PNC Bank 2015 Annual Report Download - page 7

Across our markets, we also are making significant
progress in the ongoing transformation of the retail
network through transaction migration, increased use
of digital channels by our customers, the conversion
of branches to meet the needs of today’s customers
and select branch consolidations. We now operate
more than 375 branches under our universal model,
which leverages enhanced technologies and frees
staff to focus on sales and service. We plan to open or
convert more than 100 additional universal branches
in 2016. These branches are less expensive to operate
and are more productive, on average, than the
branches they are replacing.
With customers who primarily interact with us
through digital channels surpassing 50 percent in
2015, the retail transformation has enabled us to take
more than $250 million out of our cost to operate
the network and reinvest those funds to improve
the customer experience. We have done so through
enhancements to the customer care center, upgrades
to our digital products, expansion of our deposit-ready
ATM fleet and rollout of instant debit card issuance to
more than 500 of our branches.
While this effort directly aligns with the evolving
preferences of our customers, it also creates
opportunities to have more meaningful conversations
about their financial goals. In 2015, we expanded an
appointment-setting program piloted in 2014 in which
we proactively ask customers who don’t frequent
a branch to come in for a discussion about their
financial well-being. Since the program launched,
we have scheduled nearly 1 million customer
appointments, resulting in sales of more than 320,000
additional products to help customers meet all of their
financial needs.
Given the number of customers we serve through
our retail business, I am pleased to report that Chief
Customer Officer Karen Larrimer has been named
to head our retail bank as Neil Hall prepares to retire
after a 21-year career with PNC. Neil has set our retail
business on a course that will position us well for
generations to come, and I am grateful for his vision
and partnership through the years.
We also are in the midst of an effort to completely
redesign the home lending process and integrate
it with our consumer lending services for improved
efficiency and a better user experience. Our goal in
home lending has never been to become the biggest
mortgage provider, but we aim to be the best provider
of mortgages and other home lending products for
our customers with home financing needs.
As this transformation gains momentum, I’d like to
thank PNC Mortgage President and Chief Executive
Officer Joe Guyaux, who also plans to retire after a
44-year career in which he has led virtually every
business within the company at one time or another.
Stepping in to lead the mortgage business through
the home lending transformation and to lead our
consumer lending business going forward is PNC
Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer Bill Parsley.
Through time, we expect the retail lending business to
become an integrated and streamlined consumer and
small business credit powerhouse with the decision-
making authority, speed of execution and digital
capabilities needed to compete with and outperform
the FinTech startups that have already begun to
change the market.
Reinventing the Retail Banking Experience
After attending a PNC
seminar to learn about the
home buying process and
then working with a PNC
Mortgage loan officer to
identify a combination of
lending solutions that would
enable them to buy their
perfect renovation project,
newlyweds Tasha and Frankie
Wilburn sent this picture
and a note to thank PNC for
helping them achieve their
home ownership dreams.
Photo: Alexis and Arnisha Rogers,
MTKPhotographyusa