“One, I do expect to see continued growth in NII as we go into 2026 at this point.”

In context

“investing in the businesses. At the same time, we've been keeping the expense base at a low and very disciplined level. That's a discipline you can expect to see us continuing. Operator: Your next question will come from Jim Mitchell with Seaport Global. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Jim Mitchell: Hey, good morning. Mark, maybe just a question on NII. I think based on the guidance for this year, it seems like you're flat to up in the fourth quarter. As you guys have pointed out in your Qs, you have limited sensitivity to U.S. Dollars. So is 4Q a decent jumping-off point for next year? Can you grow from that level? How should we think about the puts and takes around asset repricing and balance sheet growth and headwinds from rates? Mark Mason: Yes. What I'd say is a couple of things. One, I do expect to see continued growth in NII as we go into 2026 at this point. We're obviously putting together our operating budgets now, but I do anticipate continued growth. I think there are a couple of drivers, many of which have played out through most of the year here. One is, I expect that we'll see continued growth in deposits. Operating deposits, deposits on our retail banking side, both of which have shown up quite healthily in the quarter. I expect that to continue. I expect to see continued loan momentum, particularly on the branded card side, but also in the trade lending activity, which also showed up very nicely this quarter. I'd expect that the investment portfolio that you've heard me talk about before will continue to roll off and mature, and we'll be able to deploy that yet still at higher rates in cash and other securities as we go through 2026.”