts during the period, including 317 from teams recruited in 2025.
Net interest income increased 7.6% from the previous quarter to $208 million, supported by higher income from investment securities and corporate lending.
The company’s net interest margin reached 3.19%, reflecting the difference between interest earned on assets and the cost of funding them.
Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollom indicated that the margin could improve further as newly gathered deposits are deployed into lending.
“Our estimated run rate for net interest margin in September was approximately 3.25% which gives us confidence for additional expansion in Q4 2026,” McCollom stated.
The average cost of deposits remained at 2.50% during the quarter, unchanged from the second quarter but down from 2.77% a year earlier.
Commercial and industrial lending accounted for much of the loan growth.
Loans and leases held for investment reached $18.4 billion, up $445 million from June 30. Commercial and industrial balances increased $592 million, or 6.8%, to $9.3 billion.
Within that category, corporate banking loans and leases rose $690 million to $7.8 billion.
Non-owner-occupied commercial real estate loans increased $179 million to $2.1 billion, while multifamily lending grew $44 million to $2.7 billion.
Those gains were partly offset by a $259 million decline in mortgage finance loans, a $58 million reduction in construction lending and a $49 million decrease in owner-occupied commercial real estate balances.
The company also expanded its investment securities portfolio to $4.2 billion, an increase of $915 million from the second quarter, primarily through purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations.
The larger securities portfolio contributed to interest income growth but also affected the company’s equity through unrealized losses on available-for-sale investments.
Common equity declined $13 million during the quarter to $2.2 billion, reflecting share repurchases and changes in accumulated other comprehensive income, partly offset by earnings.
Customers Bancorp repurchased 492,178 common shares for approximately $38 million during the quarter.
Book value per common share increased to $65.77 from $65.31 in June and $59.83 a year earlier.
Credit performance remained relatively stable, although nonperforming loans increased from year-earlier levels.
The provision for credit losses totaled $25 million, compared with $23 million in the second quarter and $27 million a year earlier.
Net charge-offs declined to $13 million from $15 million in both comparison periods.
Nonperforming loans represented 0.29% of total loans and leases, down from 0.31% in June but above the 0.17% reported in September 2025.
The bank held $172 million in allowances for credit losses on loans and leases, compared with $164 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Nonperforming loans totaled approximately $53 million, including $12 million covered by government guarantees under Small Business Administration lending programs.
Excluding the guaranteed portion, nonperforming loans represented approximately 0.23% of total loans and leases.
Customers Bancorp reported a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 12.6% and a tangible common equity-to-tangible assets ratio of 8.0%.
Estimated uninsured deposits totaled $7.6 billion, or 34% of deposits, with immediately available liquidity equivalent to approximately 151% of those balances.
Operating efficiency also improved as revenue growth exceeded the increase in expenses.
The bank’s efficiency ratio declined to 47.2% from 50.6% in the second quarter, indicating lower operating expenses relative to revenue.
Non-interest expenses totaled $113 million, down $1 million sequentially but up $8 million from a year earlier, reflecting increased compensation, technology spending and commercial lease depreciation associated with business growth.
Non-interest income totaled $31 million, compared with $34 million in the previous quarter and $30 million a year earlier.
The company also reported progress in using artificial intelligence and automation to reduce administrative costs and accelerate banking processes.
Customers Bancorp estimated that its AI initiatives had saved a cumulative 76,000 employee hours, an increase of nearly 65% during the quarter, and created more than $15 million in annualized operating capacity.
The bank completed a pilot program that reduced commercial deposit account onboarding from days to minutes and expects its recently announced partnership with Palantir to support further deployment.
Its cubiX payments platform surpassed $5.6 trillion in cumulative transaction volume since inception, while mortgage finance and real estate businesses accounted for more than 30% of platform balances at quarter-end.
Chief Executive Officer Sam Sidhu identified automation, payments infrastructure and commercial banking expansion as central priorities for the company’s growth strategy.
The bank hired 50 revenue-producing employees during the first nine months of 2026 while reducing its overall headcount.
For the nine-month period, Customers Bancorp reported year-over-year increases of 19% in revenue, 21% in core earnings and 10% in book value per share.
Following the third-quarter results, management updated its 2026 outlook to project loan growth of at least 12% and deposit growth of at least 9%.
The company expects full-year net interest income of $805 million to $810 million, non-interest expenses of $460 million to $465 million and an effective tax rate of 22% to 23%.
The guidance reflects management’s expectations for continued commercial lending and deposit growth, alongside further operating efficiencies from automation and technology investments.
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