PR - RBC Centura Bank to Drop Middle Name

On the heels of two acquisitions in 13 months and one more pending, RBC Centura Bank today announced plans to change the company’s name to RBC Bank (USA) this spring and will operate under the trade name RBC Bank at that time.

"RBC is one of the largest and most stable financial institutions in North America, and we’re proud to be part of the RBC family of companies. As we grow it’s more important than ever to build brand awareness in the U.S. and represent the global brand, company and voice of RBC," said Scott Custer, RBC Centura Chairman and CEO. "For those reasons and to celebrate our growth, we’re excited to announce our name change."

RBC Centura has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) since 2001. RBC is one of the largest financial institutions in North America, providing banking, insurance, builder finance products, full-service brokerage, and corporate and investment banking services to approximately 2 million clients in the U.S. and 15 million worldwide.

The official name change will occur in April. Customer accounts will not be affected as part of this change and there is no action required by customers. Until that time the bank will operate as RBC Centura.

In the United States, RBC provides service to clients through RBC Centura Bank, RBC Insurance, RBC Dain Rauscher and RBC Capital Markets. RBC has nearly 2 million clients and 12,000 employees across the U.S. and strives to be an integral part of each community it serves.

In North America, RBC’s scale reaches nearly 1,500 banking centers – with more than 430 in the Southeastern U.S. – and more than 4,400 ATMs.

Worldwide, RBC has 70,000 full- and part-time employees serving 15 million clients through offices in North America and 34 countries around the globe. RBC offers a full range of financial products and services of personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transactions processing services on a global basis. Operating since 1869, RBC has more than US$554.2 billion in assets and one of the highest credit ratings of any financial institution – Moody’s AAA and Standard & Poor’s AA-.

RBC Centura, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., offers a wide range of financial services and advice, including a complete line of banking, and mortgage services to individuals, businesses and public institutions throughout the Southeast. RBC Centura’s multi-faceted customer access network includes more than 340 full-service banking centers, an extensive ATM network, and telephone and Internet banking. In addition, RBC Centura offers builder finance products through its RBC Builder Finance division. According to SNL Financial, RBC Centura is the 45th largest U.S. bank based on assets as of August 2007.