PNC announces $88M community benefits plan

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. announced Tuesday that it would launch a Community Benefits Plan to provide $88 billion in loans, investments, and other financial support over a four-year period for underserved individuals and communities.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, and in connection with PNC’s pending acquisition of BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., the pan will provide at least $47 billion in residential mortgages and home equity loans to low- to middle-income and minority borrowers, as well as those in majority-minority census tracts. Additionally, the plan will provide at least $26.5 billion in loans to small businesses in low- to middle-income communities, majority-minority census tracts, businesses with less than $1 million in revenue and small farms; and $14.5 billion in community development loans and investments across all markets. The community development loans include at least $400 million for Community Development Financial Institutions that help meet the banking and financial needs of underserved communities.

PNC will also increase its charitable giving, including sponsorships and philanthropic grants.

“As a Main Street bank, we believe that our success will be proportional to the prosperity we help create for our stakeholders,” said PNC Chairman, President, and CEO William S. Demchak. “This plan reflects that belief and builds on our longstanding commitment to provide economic opportunity for all individuals and communities we serve, as reflected in PNC Bank’s and BBVA USA’s overall ‘Outstanding’ Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) ratings in each of our organizations’ most recent evaluations.”

PNC developed the plan in consultation with BBVA USA. PNC also held numerous community listening sessions representative from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the National Diversity Coalition, the Greenlining Coalition, the California Reinvestment Coalition, and Faith and Community Empowerment.

“We appreciate the leadership and commitment of PNC Bank to collaborate with us and our members to develop the largest-to-date community benefits plan,” said NCRC CEO Jesse Van Tol. “This plan is a significant commitment by one of the largest banks in the nation to increase investments, services, and loans for low- and moderate-income communities and neighborhoods of color. It’s rewarding and makes me hopeful when institutions and communities can come together like this to make a meaningful commitment that’s intended to have a lasting impact on lives, families, and neighborhoods.”

The plan builds on PNC’s commitment to providing economic opportunity for all individuals and communities, the bank said. To better meet the needs of the unbanked and underbanked, PNC will add 20 new branches and 25 remote automated teller machines in low to moderate-income communities across its footprint and add 10 mobile banking unite dedicated to servicing those same communities.