Bank of the West 2010 Annual Report Download - page 4

Bank of the West benefitted from a combination of
positive factors in 2010. Our strong financial condition
and capital ratios allowed us to continue to be a reliable
financial partner through the crisis and to attract
additional business from new and existing customers.
We are honored by the trust that over 1.6 million
families and organizations have placed in us as their
financial partner, and are committed to maintaining
a relationship that is worthy of that trust with each of
them. The vitality of our franchise was demonstrated by
our nearly four percent growth in consumer households
and our core deposit growth of 11 percent. We are
strongly committed to being a “relationship” bank,
and the decisions of our customers to deepen their
relationships with us are the highest expression of their
satisfaction and trust.
As the US economy began to recover, we were able
to assist our customers in rebuilding their savings and
investing in their businesses. Commercial loan demand
remained slow in 2010, but increased late in the year,
and our small business lending increased dramatically.
Commercial deposits were solid throughout the year
and were up by 18 percent over 2009. Support services
for commercial clients, including cash management,
corporate cards, capital markets and foreign exchange,
also experienced meaningful increases over the
prior year.
We also are fortunate to offer our customers access to
the range of capabilities of our parent company, BNP
Paribas, which is one of the largest banks in the world
Message from
the Chairman
& CEO
All of us at Bank of the West offer our
thanks to our customers, clients, community
partners and colleagues. We all can take
pride in our good performance in 2010,
posting four quarters of solid and steadily
rising profitability, delivering award-winning
customer service and positioning the Bank
for continued success in the future.