Richard Davis: Leading U.S. Bancrop

Richard Davis was a child star who appeared in a production of Wizard of Oz. He career though would eventually be in the financial sector He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from California State University and completed Banking School Programs at the University of Washington and Cornell University.

He began his banking career as a teller when he was eighteen years old. Richard joined Star Banc Corporation in 1993 as Executive Vice President for Consumer Banking.  In 1998, he oversaw the merger of Star Banc Corporation with Firstar Corporation. The following year Richard oversaw the merger of Firstar with Mercantile Corporation. In 2001 he was integral in the merger of Firstar and U.S. Bancorp.

Richard was the Chief Operating Office of U.S. Bancorp from October 2004 to December 2006. He has been the President since October 2004 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in December 2006. Richard became Chairman of the board in 2007.

U.S. Bancorp has been known for its conservative approach. When Richard took the helm he took a more offensive approach solidifying the Minneapolis-based company’s presence in California, Chicago and other markets by engaging in deals to build out its branch networks. The bank launched a municipal underwriting group as part of its corporate banking expansion, attracted commercial banking talent and introduced products stemming from investments in mobile banking and remote deposit capture technology.

Richard has managed to take an offensive approach while maintaining a conservative credit culture and efficient operating model that U.S. Bancorp is known for. Since 2007 the bank has made acquisitions across consumer banking, wholesale banking, trust and payment businesses. It has upgraded its call centers, mortgage origination systems, Internet banking capabilities and branch hardware and software.

He previously served on the Board of Directors of Visa Inc. He serves as Chairman of the Finance Services Roundtable, as a Director of the Clearing House and American Bankers Association and is a member of the International Monetary Conference.