• PYMNTS reported that Regions CFO Anil Chadha said cybersecurity will lift full-year 2026 adjusted noninterest expense by 1.5% to 3.5%.
• Regions' third-quarter 2026 release shows adjusted noninterest expense of $1,118 million, up 0.2% from the second quarter and 0.6% from the third quarter of 2025.
• Equipment and software expense was $113 million, up 5.6% on the prior quarter and 6.6% on the prior year, which the release ties to software-as-a-service charges for technology and infrastructure investment.
• The release itself contains no full-year 2026 expense guidance, so the 1.5% to 3.5% range rests on PYMNTS' report of the call.
• PYMNTS reported Chadha said the spending is expected to continue and that AI platform traffic is very low and not a meaningful deposit threat today.

Regions Financial told investors on 16 October 2026 that cybersecurity will add between 1.5% and 3.5% to its full-year 2026 adjusted noninterest expense, according to PYMNTS' report of the call by chief financial officer Anil Chadha. The company's filed third-quarter release gives the hard numbers behind the quarter, and they show a bank whose total cost base is rising slowly while technology lines grow faster.

What the guidance says, and where it comes from

The 1.5% to 3.5% range comes from PYMNTS' account of Chadha's remarks on the call. The 8-K earnings release filed with the SEC contains no full-year 2026 noninterest expense outlook, so the range cannot be checked against that document. PYMNTS also reported that Chadha described cyber investment as always critical but more important given AI-related threats, and as meaningful spending that is both new and redirected. Readers needing the exact wording should consult the call transcript.

The reported expense base is rising slowly

Regions' release reports adjusted noninterest expense of $1,118 million for the third quarter of 2026, up $2 million (0.2%) from $1,116 million in the second quarter and up $7 million (0.6%) from $1,111 million in the third quarter of 2025. GAAP noninterest expense was also $1,118 million, down 0.3% on the quarter and up 1.4% on the year. Whatever cybersecurity adds, it sits inside a cost base that moved little this quarter.

Equipment and software is the line that moved

Equipment and software expense was $113 million in the third quarter, up $6 million (5.6%) from the second quarter and up $7 million (6.6%) from the third quarter of 2025, per the release. Regions attributed the increase primarily to software-as-a-service charges tied to ongoing technology and infrastructure investments. PYMNTS described a 6% rise in this line; the release does not break out cybersecurity spending separately, so the share of this increase that is security-related is not disclosed.

A core-platform rebuild runs in parallel

PYMNTS reported that chief executive John Turner, Jr. called a cloud-based deposit platform one of the most significant technology investments in the company's history. By that account the pilot starts within a week or two, expands in the first quarter of 2027, and customer conversion is expected in late second or early third quarter of 2027. These timelines are management statements from the call, and the platform migration will draw on the same technology budget as security.

Management's view of AI and deposits

PYMNTS reported that Chadha said traffic through AI platforms is very low and that Regions does not currently see AI as a meaningful threat to its deposit base, while it continues to monitor the trend. This is management's assessment on one call rather than independent measurement. Within the reporting, AI features chiefly as a driver of security cost, through the threats it enables, rather than as a competitor for customer balances.

What to watch next

Check whether Regions' later filings or the call transcript confirm the 1.5% to 3.5% range and whether the bank ever quantifies cybersecurity spending in dollars, which the release does not. Compare how peer banks describe security costs in their own filings. Track the equipment and software line each quarter, since it is the one visible in the release, and the deposit-platform milestones management set for 2027.