Everyone wants wants to launch a digital bank these days it seems Over the past year US Bancorp has talked up its plans to expand its retail division on a national scale offering digital accounts to customers outside its brick-and-mortar branch network But as other big banks including JPMorgan Chase Citigroup and PNC Financial Services Group make similar moves the Minneapolis company faces the challenge of distinguishing itself in an increasingly crowded field During a conference call Wednesday analysts pressed US Bancorp executives for information on their national ambitions Rather than compete on price or target a particular customer segment the company plans to market its digital banking services to people who already have an account through one of its national lending businesses such as a credit card or mortgage I think if you go into a market without a customer base and you either compete on price or product you could get a negative selection Andy Cecere the chairman and CEO said during the call Cecere added that the 462 billion-asset company has not lost customers to its competitors that have expanded into its key regional markets In Minneapolis in our core markets we have not seen movement or lost customer base either on the wholesale or on the consumer side of these new entrants Cecere said Bank of America has expanded into the Twin Cities opening just a handful of branches and emphasizing its digital capability Additionally JPMorgan piloted a mobile app for millennials in St Louis a key retail market for US Bancorp and last month expanded it on a national scale The focus on expanding digitally into new retail markets comes as the competition for consumer deposits intensifies PNC said during its earnings call last week that it has begun marketing its digital bank which will roll out in multiple markets later in the year Citizens Financial also launched a digital platform known as Citizens Access aimed at attracting deposits by offering higher rates US Bancorp meanwhile plans to play up its strong reputation in its pitch to prospective depositors When we do customer focus groups and surveys we know that they like us Chief Financial Officer Terry Dolan said during an interview following the quarterly call The goal is to be able to expand our relationship with them and become more central to their lives US Bancorp also expects its mobile technology to set it apart Dolan pointed to the companys use of geolocation to protect customers from fraudulent charges Additionally it plans to incorporate what Dolan described as clairvoyant alerts to help customers avoid overdraft fees and other service charges Those are things that customers find invaluable Dolan said Whether it is enough to give US Bancorp a competitive edge remains to be seen The company has begun testing its digital-only banking product with its employees and expects to begin marketing on a larger scale later this year according to Dolan US Bancorp currently has branches in 25 states extending from the Midwest to the West Coast Rather than entering the remaining 25 states all at once the company will likely target a handful of new markets with the goal of gaining a better understanding of what exactly customers want While you can enter all the states were going to focus on a few and were going to continue to test and learn and try different things Cecere said during the call