Dive Brief:

• U.S. Bancorp's profit jumped 4.9% for the quarter ending Sept. 30, to $1.91 billion from $1.82 billion, according to the bank's quarterly earnings release.

• The Minneapolis-based bank reported $5.92 billion in revenue, up 3.9% from $5.7 billion in last year's comparable quarter.

• Terrance Dolan, the bank's vice chairman and chief financial officer, attributed the bank's "strong quarter" to the growth it saw in its mortgage business. Noninterest income from mortgages totaled $272 million during the quarter, a 56% increase from $174 million a year ago.

Dive Insight:

Mortgage application volume was solid during the quarter, and the bank expects that momentum to continue, Dolan said in an earnings call with analysts.

"It was a very strong quarter from refinancing," he told analysts. "When we end up thinking about the fourth quarter, it's very dependent upon where long-term rates are. With the rates kind of acting or coming up a little bit most recently, it probably will not be as strong. But I think it will still be a good year-over-year story from a mortgage banking perspective."

The bank's strategic investments in loan officers and its digital platform have contributed to the growth of its mortgage arm, Dolan said.

"We've been, over time, making good investments in mortgage loan officers on the retail side of the equation, enhancing that," he said. "The digital platform … has a very high percentage of application capture and that just helps.”

Dolan said the bank's "relatively short" processing times for loan refinancing has helped the bank remain competitive.

"It's all because of those investments," he said.

The bank's loans grew 4% during the quarter to $292.43 billion, while deposits grew 6% to $349.93 billion.