Rendering submitted to the city of Boston of a proposed PNC Bank branch at 729 Boylston St., Boston. Image courtesy of GDP Group.
PNC Bank plans to open its first Boston-area branches this fall, following through on its expansion even as the coronavirus pandemic has upended how banks operate.
“We are continuing to grow in Boston,” said Jon Bernstein, PNC Bank’s Greater Boston regional president.
The Pittsburgh-based bank announced last year its plan to open branches in Greater Boston, receiving approval in January from its bank regulator for a location on Bolyston Street in the Back Bay. Bernstein said the pandemic had slowed the pace of the expansion, as the bank had to pause construction and travel for safety reasons.
Four more proposed locations were revealed this month in filings with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Branches are planned for The Street on Route 9 in Chestnut Hill, Legacy Place in Dedham, the Wayside Shopping Center in Burlington and the MarketStreet retail center in Lynnfield.
The locations will be called “solutions centers” rather than branches, Bernstein said, adding that some minor changes to the sites have been made as a result of the pandemic to ensure social distancing. He said the solutions centers would not have tellers, instead offering open spaces and opportunities to work collaboratively.
Bernstein described the solutions centers as based on an outbound model more than an inbound branch model. He said the centers would be available for customers, but PNC expects limited visits, with customers instead leveraging the bank’s technology. PNC plans to open additional locations in the region, and customers should be within a 15-minute drive to any location.
The bank has already started hiring staff for both the solutions centers and corporate roles.
While the retail bank will be new to the area, PNC’s commercial bank has operated in Boston for 15 years. PNC is also planning soon to move into new regional headquarters at Two International Place.
PNC is also considering how the events of 2020 will affect its role in the region.
“We are fully aware of both the economic impact of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement,” Bernstein said. “We want to be respectful of those two components that are happening simultaneously in the city of Boston.”
One initiative in April was aimed at helping children affected by school closings. The PNC Foundation provided funding for a partnership between WGBH and the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. The Family Activity Initiative provided a curated collection of videos, free online educational games, apps and non-digital activities for young children.
In a recent statement, PNC’s CEO and Chairman Bill Demchak said the bank needed to ensure it continued to uphold its focus on diversity, inclusion and mutual respect.
“All of our employees are expected to conduct themselves in a way that respects and values our differences. We hold our leaders to formal standards, including the responsibility to lead by being inclusive,” Demchak said. “What’s become abundantly clear is that more is required of all of us. The death of George Floyd and other incidents emphasize that we must continue to focus on these issues actively and consciously, with respect, kindness and acceptance.”
