At BankUnited we pride ourselves on strong relationships with our customers, our team members, our shareholders and the communities where we live and work. We are committed to doing what is right and will invest our resources in activities that seek to make a positive impact for all stakeholders.
Our Vision
To be the leading regional commercial and small business bank, with a distinctive value proposition based on strong service-oriented relationships, robust digital-enabled customer experiences, and operational excellence with an entrepreneurial work environment that empowers employees to deliver their best.
Our Core Principles
Our core principles come to life through the dedicated efforts of each of our team members who aim to “GO FOR MORE™” — by being inclusive, respectful, and empowering. Through the regular application of these eight core principles, we continue to uphold our reputation as a company that provides value to our stakeholders.
- Innovation and the continuous improvement mindset
- Customer first culture
- Inclusive community of advocacy, respect and equality
- Intellectual honesty in our decision-making process
- Transparency and accountability
- Bias towards action
- Integrity
- Long-term value creation for all stakeholders
Engagement with Key Stakeholders
| Stakeholder | How we Engage |
|---|---|
| Shareholders | We regularly have discussions with our shareholders, potential shareholders and investment analysts. We participate in industry and investor conferences. Investors are also provided information on the Company’s Investor Relations website: https://ir.bankunited.com. |
| Team Members | We keep our team members informed and involved through a number of communication and engagement programs including surveys, focus groups, mentoring programs, newsletters, town hall meetings, and video update calls with our CEO. |
| Communities | BankUnited and our team members help to meet the needs of our communities through lending, including affordable housing and small business lending products and programs, volunteer and community education programs and financial grants and contributions to community and non-profit organizations across our footprint. |
| Customers | We engage with our customers through multiple channels, our relationship banking based business model, business and community events, financial education programs, our mobile app, website and social media. |
| Regulators | We have a regular, ongoing dialogue and routine meetings with our regulators. Management and the Board of Directors also engage with regulators through their ongoing supervisory activities. |
| Suppliers | We seek to build collaborative relationships with our significant suppliers with clearly understood responsibilities and expectations. We have a robust third-party risk management function. |
| Peers | We participate with our peers in industry groups, conferences and roundtables. |
At BankUnited, we give back to the communities in which we live and work because we believe vibrant communities sustain our neighborhoods and are the foundation of successful businesses. We are proud of the impact we have made in our geographic footprint through our commitment to our customers, shareholders, employees, and the communities we serve.
In 2024, our employees reported a total of 4,112 volunteer hours and the bank provided $3.1 million in grants, sponsorships and contributions to over 200 community and not-for- profit organizations.
More information on these initiatives can be found in our Social Impact Report.
Digital
We continue to invest in our digital platforms to enhance the banking experiences of our consumer and small business customers. Our digital banking app allows our customers to safely manage their accounts from anywhere at any time. Customers can check account balances, pay bills, transfer funds, pay friends and family and set up account alerts.
Small Business Lending
We are committed to supporting the growth and development of small businesses in our markets. We offer a variety of small business loan and deposit products. As a U.S. Small Business Administration Preferred Lender, we offer our clients several types of SBA loans, including 7(a), Express and 504 loans.
Building Partnerships with Diverse Suppliers
Partnerships with our key suppliers are integral to providing high quality banking services. Strong supplier partnerships help elevate our brand and strengthen our competitive position.
Managing our Supplier Relationships
We have a robust third-party risk management function that ensures proper management of the risks attendant to reliance on third parties in providing banking services and adherence to applicable regulatory requirements. Our third-party risk management framework encompasses initial and ongoing supplier due diligence, contract lifecycle management and performance monitoring.
Vendor/Supplier Code of Conduct
As part of our commitment to partnering with innovative third-party suppliers, BankUnited places the utmost emphasis on the ethical behavior of the suppliers we contract with. In keeping with the high standards we hold ourselves to, we’ve developed the BankUnited Vendor Code of Conduct that outlines the expectations of our significant third-party suppliers.
We recognize that BankUnited operates in and has exposure to coastal areas of the country that may be more exposed to particular aspects of physical climate risk, such as those related to severe weather events. We strive to incorporate consideration of these risks in our business decisions as applicable. We continue to monitor the evolution of regulatory developments with respect to enhanced disclosures related to climate risks and are prepared to comply with any required disclosures.
Our Business Continuity Management (BCM) department actively monitors severe weather events that may impact the Company's customers, locations or operations including hurricanes, winter storms, flooding and fire. Given our presence in Florida, during hurricane season BCM continuously monitors and tracks storm activity and forecasted paths. The Company has a comprehensive Hurricane Response Plan that outlines measures to be taken before, during and after a storm strikes, including customer outreach, communication plans, evacuation and employee safety, safeguarding real estate assets, activation of a command center, the relocation of staff responsible for critical business processes if necessary and post storm impact assessments on both the Company and its customers. This plan has been tested under both simulated and actual conditions. BCM also assesses the resilience of our significant third-party service providers with respect to their ability to respond to service disruptions or degradations resulting from severe weather events. We have migrated our disaster recovery technology infrastructure as well as most of the technology infrastructure supporting daily operations to the cloud to minimize the impact of physical damage to our facilities on our ability to continue uninterrupted operations. Our credit underwriting standards also consider weather event related risks, including risks related to the cost and availability to our borrowers of property and casualty insurance.
Environmental Sustainability Investments and Lending
We view providing financing that promotes sustainable and environmentally friendly practices as prudent and desirable. We have a dedicated sustainability finance practice in our corporate banking division charged with identifying and furthering these opportunities.
At December 31, 2024, our loan portfolio contained $857 million of loans in categories such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, sustainable water, water and waste management, environmental remediation, carbon capture, climate change adaptation, emissions and greenhouse gas reduction, fleet transformation and the financing of energy efficient or LEED certified properties. Our securities portfolio currently contains approximately $295 million in bonds designated by the issuer as green, social or sustainability bonds.