Case Study: Zions Bancorporation achieves regulatory compliance and streamlined incentive payments with Varicent ICM

How Zions Bancorporation Keeps Their Incentive Payments Compliant with Varicent ICM

Zions Bancorporation (Zions First National Bank), an established regional bank with 122 full‑service centers across Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, needed a better way to manage incentive compensation after post‑2008 regulatory guidance tightened compliance requirements. Their Finance and HR teams relied on disconnected Excel sheets, email and manual payroll uploads, which led to errors, rework and a lack of reliable audit trails needed to demonstrate who submitted and approved payments and when payroll processed them.

In 2008 Zions implemented Varicent Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) to centralize approvals, automate payroll handoffs and produce auditable, real‑time reports. The solution standardized processes, improved cross‑team collaboration and gave leadership reliable data for forecasting and decision‑making — keeping regulators satisfied, reducing manual work and enabling the bank to scale its compensation program over time.

Zions Bancorporation

Janet Ogden

Business Analyst