“The recovery’s coming faster than we thought it was going to” is Don McCree’s positive assessment of the post-COVID economic recovery. On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, sponsored by Infinidat, the head of commercial banking at regional bank Citizens discusses how the support provided to businesses combined with pent-up consumer demand has business poised to roar back.

“We’re seeing our pioelines grow, we’re seeing high levels of liquidity in our clients, we’re seeing demand come back in terms of services, we’re seeing a surge in M&A,” says McCree. “It’s quite encouraging from where we sit today.”

McCree discusses two key challenges businesses are facing amid the recovery, including hiring when workers are awash with stimulus money and ongoing pandemic-related supply chain disruptions. He also talks about how Citizens worked with businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, including through the Paycheck Protection Program; M&A trends among businesses; how Citizens is managing credit risk in the recovery phase; and how the bank is adapting its own commercial banking practice in the wake of the pandemic.