CNBC Transcript: Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan Sits Down with CNBC's Kelly Evans Today

By: Jun. 14, 2018
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CNBC Transcript: Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan Sits Down with CNBC's Kelly Evans Today

The following is the unofficial transcript an EXCLUSIVE CNBC interview with Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan on CNBC's "Closing Bell" (M-F 3-5PM) today, Wednesday, June 13th. Video from the interview will be available on CNBC.com later today.

KELLY EVANS: WELCOME BACK. AS EXPECTED THE FINANCIALS GOT A LITTLE POP THE AFTER FEDERAL RESERVE RAISED RATES TODAY. BUT THEN THEY TURNED LOWER AND FINISHED NEGATIVE JUST ABOUT A THIRD OF A PERCENT ON THE CLOSE. JOINING US FOR AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW RIGHT NOW IS BANK OF AMERICA CHAIRMAN AND CEO BRIAN MOYNIHAN. WELCOME, BRIAN.

BRIAN MOYNIHAN: IT'S GREAT TO BE HERE. THANK YOU, KELLY.

EVANS: FIRST QUESTION ON EVERYBODY'S MINDS IS WHEN CAN I GET MORE FOR MY MONEY IN THE BANK? DO YOU GUYS MOVE RIGHT AWAY TO UP THOSE DEPOSIT RATES?

MOYNIHAN: YEAH, WE MOVE AND IT'S A - REALLY A BROAD PROCESS, DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF ACCOUNT, THE MARKETS AND WHAT THE COMPETITION DOES. BUT YOU'LL SEE US MOVE RATES AS WE HAVE IN OTHER RATE HIKE SCENARIOS. BUT THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT A RATE HIKE SCENARIO, IT SHOWS THE ECONOMY IS STILL GOING STRONG. AND THAT IN THE END OF THE DAY IS GOOD FOR BANKING AND GOOD FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.

EVANS: YEAH. STILL IT'S PRETTY LOW, WHAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING FOR THEIR MONEY RIGHT NOW. DO YOU THINK THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE -- WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU CAN GET 2%, YOU KNOW, FOR YOUR MONEY SIX MONTHS ON A CD RIGHT NOW. IS THERE STARTING TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF AN UPWARD BIDDING WAR THERE?

MOYNIHAN: WELL, I THINK IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF OR SO, YOU'VE SEEN AS RATES ROSE, PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED FOR ALTERNATIVES OF HIGHER RATE YIELDING FOR MONEY THAT THEY'RE STORING AND INVESTING AS OPPOSED TO MONEY IN THEIR TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS. AND SO IT REALLY DETERMINES THE TYPE OF CUSTOMER, TYPE OF ACCOUNT, BUT THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE GREAT SERVICES OF WHICH THE RATE AND THE CAPABILITIES BEYOND THAT, WHETHER IT'S DIGITAL CAPABILITIES, MOBILE CAPABILITIES, INVESTMENT CAPABILITIES, INVESTMENT ADVICE IS REALLY THE KEY TO IT. SO WE'VE ENJOYED GOOD SUCCESS AS RATES RISE AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.

EVANS: WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT SOME NEWS THIS MORNING ON VENMO. YOU KNOW, THE BANKS, YOU'RE ALL TRYING TO KILL VENMO. AND E-MARKETER SAYS YOU MIGHT BE WINNING IN THAT REGARD. THEY SAID ZELL, WHICH IS THE PEER-TO-PEER PLATFORM, THEY EXPECT IT TO OVERTAKE VENMO IN TERMS OF U.S. USERS THIS YEAR. WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THIS RAPID GROWTH?

MOYNIHAN: WELL, WE HAD - IT WAS AN INDUSTRY OF VIEW THAT WE HAD TO CREATE A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS TO MOVE MONEY TO EACH OTHER. FRICTIONLESS, EMBEDDED WITHIN OUR APP, WITH OUR SAFETY AND SECURITY DIRECTLY FROM THEIR ACCOUNT. AND ONE OF THE UNIQUE THINGS WE REALIZED IS BETWEEN THE ASSETS WE HAD A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES THAT WE OPERATE AS COOPERATIVES, WE WERE ABLE TO PUT THOSE TOGETHER AND BRING OUT ZELL. AND WHAT ZELL GAVE US IS BECAUSE OF THE INSTANT CONNECTIVITY OF ALL THOSE MEMBERS AND THE WHOLE INDUSTRY WILL HAVE ACCESS TO IT, YOU -- BASICALLY YOU CAN CONNECT ALL THE BANKS THROUGH A CELL PHONE AND E-MAIL AND IT'S VERY SIMPLE AND EASY TO OPERATE. SO WE'RE SEEING 100% PER YEAR GROWTH IN P-TO-P PAYMENT TRANSACTIONS AT BANK OF AMERICA. AND -- OUR PEERS ARE SEEING ALSO GROWTH. AND IT'S JUST ROLLING OUT. SO AS PEOPLE GET MORE AND MORE USED TO IT, IT'S EMBEDDED IN THE APP. WE THINK IT WILL BE A GREAT SERVICE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS GIVE OUR CUSTOMERS THE SAFETY AND SECURITIES OF OUR BANK ACCOUNT STRUCTURE AND THE TRANSFERABILITY TO ANYBODY BY HAVING THOSE TWO PIECES OF INFORMATION.

EVANS: AND I WONDER, IS IT MILLENNIALS WHO ARE LARGELY USING THAT OR IS IT PEOPLE OF ALL AGES? IS THE TAKE UP RATE PRETTY GOOD?

MOYNIHAN: WELL I THINK, I THINK IF YOU THINK ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE ZELL, IT IS ACROSS THE BOARD. AND ALWAYS -- ANY OF THESE DIGITAL PRODUCTS OR MOBILE PRODUCTS OBVIOUSLY HAVE COHORTS OR HIGHER USAGE AMONG YOUNGER PEOPLE. THAT'S JUST THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS. BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT - THINK ABOUT OUR MOBILE BANKING OR OUR DIGITAL BANKING. WE HAVE 35 MILLION DIGITAL CUSTOMERS. 25 MILLION-PLUS MOBILE CUSTOMERS. AND YOU KNOW, WE HAVE 50 MILLION CUSTOMERS. SO WE HAVE PENETRATION RATES WHERE REALLY EVERYBODY IS USING IT. AND WE'RE SEEING ZELL BROADEN OUT. MY FRIENDS HAVE LEARNED HOW TO USE IT AND THEY'RE SENDING MONEY TO USING IT TODAY, AND HOPEFULLY EVERYDAY. AND THAT HELPS. BUT YOU'RE STARTING TO SEE IT ADOPTED AS PEOPLE SEE HOW EASY IT IS. WE DO HAVE A -- AN EFFORT WITH OUR STUDENT ACCOUNTS AND AS WE OPEN ACCOUNTS, WE EMBED IT AS PART OF THE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT PROCESS WITH THOSE NEW KIDS COMING IN TO OPEN THEIR ACCOUNTS TO GO TO COLLEGE OR GO TO HIGH SCHOOL AND MAKE IT PART OF THAT OUTCOME, ALSO.

EVANS: I'M TRYING TO THINK WHAT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE VENMO -- ARE USING ZELL FOR? IS IT -- ARE YOU SPLITTING GOLF FEES? YOU KNOW, PICKING UP LUNCH OR DINNER FOR EACH OTHER? OR, YOU KNOW -- WHAT, YOU KNOW WHAT ARE YOU USING IT?

MOYNIHAN: WELL, IF IT WAS GOLF, IT WOULD BE ME PAYING THEM. SO THAT'D BE CLEAR. SO IT'S - YEAH - JUST WHEN YOU -- THE INTERESTING THING IS, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY OUR GENERATION WAS USED TO USING CHECKS AND SO WHEN YOU HAD SOMETHING THAT SOMEBODY HAD TO REIMBURSE YOU FOR, TICKETS TO A CONCERT OR SOMETHING YOU DID TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, TEACH THEM, JUST SAY SEND IT TO ME THROUGH YOUR BANK TO MY CELL PHONE NUMBER AND IT'S THERE. IT'S WONDERFULLY SIMPLE. AND ONCE THEY DO IT, IT JUST HAS A NETWORK EFFECT, AS THE GURUS WOULD CALL IT. BUT IT REALLY JUST HAS AN EASE OF USE. IT'S TREMENDOUS. BUT IT'S ON THE BACKS OF THOSE 25 MILLION DIGITAL CUSTOMERS AND AND 35 MILLION MOBILE CUSTOMERS. YOU KNOW, HALF OUR MONEY TODAY MOVES DIGITALLY AT BANK OF AMERICA BY CONSUMERS AND THAT'S ALREADY THERE AND WE'RE JUST DRIVING THAT, LARGELY BECAUSE IT'S CUSTOMER CONVENIENCE.

EVANS: WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT THE BIG NEWS OF THE WEEK THAT WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT WITH THIS COMCAST DEAL. BUT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS SAID AT&T CAN GO AHEAD AND BUY TIME WARNER. AND AGAIN -- NOW THAT COMCAST/FOX PURSUIT IS SHOWING JUST HOW MUCH MORE DEAL MAKING MIGHT BE IN THE PIPELINE. YOU GUYS KIND OF RUBBING YOUR HAND AT THAT? YOU THINK IT'S GOING TO LEAD TO A BIG PICKUP IN INVESTMENT BANKING?

MOYNIHAN: YEAH, IT SHOULD. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF DEALS IN THAT - THIS PARTICULAR INDUSTRY, THIS SEGMENT OF INDUSTRIES THAT WE'RE TESTING THE QUESTION OF COMPETITIVE COMBINATIONS. AND THE CLARITY OF THE DECISION YESTERDAY KIND OF ALLOWS A LOT OF IDEAS TO GET TO THE TABLE, AND YOU SEE ONE OF THEM TODAY. AND SO, WE - YOU KNOW OUR BANKERS WILL TELL US A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SORT OF WAITING THERE FOR THE OUTCOME DECISION AND TO MOVE FORWARD. AND IT'LL BE A FUN TIME TO BE AN INVESTMENT BANKER, FRANKLY.

EVANS: YES. I'M SURE THEY'RE EXCITED TO FEEL THE FLOOD GATES ARE OPEN. DO YOU THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE A STRONG PART OF YOUR BUSINESS? WE HAVE THAT, WE HAVE OBVIOUSLY THE TRADING ENVIRONMENT, PEOPLE ARE STILL WATCHING VERY CLOSELY. AND JUST ARE YOU GETTING PRESSURE IN GENERAL TO RAMP UP THE RISK TAKING TO IMPROVE YOUR PROFITABILITY LIKE SOME OTHERS ARE?

MOYNIHAN: WE - YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE TAKE THE RISKS OUR CLIENTS NEED US TO TAKE. AND AS YOU LOOK IN THE FIRST QUARTER, OUR RISK WAS CONSISTENT WITH WHERE IT'S BEEN FOR EIGHT OR TEN YEARS. AND YOU KNOW, WE CONTINUE TO MAKE MORE LOANS SO OBVIOUSLY WE'RE TAKING ON MORE RISKS BY HAVING MORE LOAN OUTSTANDINGS. GROWING LOANS EVERY QUARTER. WE'RE GROWING DEPOSITS. AGAIN, THAT MEANS YOU'RE TAKING ON MORE TRANSACTIONAL AND OPERATIONAL RISKS. AND THEN IN TRADING, YOU KNOW, THE IDEAS THAT TOM MONTAG AND THE TEAM PUT $600 BILLION IN THE BALANCE SHEET IN THE MARKET EVERY DAY TO HELP SUPPORT CAPITAL FORMATION AND CAPABILITIES AND THEY DO A GREAT JOB. AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MANAGE THE RISK BECAUSE REALLY WE FOCUS ON DOING WHAT OUR CLIENTS NEED US TO DO AS INVESTORS OR ISSUERS. AND SO, WE DIDN'T LOSE MONEY ANY TRADING DAY IN THE FIRST QUARTER. AND YOU KNOW, THE BUSINESS CONTINUES TO BE SOLID. BUT WE DON'T PUSH IT JUST TO MAKE MONEY. WE PUSH INVESTMENT BANKING TO REALLY MEET THE MARKETS NEEDS AND NOT GO TOO FAR. IT'S KIND OF THE PHILOSOPHY WE HAVE FOR RESPONSIBLE GROWTH AND THAT'S WORKED WELL FOR US.

EVANS: ALL RIGHT AND ON THAT NOTE, YOU'RE GETTING THE LEGEND AND LEADERSHIP AWARD AT THE YALE CEO SUMMIT TODAY. SO CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

MOYNIHAN: THANK YOU.

EVANS: THAT'S BRIAN MOYNIHAN, THE CEO OF BANK OF AMERICA.



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