PNC Financial Services


PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 21 states and the District of Columbia with 2,459 branches and 9,051 ATMs. The company also provides financial services such as asset management, wealth management, estate planning, loan servicing, and information processing.
PNC is ranked 7th on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets. It is the 5th largest bank by number of branches, 6th largest by deposits, and 4th largest in number of ATMs.
The name "PNC" is derived from the initials of both of the bank's two predecessor companies: Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation, which merged in 1983.

Current operations

Retail banking

PNC Bank offers consumer and business banking services via 2,459 branches in Alabama, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, & Wisconsin.
PNC is one of the largest Small Business Administration lenders.

Virtual Wallet banking product

Virtual Wallet is a combination checking account and savings account accessible via mobile app. It features 3 integrated accounts: a checking account called Spend, an interest-bearing checking account called Reserve, and a savings account called Growth. It was launched in July 2008 and was aimed primarily at the tech-savvy members of Generation Y. In June 2012, the product had 1 million users.

BlackRock

PNC owned 22% of BlackRock, the largest asset management firm in the world by assets under management, until the 2nd week of May 2020 when they sold the entire stake. This ownership interest had a market value of $17.9 billion as of December 31, 2017.

Asset Management Group

PNC Asset Management Group provides Institutional Asset Management and Wealth Management services to high-net-worth individuals and has approximately $282 billion in assets under administration, of which $151 billion is directly under management. PNC Wealth Management is the 16th largest wealth management firm with $48.8 billion in private client assets under management. Hawthorn Family Wealth provides asset management services for family offices with over $20 million in net worth and directly oversaw almost $31 billion as of 2017.

Lending

As of December 31, 2017, PNC had $220 billion in outstanding loans, including $147 billion in commercial loans and $73 billion in consumer loans.

Credit cards

As of December 31, 2017, PNC had $5.3 billion in outstanding credit card loans. In 2016, PNC ranked as the 12th largest credit card issuer, with $33 billion in purchase volume.

PNC Business Credit

Operating out of offices in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, PNC Business Credit provides asset-based lending to private equity firms and middle market companies.

Corporate and Institutional Banking/Harris Williams & Co

PNC operates one of the largest treasury management businesses and the 2nd-largest lead arranger of asset-based loan syndications in the United States. Harris Williams & Co., a subsidiary of the company, is one of the U.S.'s largest mergers and acquisitions advisory firms for middle-market companies.

Residential mortgages

PNC Mortgage is credited with the 1st mortgage in the United States and has offices across the country. The company had $17.212 billion in mortgage loans outstanding as of December 31, 2017.
This is the 2nd mortgage division to be named PNC Mortgage. In 2001, PNC sold the original PNC Mortgage to Washington Mutual due to volatility in the market. In 2005, PNC began outsourcing mortgages to Wells Fargo until the National City deal.

Auto and student loans

As of December 31, 2017, PNC had $12.9 billion in car finance loans and $5 billion in student loans outstanding.

Commercial real estate lending

PNC provides acquisition, development, and permanent financing for commercial and real estate clients including term loans and treasury management and capital markets services.
PNC is ranked 7th on the list of largest direct lenders by National Real Estate Investor, with $16.9 billion in annual real estate lending.

Midland Loan Services

Midland Loan Services, a division of PNC Real Estate, is a third-party provider of service and technology for the commercial real estate finance industry. It specializes in commercial loan and CMBS portfolio servicing. Founded in 1991, its headquarters are in Overland Park, Kansas.
PNC/Midland is ranked by Mortgage Bankers Association as the 2nd largest master and primary servicer of commercial bank and savings institution loans.

History

PNC Financial Services traces its history to the Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Company which was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 10, 1845. Due to the long recovery from the Great Fire of Pittsburgh, PNC was not fully operational until January 28, 1852. It originally opened offices at Liberty Avenue and 12th Street. The bank was renamed The Pittsburgh Trust Company in 1853. In 1858, the company located its corporate offices to the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street in Pittsburgh, where they remain to this day. The bank changed its name to First National Bank of Pittsburgh in 1863 after it became the first bank in the country to apply for a national charter as part of that year's National Banking Act. It received the 48th charter on August 5, 1863, with other later banks receiving charters sooner due to paperwork problems and the fact that the bank was already in business.
In 1946, First National merged with Peoples-Pittsburgh Trust Company, with whom it had worked closely since the 1930s, to form Peoples First National Bank & Trust. In 1959, Peoples First merged with Fidelity Trust Company to form Pittsburgh National Bank. At this time, the bank adopted the first version of its present logo–a stylized triangle representing the Golden Triangle. In 1969, the bank reorganized as a holding company, Pittsburgh National Corporation.
Another branch of the current bank, the Philadelphia-based Provident National Corporation, dates back to 1865.
In 1982, Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation merged into a new entity named PNC Financial Corporation. It was the largest bank merger in American history at the time and created a company with $10.3 billion in assets. Between 1991 and 1996, PNC purchased more than ten smaller banks and financial institutions that broadened its market base from Kentucky to the New York metropolitan area.
In 1998, PNC acquired Hilliard Lyons for $275 million in cash and stock. Hilliard Lyons was sold in 2008.
In 1998, PNC sold its credit card business to Metris and MBNA.
In the year 2000, the company committed to diversifying their service, thus they adopted a new brand image and changed their name to PNC Financial Services Group.
In 2006, PNC got back into the credit card business by marketing and issuing credit cards under the MasterCard brand in partnership with U.S. Bancorp. After the National City merger in 2008, the U.S. Bancorp products were converted to PNC Bank products.

National City acquisition

On October 24, 2008, during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, PNC announced that it would acquire Cleveland-based National City Corp. for $5.2 billion in stock. The announcement came hours after PNC sold preferred stock to the United States Treasury as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program implemented as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The stock issued to the U.S. Treasury was repurchased in 2010.
The deal helped PNC double in size and become the 6th largest bank in the United States by deposit and 5th largest by branches. It also made PNC the largest bank in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky, as well as the second-largest bank in Maryland and Indiana. It also greatly expanded PNC's presence in the Midwest as well as entering the Florida market. National City complemented PNC's presence, as Western Pennsylvania, Cincinnati and Louisville, Kentucky were among the few markets in which both banks had a major presence.
PNC then had its footprint stretch from New York City to St. Louis, Missouri, with branches as far south as Miami and as far north as Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. PNC completed the conversion of the National City branches on June 14, 2010.

Other acquisitions

In 2004, PNC acquired United National Bancorp based in Bridgewater, New Jersey for $321 million in cash and 6.6 million shares of its common stock.
In 2005, PNC acquired Riggs National Corporation of Washington, D. C. Riggs had been fined after aiding Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in money laundering. At one stroke, PNC became one of the largest banks in the Washington metropolitan area.
On March 2, 2007, PNC acquired Maryland-based Mercantile Bankshares, making PNC the 8th largest bank in the United States by deposits. On October 26, 2007, PNC acquired Yardville National Bancorp, a small commercial bank centered in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. On April 4, 2008, PNC acquired Sterling Financial Corporation, a commercial and consumer bank with accounts and branches in central Pennsylvania, northeastern Maryland and Delaware.
On September 15, 2007, PNC Bank acquired Citizens National Bank of Laurel, Maryland.
On August 14, 2009, PNC took over Dwelling House Savings & Loan and its only branch location in Pittsburgh's Hill District after Dwelling House suffered from bank failure and was placed under receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Dwelling House had been known in Pittsburgh to provide low-income African Americans loans that other banks would deny. The branch was closed and accounts were transferred to the existing PNC branch in the Hill District.
In 2011, PNC acquired BankAtlantic's Tampa Bay Area branches.
In December 2011, PNC acquired 27 branches in the northern Atlanta suburbs with $240 million in deposits and $42 million in book value from Flagstar Bank.
In 2012, PNC acquired RBC Bank from Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion. RBC Bank had a 426 branches in southern Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Of these regions, PNC had existing branches only in Florida and the acquisition filled a gap in PNC's market footprint between northern Virginia and central Florida, adding about 900,000 customers and 483 ATM locations. It made PNC the 5th largest bank by branches behind Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, and U.S. Bancorp and the 6th largest by total assets behind the aforementioned four banks and Citibank.

Sale of PNC Global Investment Servicing (2010)

Established in 1973, PNC's Global Investment Servicing subsidiary was the second-largest full-service mutual fund transfer agent in the U.S and the second-largest full-service accounting and administration provider to U.S. mutual funds. With 4,700 employees, GIS operated from the Republic of Ireland, the United States and the Cayman Islands, and Luxembourg. GIS serviced $1.9 trillion in total assets and 58 million shareholder accounts. In 2007, GIS was awarded a license allowing it to expand further into Europe. PNC Global Investment Servicing was known as PFPC until July 2008.
In 2010, PNC sold GIS to The Bank of New York Mellon to repay funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which were used for the National City acquisition.

Construction of The Tower at PNC Plaza

On May 23, 2011, PNC unveiled plans for the Tower at PNC Plaza, a new $400 million headquarters building, originally planned to be 40 stories, to be constructed by the company on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street in Downtown Pittsburgh, catercorner to the former headquarters, One PNC Plaza. The modern, environmentally friendly, 33-floor, building designed by Gensler opened on October 2, 2015. PNC owns the building and occupies all its space, except for street-level storefronts which are leased to retail tenants. It is one of the world's most environmentally friendly skyscrapers. Some of its features include a double glass facade to reduce cooling costs and promote natural airflow into the building, a high-efficiency climate-control system to heat or cool specific zones of the building as needed, and a pair of living rooftops to collect and channel rainwater and reduce heat gain.

Harris Teeter partnership

On July 30, 2012, PNC announced plans to put ATMs in 138 Harris Teeter grocery stores in the Carolinas, plus 53 other stores.

Post-2012

In September 2014, PNC acquired Solebury Capital Group, a capital markets advisory firm, for $50 million.
In April 2017, the company acquired the U.S. equipment finance business of ECN Capital for $1.3 billion.
In November 2017, the company acquired The Trout Group, an investor relations and strategic advisory firm servicing the healthcare industry.
In 2018, the company acquired Fortis Advisors, which provides post-merger shareholder services. The company ranked 165th on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

Legal issues

Overcharging of Black and Hispanic borrowers by National City

In December 2013, the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that they had reached an agreement with National City Bank to resolve allegations that the bank had charged Black and Hispanic borrowers higher prices for mortgages between 2002 and 2008, before the acquisition by PNC. Regulators claimed that National City had violated the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by charging more than 75,000 borrowers higher loan rates based on their race or ethnicity rather than their risk level. National City's lack of pricing guidelines resulted in black borrowers being charged an average of $159 more in extra upfront fees or higher interest than white borrowers. Black borrowers also paid an average of $228 more annually over the life of the loan than white borrowers. Hispanics paid $125 more upfront and $154 more annually than white borrowers. Under the terms of the settlement, PNC was required to pay victims $35 million.

Retailer breach forced PNC to reissue customer cards

In March 2006, PNC and other large banks were forced to reissue hundreds of debit cards to customers after card numbers were disclosed by a breach at an unknown retailer.

Lawsuit from Military Channel

Also in March 2006, PNC Bank was sued by Paul Bariteau, an investor in the Military Channel. Bariteau claimed PNC let the chairman of the Military Channel make unauthorized withdrawals of millions of dollars from the company's account for personal use.

Securities fraud settlement

In June 2003, PNC Bank agreed to pay $115 million to settle federal securities fraud charges after one of its subsidiaries fraudulently transferred $762 million in bad loans and other venture capital investments to an AIG entity in order to conceal them from investors.

Overtime claim by loan officers

In 2017, PNC agreed to pay $16 million to settle claims of overtime wages by loan officers under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

National Prearranged Services Fraud

According to a lawsuit, funds entrusted to National Prearranged Services, a St.Louis-based company that sold prepaid funerals, were diverted and embezzled. PNC Bank is the successor to Allegiant Bank, which served as a trustee for NPS from 1998 to 2004. In 2015, a jury ordered PNC to pay $391 million. In 2017, a federal judge overturned the decision.

Municipal Bonds Disclosure Violations

In 2015, PNC was one of 22 companies that violated disclosure requirements for municipal bonds by failing to divulge that the issuers had filed late financial reports. It was fined $500,000.

Community initiatives

PNC has sponsored several initiatives to improve education, health and human services, cultural activities and the arts. These include "PNC Grow Up Great", a commitment to early childhood development, the "PNC Foundation", and community development investments.
Since 1984, PNC has compiled the Christmas Price Index, a humorous economic indicator which estimates the prices of the items found in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
In 2012, PNC opened the PNC Fairfax Connection, a community center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Controversies

Mountaintop Mining

The Earth Quaker Action Team, led by George Lakey, requested that PNC divest in mountaintop mining projects in March 2010. The Quakers were especially sensitive to PNC's investments, as it was informally referred to as "The Quaker Bank," due to the fact that Provident Life & Trust Company had been founded by Quakers. After the bank ignored their request, EQAT began to protest. On 29 September 2010, EQAT along with some Swarthmore College students, members of the Rainforest Action Network and Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping protested at a PNC bank in Washington, D.C. by building a small mountain made of dirt. Police arrested the leader George Lakey and three others. "In October of 2010, PNC announced that they would stop loaning money to companies that gained over 50% of their coal from mountaintop removal. However, none of the companies with which PNC conducted business produced that much coal via mountaintop removal, and thus the new policy did not represent change. Soon after the bank’s new commitment, PNC gave money to Massey Energy, a company found responsible for poor safety conditions that led to the deaths of thirty-one miners in April 2009. Unsatisfied by PNC’s ineffective policy, EQAT staged another protest on 17 December 2010. Protesters sang Christmas carols while delivering stockings full of coal to a PNC Bank in Media, Pennsylvania."
Students at Temple University and Swarthmore College held sit-ins to protest the bank, and EQAT next protested PNC by conducting Quaker-style worship during a shareholders meeting in D.C. "At the end of the meeting, the activists gave a gift bag to CEO James Rohr with a framed picture of the Appalachian Mountains and a pamphlet about the dangers of mountaintop removal."
Over time, protests became more and more elaborate and creative. September 22, 2011, EQAT charged PNC with "impersonating a green bank" and held a trial in the PNC lobby. Two weeks later, they held a "die-in" alongside activists from Occupy Philadelphia, where protesters acted dead by laying on the floor of a PNC bank. December 6, 2011, police arrested five EQAT members for constructing windmills inside of the downtown PNC bank. In February 2012, EQAT convinced various Quaker groups to withdraw nearly two million dollars invested with PNC, and in April of that year, EQAT along with students from various colleges, protested by dancing to bluegrass music next to the University of Pennsylvania’s PNC campus branch. April 30, 2012, EQAT members began a 200-mile walk from Philadelphia to the PNC Bank headquarters in Pittsburgh. EQAT held a series of protests at PNC branches along the way. In October 2012, activist students began to approach PNC bank managers, asking them to drink well water from affected communities in Appalachia.
On March 14, 2013, EQAT members began a collective 40-day fast, making their fasts public through social media. During the fast, members publicly protested dressed in traditional Quaker costumes when the Philadelphia Chamber of Congress awarding PNC's J. William Mills with the William Penn Award. The fast ended on 23 April with a worship session in the middle of a PNC shareholder meeting. On October 21, 2013, EQAT staged the largest bank branch protest in U.S. history. Activists protested by holding silent worship inside sixteen PNC bank branches, most of which were in Pittsburgh, leading many of the branches to shut down for the day. Seven protesters were arrested by Pittsburgh police after refusing to leave.
By 2014, the movement had spread across the country. Protesters again held Quaker worship inside of the PNC shareholders meeting, despite the fact that the location had been moved to Tampa, Florida. On December 6, 2014, thirty protests were held in branches across twelve states. Finally in February 2015, after five years and 125 separate protests, PNC Bank announced it would officially stop investing in mountaintop removal coal mining.

Notable corporate buildings

PNC owns corporate naming rights to the following:
PNC is a sponsor of: