The PNC Financial Services Group History: Founding, Timeline, and Milestones - Zippia (2024)

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.

In 1922, the Provident Life and Trust Company split into two independent entities: Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company and Provident Trust Company.

In 1946, First National of Pittsburgh and Peoples-Pittsburgh banks joined to form Peoples First National Bank and Trust Co.

The latter company combined with Provident Tradesmens Bank and Trust Company to create Provident National Bank in 1957.

In 1959, Peoples First merged with Fidelity Trust Company to form Pittsburgh National Bank.

After more than a century of banking and a series of name changes and acquisitions, it became the Provident National Bank in 1964.

In 1969, the bank reorganized as a holding company, Pittsburgh National Corporation.

GIS, established in 1973 and with 4,700 employees, 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 United States mutual funds.

In 1982, Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation merged into a new entity named PNC Financial Corporation.

PNC Bank Corp.'s immediate forerunner was PNC Financial Corporation, formed in 1983 from the merger of two Pennsylvania banking concerns, the Pittsburgh National Corporation and the Provident National Corporation.

In 1984, PNC acquired the Marine Bank of Erie, Pennsylvania.

In 1985, Thomas H. O'Brien replaced the retiring Merle Gilliand as CEO at PNC. At 48, O'Brien was the youngest CEO of any major United States bank.

In 1986, the Hershey Bank joined the group.

A series of mergers with local banks followed and, in 1986, PNC took the major step of merging with an out-of-state bank, Citizens Fidelity Corporation of Louisville, Kentucky.

With its network spread throughout Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and Delaware, PNC was the premier super-regional in the United States by 1987 and had become the nation's twelfth largest banking group.

In 1988, PNC acquired the Central Bancorp of Cincinnati and the First Bank and Trust of Mechanicsburg.

In 1990, PNC made the strategic decision to move from separate technology platforms, operated by each individual bank, to a single common platform.

In 1991, PNC went through a restructuring program that reflected PNC’s desire to diversify its holdings.

Another series of acquisitions began in 1991, when PNC purchased First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Pittsburgh.

In 1992, all of PNC’s affiliated companies and banks took on the name PNC Bank; the following year PNC Financial Corp., became PNC Bank Corporation.

PNC Financial Corporation itself changed its name to PNC Bank Corp. in early 1993.

In 1993, PNC acquired the Massachusetts Company to boost its financial services offerings.

As a prelude, in 1993 PNC purchased First Eastern Corp. of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for $330 million, solidifying its holdings in northeastern Pennsylvania.

In 1994, a third major nonbank acquisition bolstered the bank's asset management area.

Early in 1995, PNC purchased 84 branches in southern and central New Jersey from Chemical Banking Corp. for $504 million.

During 1996, its customers had purchased $5.6 billion in mortgages.

A 1997 American Banker article reported that "banks have failed at cross-selling in the past because they embraced mass marketing, instead of a targeted approach, and did not follow up." PNC however, felt that its mortgage business was well positioned to excel at this new approach.

Through this unit, PNC put plans in motion in 1997 to expand its product offerings.

In 1997, it closed nine branches and the following year sold 16 Western Pennsylvania-based branches to First Western Bancorp Inc.

In 1998, PNC acquired Hilliard Lyons for $275 million in cash and stock.

PNC also spun off 30 percent of its BlackRock subsidiary in 1999 at $14 per share.

In 1999, PNC's steady transformation into a diversified company with national reach was further strengthened with the acquisition of First Data Investor Services Group (ISG), a leading provider of services to mutual funds and other investment vehicles.

The company then made a $1.1 billion purchase of First Data Investor Services Group, a mutual funds and retirement plans services provider. Its restructuring efforts appeared to pay off, and in 1999 the company secured $1.3 billion in profits, a 13 percent increase over the previous year.

According to Forbes, it is considered one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world.

As such, PNC eyed the expansion of its consumer mortgage business as a potentially lucrative avenue. Its efforts proved fruitless, however, and PNC sold its consumer mortgage business in 2000 to Washington Mutual Home Loans Inc.

PNC also came under fire during 2002 as the Federal Reserve Board and the Securities Exchange Commission announced that it was investigating PNC's accounting practices.

In 2003, PNC acquired United National Bancorp.

In August 2006, PNC got back into the credit card business by marketing and issuing credit cards under the MasterCard brand in partnership with United States Bancorp.

In 2006, BlackRock Financial Management acquired Merrill Lynch's investment management business creating one of the top 10 investment management companies in the world with assets under management more than $1 trillion.

GIS serviced $1.9 trillion in total assets and 58 million shareholder accounts. It was known as PFPC until July 2008.

After the National City merger in 2008, the United States Bancorp products were converted to PNC Bank products.

In July 2010, PNC sold its Global Investment Servicing (GIS) subsidiary to The Bank of New York Mellon to repay funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which were used for the National City acquisition.

The stock issued to the United States Treasury was repurchased in 2010.

It was first announced in 2011.

In 2012, PNC acquired RBC Bank from Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion.

On October 2, 2015, the Tower at PNC Plaza, the bank's new headquarters on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street in Downtown Pittsburgh opened.

The company ranked 165th on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

In 2018, the company acquired Fortis Advisors, which provides post-merger shareholder services.

In 2018, PNC began opening "Solution Centers", a hybrid between traditional bank branches and ATM-only services, mostly serving new markets.

In August 2019, PNC launched a Fintech incubator subsidiary called "numo" that functions as an internal startup.

On November 16, 2020, PNC agreed to acquire BBVA USA for $11.6 billion in cash.

The acquisition was completed on June 1, 2021.

Pittsburgh, PA