The city president of the recently combined Regions and AmSouth Banks of Cullman shared some “good news” with customers and clients this week. “It will be business as usual in Cullman.”

Clayton Ingram says Regions Bank has always prided itself in providing the very best in financial services to both the business and consumer sectors, and with the recent merger he is confident the bank’s ability to serve these sectors will continue to improve.

“I’d first like to say that we are very proud of our associates who have many years of banking experience,” Ingram said. “The word from corporate is we don’t anticipate any job losses here in Cullman as a result of the merger. We currently have 36 associates at the two banks and even if there are duplicate positions resulting from the merger we will make every effort to place associates in other jobs.”

The merger of Regions and AmSouth banks creates a top 10 bank holding company that is headquartered in Birmingham with $142 billion in assets, nearly $100 billion in deposits and nearly 2,000 branches in 16 states across the South, Midwest and Texas. Combined, the two companies employ about 37,000 people.

Retaining the Regions name, company officials have said investors can expect annual savings of $400 million, with much of the money coming from branch closings and as many as 3,600 job losses through layoffs and attrition.

For the foreseeable future, all Regions and AmSouth Bank branches in Cullman will remain open.

“As far as closings go, it’s too early in the process to say whether there will be closings here,” Ingram said. “Whatever the decision, wee will make every effort to ensure that our customers continue to have plenty of convenient locations for all their banking needs.”

One huge advantage for customers, Ingram said, is the fact they now have free access to both Regions and AmSouth ATMs, not just in Cullman, but across the South, Midwest and Texas.

“Regions prides itself on being a good corporate citizen to Cullman and Cullman County,” Ingram said. “This is an exciting time for us and we look forward to many more years of servicing the financial needs of this community.”