Valley Bank reports record earnings, adds senior leaders

The basics:

• Valley Bank posts $195.4M net income in Q4 2025, up from $115.7M a year prior
• Three senior leaders appointed: head of partner banking, digital & assisted channels, and customer care & strategy
• Earns third consecutive ‘Outstanding’ CRA rating; $3.5B in community development loans
• Focuses on AI integration, fintech investments, supporting New Jersey startups through Valley Ventures.

The early weeks of 2026 have brought a steady drumbeat of developments at Valley Bank. The activity follows the rollout of a new brand campaign as the organization looks ahead to its 100th anniversary in 2027.

In late January, Valley reported net income of $195.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 — up from $163.4 million in Q3 2025, and significantly higher than Q4 2024’s $115.7 million.

“Valley’s momentum accelerated throughout 2025 and enabled us to deliver strong balance sheet growth, improved profitability, and report record quarterly earnings in the fourth quarter,” said Valley National Bank CEO Ira Robbins. “I am extremely proud of our diverse core deposit and disciplined loan growth, which both supported the meaningful improvement in our net interest margin.

“Ongoing investments in talent, technology and branding are contributing to our strong relationship pipeline and continue to enhance our client experience,” Robbins continued. “In 2026, we anticipate that thoughtful balance sheet growth and consistent core profitability improvement will drive superior performance and create additional value for our shareholders.”

Adding ‘fresh perspectives’

On Feb. 11, Valley announced three new senior leaders:

• Rodrigo Suarez, head of partner banking
• Stephen Schroth, head of digital & assisted channels
• Ed Montesdeoca, senior vice president, Customer Care & Strategy

The bank says the appointments underscore its continued investment in innovation, customer experience and digital transformation.

“Rodrigo brings a rare combination of strategic vision, operational rigor, and deep expertise in partner banking and embedded finance,” said Russell Barrett, senior executive vice president and COO, Valley. “As we continue to evolve our business model, his leadership will help us scale thoughtfully, strengthen our platform, and create sustainable, long-term value for Valley and our partners.”

“Stephen and Ed bring deep expertise, fresh perspectives, and a strong track record of execution,” said Patrick Smith, senior executive vice president and president of consumer banking at Valley. “Their leadership will help us elevate how we serve our customers, strengthen our capabilities across digital and service channels, and continue delivering on Valley’s promise of relationship banking.”

Also last month, Valley released results from its second annual Middle-Market C&I Survey, which NJBIZ reported on.

And on Feb. 25, Valley received its third consecutive “Outstanding” rating from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on its most recent Community Reinvestment Act exam. The latest CRA evaluation covers the 2022–2024 period.

CRA highlights include:

• $3.5 billion in community development loans to support affordable housing, economic development, community services, and the revitalization and stabilization of communities
• Investments of more than $750 million to support community development efforts, including nearly $300 million in New Markets Tax Credits
• Originating 950-plus Community mortgages, totaling $355 million, supporting first‑time low-and-moderate income homebuyers and home purchases in LMI communities
• Over 23,000 volunteer hours by Valley associates in support of organizations serving LMI individuals, communities and small businesses

Valley Chief Corporate Social Responsibility – CRA Officer Bernadette Mueller said the bank was honored to receive the CRA rating. “This recognition reflects Valley’s unwavering commitment to expanding access to capital, supporting affordable housing, strengthening small businesses, and partnering with nonprofit organizations to foster meaningful and sustainable community growth and local impact.

“Community reinvestment is core to who we are as a financial institution,” she said.

“At Valley, we are Relationship Bankers, our commitment to clients and communities is built on trust, long-term partnership, and meaningful impact,” said Robbins. “Earning the OCC’s highest CRA rating underscores the strength of our culture, the dedication of our associates, and nearly a century of doing business the right way by helping the communities we serve thrive.”

Closer relationships, regional scale

These developments build on the themes laid out in NJBIZ’s February 2026 profile on Valley. The bank is reinforcing its push to “own the middle” by pairing relationship-driven service with regional scale.

During NJBIZ’s recent interview, Valley leaders addressed the bank’s approach to artificial intelligence.

President of Commercial Banking Gino Martocci noted Robbins is a big proponent of AI. If you’re not on the boat with understanding the rapidly expanding technology, you’ll be passed by, he said.

“He is very much leaned into positioning Valley to first understand and use appropriately AI as a tool to become more efficient, to understand our clients better, to understand tendencies within the organization,” Martocci told NJBIZ. “As part of our goals for 2026 at Valley, all of the executives have AI-related goals, developing use cases. And then we will begin implementation of a number of things.”

“We as an organization are structuring ourselves to be well-equipped for the AI-era – already implementing AI technology,” said Shelly Arden, head of marketing strategy. “We do have a full innovation arm within the organization that the objective is to find the right technologies, to make the due diligence, to integrate within the organization.

“So, we have an infrastructure to evaluate and then implement AI within Valley. And from a data standpoint, we are well-equipped to observe new technologies.”

Valley Ventures into startup support

Another area of focus for Valley is in the startup space. NJBIZ reports on the topic regularly as New Jersey grows its innovation ecosystem. The bank’s venture capital arm, Valley Ventures, combines the capabilities of a $60-plus billion full-service bank with the approach of a growth-stage VC investor.

The firm focuses on fintech and proptech companies, particularly at the Series A and Series B stages. It looks for businesses generating at least $5 million in annual recurring revenue.

“As the largest bank headquartered in New Jersey, we think it’s our job to really be an advocate for New Jersey and New Jersey business. And how can we partner with business owners to help them achieve their goals and aspiration,” said Curt Lang, chief banking officer for New Jersey. “How can we help these nascent companies develop and grow within New Jersey?

“And we partner with them and help them develop that long-term. And then we’re adding to the economy in New Jersey.”

As the largest bank headquartered in New Jersey, we think it’s our job to really be an advocate for New Jersey and New Jersey business.
– Curt Lang, chief banking officer for New Jersey

“I think everyone’s goal is to create a robust innovation and technology-enabled self-reinforcing space within their economies,” said Martocci. “The more companies you have that are leaning toward technology, leaning in, building out new ideas, new software, new hardware.

“We saw it in Boston. We saw it in New York. Obviously seen it in Silicon Valley. The more you have that – the more you get that. And it’s usually reinforcing. So, I think anything that can encourage that sort of virtuous cycle of innovation and growth in technology and talent is what we need to do to help New Jersey and the Northeast, frankly, grow and continue to be drivers of the economy.”

Community fixture

In 2023, Valley opened its Morristown headquarters in the heart of the city. The move cemented its long-term investment in New Jersey. It also provided employees – as well as clients – with a thoughtfully designed, amenity-rich environment.

The Speedwell Avenue space includes open collaboration hubs, enhanced sustainability features and Ethan & The Bean, a socially conscious café supporting inclusive employment.

“It fits into the community really well. It’s a nice place to work,” said Martocci, who joined Valley last March. “It’s really functional – and I think it shows our commitment to New Jersey by building brand-new headquarters in Morristown.”

Lang noted how people want to be there.

“They’re coming into the office because it is a vibrant building and a fun place to be,” said Lang, who joined Valley in November.

Because of that, he said Valley has not struggled to get people back into the office. Instead, employees have returned naturally — and it’s creating organic collisions, dialogue, learning, mentorship and idea generation.

“It’s really vibrant,” said Lang. “It sounds cliché – people are happy to be here. We want to be together and work together and collaborate.”

He believes that energy and culture is ultimately felt by Valley’s clients.

With a century on the horizon, Valley Bank enters 2026 building on early momentum, advancing innovation and strengthening communities, positioning itself for continued growth and long-term impact.