Banking consolidation watch: PNC’s trillion-dollar ambition

Why it matters:

  1. Scale race: Rising tech/reg costs and deposit consolidation favor bigger balance sheets
  2. Branch bet: While peers trim locations, PNC plans to open ~60 branches a year to capture low-cost deposits
  3. Diversification: From a Coinbase partnership (retail crypto access) to a TCW tie-up (private credit), PNC is building big-bank breadth without being one — yet

What to watch:

  1. Deal momentum if the policy climate turns more merger-friendly
  2. Whether regional banks double down on scale — or partner up to compete on data, distribution, and AI

Source: https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/the-ceo-who-wants-to-double-the-size-of-his-bank-to-1-trillion-fa5fa70f