Truist exits near-prime auto lending, selling a $5.5B loan book for $5.2B
Under new CEO Mike Lyons, Truist is selling its Regional Acceptance near-prime auto book — $5.2B net proceeds, $535M reserve recapture, $945M new CET1 capital.
What was changed
Truist, the Charlotte-based bank with $556 billion in assets, said on September 15, 2026 that it will exit the near-prime auto lending business, including the sale of a $5.5 billion loan portfolio that makes up nearly all the assets of its subsidiary Regional Acceptance Corp. The deal was set to generate $5.2 billion in net proceeds and a $535 million loan-loss reserve recapture, with the buyer undisclosed.
The exit is the fruit of a broader strategic review. CFO Mike Maguire said new CEO Mike Lyons brought 'a lot of urgency and intensity' and 'a new, fresh, external perspective and an ability to challenge some of the choices, the inertia' to an evaluation that started earlier in the year. The bank had already stopped originating marine and recreational vehicle loans and significantly reduced other 'less strategic and less profitable' originations.
The logic was cold: RAC was 'essentially break-even', a loan-first national business where 'our opportunity to really have a meaningful relationship with these clients beyond that single loan product is extremely limited', Maguire said at a Barclays conference. Executive chair Bill Rogers, the former CEO, framed the bar in July: 'Our focus is on relationship-based things that also clear our profitability hurdles.' The sale strengthens the balance sheet, improves the credit risk profile and is expected to bring modest return on tangible common equity and earnings accretion in 2027.
Why it worked
Near-prime auto loans are single-product relationships that never compound into deposits or broader banking business.
The book was essentially break-even and its performance was deteriorating, so capital trapped there earned nothing strategic.
The review's stated endpoint is doing fewer things that leverage Truist's strengths, funded by core client deposits.
What can be applied
A strategic review only matters if it kills businesses: profitable-but-small units go when they cannot build relationships or clear the return hurdle.
Aftermath
The transaction was expected to close in late Q3 or early Q4 2026; Maguire said the review would likely leave Truist focused on fewer, stronger businesses, growing earning assets in a profitable, strategic way.