Photography by Olivia Ross / Jason Allen is the new market president of Regions Bank in Chattanooga.Jason Allen says he has always been a numbers-oriented guy and studied engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for three years until his girlfriend at the time, now his wife, convinced him that the world of finance was more interesting.
"It prolonged my studies at UTC, but I'm really lucky I made the change and got into banking, because I really love it," Allen says.
He joined Regions in 2007 as a leadership development associate, starting as a teller at an East Ridge branch. After serving in various consumer banking, credit underwriting, and government and institutional banking roles across several markets, Allen now leads the commercial banking team for Southeast Tennessee.
In December 2022, the 40-year-old banker was named to head Regions' banking operations in Chattanooga as the local market president. Allen fills the vacancy created when Michael Mathis, Regions' former market president, joined Pinnacle Bank.
Allen says he has stayed with Regions because of the bank's culture and community involvement. He is a volunteer for Tennessee Achieves, a nonprofit organization that works to increase higher education opportunities for high school students through scholarships and mentors.
"Based on my own experiences growing up, I know young people need guidance before taking the next crucial step in their lives," he says. "The more of us who commit to being that sounding board for them, the more positive impacts we can all have on their futures."
Regions Bank, which merged with the former AmSouth Bank in 2006 to enter the Chattanooga market, is now the third biggest bank in metropolitan Chattanooga with 18 offices and $1.8 billion in local bank deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deposit share reports.
"Our teams have the deep local connections of a community bank, with a platform and industry expertise that rivals any bank in the nation," Allen says.
"We've invested a lot to put the power and resources of our bank in the palm of their hands and that's important to a lot of people, but that supplements personal relationship which is what our business model is built upon. We don't believe that anything can replace a good face-to-face conversation."