Regional lender’s Columbia Bank brand debuts in Greater Palm Springs; systems conversion slated for early 2026
The desert banking landscape is getting a high-profile change. Columbia Bank has finalized its acquisition of Pacific Premier Bank. It is rolling out the Columbia brand across the Greater Palm Springs, including three former Pacific Premier branches and offices in Palm Springs, Palm Desert–El Paseo, and Palm Desert at Fred Waring Drive/Washington Street. The change marks the arrival of a completely new retail brand on some of the valley’s most visible corners.
The companies formally closed the transaction on Sept. 2, a move Columbia says advances its Southern California strategy and cements its standing as a leading Western regional bank. At closing, the combined company reported roughly $70 billion in assets, operating more than 350 locations across eight Western states, with systems integration expected in the first quarter of 2026.
“Today marks an exciting milestone for our company,” Columbia Bank President and CEO Clint Stein said, adding that the acquisition “significantly accelerates our expansion” and will be integrated “under the unified Columbia family of brands.”
A new name on familiar branches
The valley’s signage shift is part of a larger brand unification: Columbia completed its transition to the Columbia Bank name on Sept. 1, retiring the Umpqua Bank brand to “ensure brand clarity” across its businesses, which include Columbia Wealth Management, Columbia Trust Company, Columbia Private Bank and Columbia Wealth Advisors.
For local customers, day-to-day banking will remain steady throughout the conversion period. Columbia has told former Pacific Premier clients to keep using their current checks, cards, and online banking; accounts will migrate to Columbia’s systems in January 2026. Until then, customers should continue to access online and mobile banking via Pacific Premier’s platforms. Columbia also highlighted immediate conveniences, including fee-free use of Columbia ATMs and access to a multistate branch network.
Stein framed the message simply: customers can “continue to bank as you always have” while the companies prepare for conversion in January.
Why Columbia bought Pacific Premier
Columbia’s rationale centers on scale, product breadth, and market position in the West. The deal vaults Columbia to a top 10 California deposit share and “accelerates [its] expansion in Southern California by approximately a decade.” It also brings Pacific Premier’s national niches, such as HOA banking and custodial trust, under Columbia’s umbrella, while expanding treasury management and wealth offerings available to Pacific Premier clients.
On the numbers, Columbia projects mid-teens earnings accretion with cost synergies, stable capital ratios at closing, and top-quartile profitability metrics in 2026, including a 20% return on average tangible common equity and 1.4% return on average assets, assuming fully phased-in cost savings.
Pacific Premier Chairman and CEO Steve Gardner called the tie-up a cultural and strategic fit: “We have worked tirelessly for more than two decades to build a strong franchise…[and] are thrilled to have the opportunity to join Columbia, a company whose culture, business model, and credit discipline align with our own.”
What’s changing, and what isn’t at this point
- Brand and signage: All three former Pacific Premier branches in Greater Palm Springs will operate as Columbia Bank. The rebrand coincides with Columbia’s broader name change completed Sept. 1.
- Banking access: Customers continue using Pacific Premier apps and online banking until accounts are moved in January 2026; existing cards and checks remain valid.
- Timeline: Columbia expects systems integration in early 2026; the customer conversion is targeted for January.
Leadership, governance, and footprint
With the closing, three Pacific Premier directors joined Columbia’s board, including Gardner as a non-executive director; Tom Rice, Pacific Premier’s former CIO, became Columbia Bank’s CIO. Columbia’s post-deal footprint stretches across Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho.
Terms of the transaction
Each Pacific Premier share was converted into 0.9150 shares of Columbia common stock at the effective time of August 31, 2025, leaving former Pacific Premier stockholders with approximately 30% of the combined company. The deal was valued at roughly $2.0 billion based on Columbia’s closing price of $2.2 billion on April 22, 2025.
Who Columbia is
Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, Columbia is the largest bank based in the Pacific Northwest and among the largest in the West, offering retail and commercial banking, SBA lending, corporate banking, equipment leasing, and wealth and private banking services.
The local bottom line
The new Columbia signs going up in Palm Springs and Palm Desert aren’t cosmetic. They signal the entrance of a larger Western regional player with deeper product capabilities and a broader branch and ATM network – changes that will be visible on Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs, as well as on El Paseo, and Fred Waring at Washington in Palm Desert, long before the back-end systems are implemented early next year. For now, customers can expect business as usual while a new name takes root across the desert.
