PNC Bank increased the number of new branch locations and renovations it plans to complete over the next five years.
The bank plans to open 200 new branch locations in 12 cities and renovate 1,400 existing branches during that time, investing $1.5 billion in these projects, it said in a Friday (Nov. 8) press release.
The figures represent an expansion upon the plans for 100 new bank branch locations and 1,200 renovations PNC Bank announced in February.
The bank has more than 2,200 branches across the country, according to the release. It also serves clients through 60,000 PNC and partner ATMs, online and mobile banking platforms, its customer care center, and 22 mobile branches that serve low- and moderate-income communities and areas struck by natural disasters.
“While we offer our clients a variety of different ways to interact with us, our branches continue to be the heartbeat of our retail franchise,” Alex Overstrom, head of retail banking at PNC Bank, said in the release. “We’re beyond excited about this plan to create greater access to PNC in these important markets and ultimately to play a role in improving the financial health of our clients in the communities where our team members live and work.”
It was reported in March that two other financial institutions — J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America — were placing heavy bets on the appeal of brick-and-mortar bank branches.
At the time, J.P. Morgan planned to add 500 more locations over the next three years to the nearly 5,000 it already operates, and Bank of America planned to open outlets in four more states, giving it a physical presence in 39 states.
Both banks said at the time that physical locations give consumers a place to go when they want to discuss loans or seek financial advice.
Bank branches can become “magnets” for financial education, especially where complex, high-value transactions like mortgages are concerned, Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth told PYMNTS in an interview posted in March.
Today’s branches are informed and complemented by digital devices, enabling the personalized, omnichannel approach that clients value, Sheth said.
Job cuts in government, technology and retail led the way as U.S. employers announced the largest number of cuts in one month since May 2020.
Among the 275,240 job cuts announced in March, 216,215 were in government, 15,055 were in technology and 11,709 were in retail, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a report released Thursday (April 3).
“Job cut announcements were dominated last month by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans to eliminate positions in the federal government,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president and workplace expert for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the report. “It would have otherwise been a fairly quiet month for layoffs.”
The total number of job cuts made in March was more than three times the 90,309 cuts announced in March 2024, according to the report.
By sector, compared to March 2024, government job cuts were almost six times higher, technology cuts were about 6% higher and retail cuts were nearly twice as high, per the report.
All the government job cuts made in March occurred in the federal government, the report said.
The top reason employers gave for cutting jobs in March was “DOGE impact,” which was cited for 216,670 of the month’s cuts, according to the report.
Other common reasons included store, unit or department closing, to which 17,666 job cuts were attributed, and market/economic conditions, which accounted for 11,594 cuts, per the report.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas also said in the report that employers are planning to hire fewer workers than they were a year ago. Companies’ hiring plans dropped by about 37%, from 21,102 in March 2024 to 13,198 in March 2025, according to the report.
The specter of uncertain job security may accelerate a spending pullback that is already in motion, PYMNTS reported Wednesday (April 2). Consumer confidence that was already shaken may have been further impacted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest snapshot of the labor market released Tuesday (April 1), which found that the labor market slowed in February, with a decline in job openings over the past year.
The Conference Board reported March 25 that consumer confidence slipped for the fourth straight month in March, due in part to a plunge in consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions.
