PNC Bank automates direct deposit switch for customers

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Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg

PNC Bank is looking to increase its direct deposit market share by automating the payroll deposit switch process for consumers.

The Pittsburgh-based national bank announced the launch of its new digital direct deposit manager on Tuesday. It gives PNC Bank customers the ability to automatically set up direct deposits for payroll, Social Security payments, gig work payouts or other regular income from the bank's mobile app.

The upgraded deposit feature, referred to by the $554.7 billion-assets bank as PNC Direct Deposit, removes barriers to updating or changing the primary bank account for payroll deposits by combining the roles of the employer, the payroll provider and the bank into a single interface. PNC Bank built the feature through a partnership with the account-switching fintech Atomic, a company representative told American Banker.

"This integrated direct deposit solution is just another example of how PNC is continuously enhancing and improving the client experience," Alex Overstrom, head of retail banking for PNC Bank, said in a statement. "By embedding direct deposit functions directly within the mobile app, our clients can seamlessly update and manage their direct deposit preferences without the hassle of filling out paperwork."

In most cases PNC consumers using the direct deposit manager won't need to manually enter their routing and account numbers, which could reduce the risk of user errors and delays in receiving payments. The automated deposit switching feature covers about 85% of U.S. payees, according to a company representative.

The bank still provides a manual direct deposit enrollment form option for any consumers whose employers aren't integrated into the PNC Direct Deposit platform. The bank previously offered this manual option for all users before launching its digital feature.

Other account-switching fintechs such as Pinwheel and ClickSwitch have also been filling the direct deposit switching gap. Citizens Bank partnered with Pinwheel in 2023 to simplify payroll deposit switching for its customers as well.

"Being our customers' primary bank is core to our relationship-oriented strategy, and the key to that is making it easy for our customers to manage their direct deposits," Overstrom said. "When we make it seamless for clients to choose PNC as their primary bank, they respond."