RBC USA branches will begin switching over to PNC starting Friday, as the Pittsburgh-based lender joins the ranks of metro Atlanta’s top 10 banks.
PNC Financial Services Group has been notifying RBC customers and putting new signage in place for the conversion, which should be final March 5.
“We work very hard in the background to make sure this is completely seamless,” said Rick Lewis, PNC’s Atlanta retail market manager.
PNC announced last summer it would acquire the U.S. retail banking operations of Royal Bank of Canada. PNC followed that up by acquiring the metro Atlanta branches of Michigan-based Flagstar Bank.
Combined, PNC will rank seventh in the metro area by deposits. It will continue to operate 73 former Flagstar and RBC branches, opting to consolidate a few redundant locations.
PNC expects, however, to ultimately grow its branch count in the metro area, either through acquisitions or through new construction. The bank is eyeing fast growing areas such as the northern suburbs.
Lewis said PNC sees growth potential in small business and corporate banking, residential mortgages and wealth management. The bank will add specialists in those areas, he added.
“We intend to grow and invest here,” Lewis said.
PNC officials will begin the final conversion after close of business Friday. Branches will close about an hour early Friday and will not reopen until the morning of March 5, though branch staff will be present at each location to answer customer questions.
The bank also will ramp up staffing of its customer service phone lines.
Customers have been receiving new ATM/debit cards and checks, and can activate their cards starting Friday.
The Atlanta area is dominated by three institutions — SunTrust Banks, Wells Fargo and Bank of America — that collectively control more than 60 percent of the market’s deposits.
It’s a market that’s seen a lot of change. More banks have failed in Georgia since mid-2008 than in any other state.
Many new faces have entered the metro banking scene in recent years, either through mergers or forced takeovers. Wells Fargo assumed Wachovia, and Chase, the retail arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., acquired Washington Mutual. Many smaller banks that have succumbed to Georgia’s community banking crisis were gobbled up by out-of-state banks.
Making big moves into metro Atlanta isn’t easy. For instance Chase, the nation’s largest bank by assets, according to SNL Financial, remains outside the top 10 in terms of deposit market share, according to the latest Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
“Just like everybody else who’s come into it, [PNC will] have to earn their spurs,” said Walt Moeling, banking attorney with Bryan Cave.
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Metro Atlanta’s top 10 banks by deposits
1. SunTrust
2. Wells Fargo
3. Bank of America
4. BB&T
5. Synovus Bank (including Bank of North Georgia)
6. Regions Bank
7. RBC USA (whose retail operations are being acquired by PNC)
8. United Community Banks
9. Fidelity Bank
10. Community & Southern Bank
Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data from June 2011
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