TD a top 10 U.S. bank − and it’s not done yet

GROWTH PLANS

TD Bank now has more branches in the U.S. (1,260) than it does in Canada (1,138), and has plans to expand further, says its American unit chief executive. US$17 billion building its U.S. branch network from 2005 to 2010, buying Portland, Me.-based Banknorth Group Inc. and New Jersey’s Commerce Bancorp Inc., as well as lenders in the Carolinas and Florida.

TD also has added on credit-card portfolios, an auto financing company and a U.S. money manager.

Braca, who joined Commerce Bancorp in 2002 and stayed through the transition, described his strategy as “basic, old-fashioned sort of stuff, overlaid onto digital capabilities.”

It includes investments in technology, more branches in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and throughout Florida, and building on what he calls a “nascent” wealth-management business seeded by the 2013 takeover of New York-based Epoch Holding Corp.

“We have a fantastic opportunity around wealth,” Braca said. “We’ve brought in a lot of people, we’ve rebuilt platforms and we’ve built product capabilities. We are finally now dressed to play.”

The parent company gets about a third of its annual profit from U.S. retail banking, and has more branches in the country (1,260) than it does in Canada (1,138).

As it shifts toward digital banking, TD Bank plans to differentiate itself by highlighting the same “convenience” theme its brick-andmortar locations are known for, Braca said.

In its early days, TD Bank relied on a “retail-tainment” strategy revolving around coin-counting machines, piggy banks for kids and treats for customers’ pets.

“We used to, 15 years ago, talk about dog biscuits in stores, and that was a convenience point and people loved it,” Braca said.

“What’s the digital version of that biscuit?”