Canada’s RBC Plans to Start a Direct-to-Consumer Bank in U.S.

Royal Bank of Canada plans to start a new “direct-to-consumer” business in the U.S. to increase deposits and ultimately broaden out its offerings to a more mainstream clientele.

The expansion is likely to come at the end of 2020 or early next year, and will be focused initially on higher-net-worth customers, Chief Executive Officer David McKay said Friday during the bank’s earnings call.

“The loan book has been growing faster than the deposit book, so growing our deposit strategy has become of paramount importance,” McKay said. “You’ll see us bring in some new capability around that to make sure that ...