PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens Financial Group (CFG) today announced the naming of Brendan Coughlin as President of its Education Finance business.
In his new role as President of Education Finance, Coughlin is responsible for the portfolio of Citizens Bank and Charter One borrowing and deposit products for college students. The Education Finance group also includes dedicated teams providing customer service and operational support to Education Finance customers and to colleges and universities.
“Brendan is a dynamic leader whose deep understanding of the marketplace for financial services for students will be key as we pursue our goal of expanding our business not only as a preferred lender to students, but a primary bank for students,” said Brad Conner, Vice Chairman, Consumer Banking, Citizens Financial Group. “With the cost of college continuing to increase and the economy continuing to challenge families’ ability to budget for college, we are focused on solutions that can help students pursue their studies and then begin their careers after college on solid financial footing, and Brendan has played a major part in the formation of this strategy.”
In his previous role as the Head of Marketing for CFG’s Consumer Finance Division, Coughlin was responsible for product and marketing strategy for mortgage lending, home equity loans, credit cards, student loans, and auto lending.
In his previous role and now as CFG’s President of Education Finance, Coughlin has directed CFG’s recent efforts to help solve students’ financial challenges by expanding the TruFit Student Loan product offering to include a fixed-rate option. He also has overseen the development of the TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship program offering college scholarships to students who have distinguished themselves through volunteerism and civic leadership in their communities. This program awarded a combined $50,000 to 20 students as they headed back to school from the holiday break in January.
Coughlin came to CFG in 2004 following his work in a variety of product-management roles for Bank of America and FleetBoston Financial. He holds a BS degree from Boston College and an MBA from Babson College. He lives in Watertown, Mass. He has served on a number of boards, including Operation HOPE, an organization supporting financial literacy in the city of Boston.
Learn more about how CFG’s student banking and borrowing products help cover the cost of college through student loans, college scholarship programs or savings accounts, visit http://www.citizensbank.com/student-services/.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc., is a $130 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has more than 1,500 branches, approximately 3,900 ATMs and approximately 19,700 colleagues. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. CFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. CFG is owned by RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). CFG’s website is citizensbank.com.