PNC Financial Service Group Inc. is not wasting any time making its mark in the Washington area.
Even before its deal to buy Riggs National Corp. has closed, the Pittsburgh banking company has announced plans to build 30 D.C.-area branches in the next three years, add Sunday hours, and provide free access to other companies’ automated teller machines for customers with certain accounts.
It has also forged marketing relationships with a local museum, a performing arts center, and, most significantly, the Washington Nationals, the city’s new Major League Baseball team, which will play its first-ever home game today.
PNC unveiled its plans with much fanfare Wednesday at Riggs’ flagship branch a block from the White House.
“It’s clear the marketplace 50 miles from this office is one of the most attractive in the country, and for that reason we wanted to be pretty tenacious about how we arrived here,” said Michael N. Harreld, the Washington regional president of PNC Bank.
PNC expects regulators to approve its $654 million-asset deal for Riggs “any day now,” and the transaction will close May 13-15, he said.
Within days after it closes, $80 million-asset PNC plans to open three branches, and this year it will open at least two more. For the long term, it intends to increase its branch network by 60% in the Washington area by 2008.
Mr. Harreld said Riggs’ current network of 49 branches was “not adequate” to serve the Washington market.
PNC plans to extend hours, and add Sunday hours, at its branches in Maryland, northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The branches will stay open until 7 p.m. on weekdays, 4 p.m. on Saturdays, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.
It seems to be taking a page from the playbook of one of its rivals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Commerce Bancorp Inc., and it is no coincidence that PNC’s marketing effort in the Washington area coincides with Commerce’s arrival there.
The Cherry Hill, N.J., deposit-gathering powerhouse, perhaps best known for offering branch hours seven days a week, will open its first branches in Washington and Virginia in June, and it plans to add another nine this year. It intends to open one or two a month between Washington and Baltimore over for the next several years; its long-term goal is to have as many as 200 branches in the area.
Just last month the $32 billion-asset Commerce announced it would rebate all foreign ATM service charges for customers who maintain a balance of $2,500 or more in their checking account.
During Wednesday’s announcement, PNC said it would rebate fees that “select” customers incur when using another bank’s ATMs.
Under the three-year agreement with the Washington Nationals, PNC will be the team’s official bank and will work with the team to develop banking products featuring the Nationals’ logo and to offer customer benefits on Nationals tickets and merchandise. Also, PNC will install ATMs throughout RFK Stadium, where the Nationals will play.
PNC will sponsor a major Andy Warhol exhibit at the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington and will be the official sponsor of the opening event of the summer season at Wolf Trap State Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia.
The deal for Riggs has been in the works since July but has been delayed by a highly publicized investigation into Riggs’ compliance with anti-laundering laws and the Bank Secrecy Act. In February, PNC pulled its initial $779 million offer after Riggs was hit with a $16 million fine from the Justice Department. After Riggs rejected PNC’s subsequent offer, the sides reached an agreement in mid-February.
