Business

PNC closing 52 more branches in biggest mass pruning so far in 2020

PITTSBURGH — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. put another 52 branches on the chopping block, including eight in the Pittsburgh metro, in its biggest mass cut so far this year.

Pittsburgh’s largest bank filed the applications with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 17, according to just posted data by the regulator. That was two days after PNC (NYSE:PNC) released second-quarter earnings and Bill Demchak, chairman, president and CEO, told financial analysts that it had “additional thoughts” about keeping some branches closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic permanently shuttered as consumer preferences for digital transactions has accelerated.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to provide the best possible service, we constantly evaluate our branches — together with our other available channels of banking – to ensure that they are most effectively meeting our customers’ needs,” Marcey Zwiebel, PNC senior vice president and director of corporate public relations, said via email on Thursday. “There are many options for banking with PNC via online, mobile, ATM, phone, etc., and we have continued to see our customers taking advantage of the investments we have made in these channels and altering the ways in which they have been banking with us.”

Read more in the Pittsburgh Business Times.