PNC Financial Services Group, one of the fastest-growing banks in the United States, has increased its target for branch openings to more than 300 by 2030, increasing its total branch investment to about $2 billion.
It comes as PNC has been pulling back significantly in its home state of Pennsylvania, while aggressively expanding in Sun Belt markets, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data shows. The company has also been closing more branches than it's opened.
Some of the largest U.S. banks are rapidly expanding their retail presence by opening new branches. Despite the rise of online banking, these locations are seen as one of the best ways to add deposits, a low-cost source of funds for making loans. Like PNC, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Fifth Third Bank are all opening hundreds of new branches nationwide.
"The build-out of these 300 new branches allows us to deliver our unique blend of hospitality and financial advice to more clients in more neighborhoods across the country," Alex Overstrom, head of retail banking at PNC, said in a statement.
Still, based on FDIC data covering 2,641 branch changes in the past 12 months, the number of banks in the United States is shrinking. There have been 1,593 total bank branch closings and 1,048 openings, showing a net reduction of 545 branches.
FDIC's data reveals a geographic shift in retail banking, with traditional markets in the Northeast and Midwest losing branches, while Sun Belt states, particularly Florida, Georgia, Texas and the Carolinas, are gaining.
PNC has been following that blueprint. In September, PNC said it would acquire FirstBank in a deal expected to make it the largest bank in greater Denver with almost 100 new retail locations.
Overall, PNC has seen a net contraction of 11 branches over the past 12 months, FDIC data shows. The bank has experienced new branch growth in Texas, Florida, Colorado and Georgia, while contracting in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia.
“Today we have approximately 2,200 branch locations,” a spokesperson for PNC told CoStar News in an email. “We are constantly evaluating our branch network and can’t project an exact number of branches in the future.”
PNC is planning about 35 new Nashville, Tennessee, branches, building on its 2018 market entry.
The bank also plans to add 40 branches across six Southeastern cities: Fort Myers, Lakeland and Sarasota in Florida, and Asheville, Winston-Salem and Wilmington in North Carolina.
Chicago would see about 25 more branches, expanding PNC's network beyond its current 113 locations in that market.