Detailed SWOT Analysis of PNC – The Fifth-Largest Bank By Assets In The US

Updated on: Jan 15, 2022
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In the previous article, we did an in-depth SWOT analysis on the U.S Bank. Today we are here with another detailed SWOT Analysis of PNC, one of the most dominant banks in the United States.

PNC – Pittsburgh National Corporation is the fifth-largest bank by assets in the United States. It provides its consumers, corporations, government, and other institutions with an array of financial products and services. PNC is dominating the financial services and asset management market of America.

The bank has maintained its position in the American market with all its efforts in working on its marketing strategies. In this developing digital period, they have been adopting advanced marketing strategies which are essential for reaching out and making a great Digital presence. So if you want to know how to utilize digital marketing for your benefit – take a look at our free masterclass on digital marketing by the CEO and Founder of IIDE, Karan shah.

Thus, this makes us keen to know everything about how PNC works. Here in this blog, we have a comprehensive SWOT analysis of PNC. But first, let’s take a look and know more about how PNC works as a firm.

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About PNC

SWOT Analysis of PNC - PNC Bank

With the mergers between predecessor companies Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation the name came PNC is an American Multinational bank holding company and financial services headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. It has a proud heritage of more than 176 years old and 40 years old as PNC, it is among the top 10 big banks in the United States, and the largest banking group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region.

Over 50 million private clients are served with wealth and asset management services by the financial institute, which employs over 62,000 people globally. PNC serves consumer and business banking services via 2,945 branches throughout its operations in 27 states of the United States. PNC Asset Management Group, in addition to financial services, provides loan services.

Quick Stats on PNC
CEO William S. Demchak
Year Founded 1845
Origin The United States
No. of Employees 62,418
Company Type Public
Market Cap US$ 94.60 Billion (2021)
Annual Revenue US$ 16.901 Billion (2020)
Net Income/ Profit US$ 7.558 Billion (2020)

 

SWOT Analysis of PNC - PNC Bank Customer Counter


Products & Services by PNC

PNC provides different services to keep its consumers satisfied. PNC is one of the topmost banking groups in the world. Below mentioned are some of the PNC products and services.

  • Personal and commercial banking
  • Wealth management
  • Investment services
  • Financial planning 
  • Credit cards 
  • Insurance 
  • Mortgages 


Competitors of PNC

PNC brings huge competition for itself, as it provides services in the whole world. Below mentioned are some of the competitors for PNC:

  • U.S. Bank
  • M&T Bank
  • Wells Fargo
  • Bank of America
  • BB&T Corporation

Now that we have some idea of how PNC works, let’s focus on a detailed SWOT analysis of PNC.  


SWOT Analysis of PNC

SWOT analysis of PNC is the study of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company. This will help the company understand strong factors for their growth, weakness, and threats to rectify them for further growth. 

To better understand the SWOT analysis of PNC, refer to the infographics below:

SWOT Analysis of PNC - SWOT Infographics of PNC

Below is a step-by-step detailed guide to help you with the SWOT analysis of PNC.

Strengths of PNC

Certain abilities of an organization that are advantageous in capturing market share, attracting more customers, and maximizing profits can be called the strengths of that organization.

  • Extensive Network: The bank has more than 62,000 employees at 2900+ branches in the United States, making PNC the 5th largest bank by several branches.
  • Wide Range of Portfolio: The variety of wealth management and financial services the bank offers acts as one of their strengths wherein they can be benefited from various offerings.
  • Brand Reputation: PNC has been in the business of banking for a large number of years. Also, with the variety of secure services, it provides such as the virtual wallet of PNC which is backed with secured digital channels to provide its users to securely transact with PNC. These big steps made PNC established as a leader in the industry. This helps the corporation to gain a reputation and get recognized easily.

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  • Strong Digital Marketing Strategy: With a very strong online presence on every social media site has built a strong customer relationship. Want to know how social media works as a strength for PNC? Then you must check out the benefits of social media marketing to get the answer to your query. 
  • Best in its Country: The Bank is the best in the United States in terms of institutional asset management and wealth management services.
  • Goods Returns on Capital Expenditure: PNC is relatively successful at executing net income of US$ 7.558 Billion from annual revenue of US$ 16.901 Billion.


Weakness of PNC

Weakness is the area where PNC can improve upon by building strategies. Below mentioned are the weakness of PNC:

  • Limited Success Across the Core Business: Although PNC is one of the leading organizations in its industry it faces challenges in moving to other product segments with its present culture.
  • Cash Flow Problems: There is a lack of proper financial planning at PNC regarding cash flows, leading to certain circumstances where there isn’t enough cash flow as required leading to unnecessary unplanned borrowing.
  • Need to Invest More in New Technologies: According to the country’s scale of expansion and the geographical areas PNC needs to invest more money in technology to integrate the processes across the board. Currently, the investment in technology is not on par as per the vision of the company.
  • Customer Service: Improper customer service, as well as lack of solving customer queries, can cause a negative image of the brand. This can either be through mouth publicity or by any other means.
  • Depending on the US: PNC’s global presence is not up to the mark. The bank is dependent more on the US. Also, the PNC lags behind the top US banks in terms of financial and banking services. 


Opportunities for PNC

Opportunities are external factors that allow an organisation to grow and be more profitable. Following are some opportunities for PNC:

  • Expansion to Other Global Markets: The company is planning to expand to more developing countries. This serves them as an opportunity to acquire a new customer base.
  • Development of Technology: Since the FinTech industry is growing at a very rapid pace, there are advancements in technologies too. Using these kinds of technologies can increase efficiency and decrease cost.
  • Increasing Income: There has been an increase in average household income along with an increase in consumer spending following the recession. This will result in growth in the PNC’s target market with new customers that can be attracted towards the business.
  • Population: The population has been growing and is expected to grow at a positive rate for the upcoming years. This is beneficial for the PNC as there will be an increase in the number of potential customers that it can target.
  • Interest Rate: Lower interest rates than compared to previous years provides an opportunity for the PNC to undergo expansion projects that are financed with loans at a cheaper interest rate.
  • Low Inflation Rate: The low inflation rate can bring more stability in the market and enable credit at a lower interest rate to the customers of the PNC.


Threats to PNC 

The threats faced by the PNC are listed below:

  • Currency Fluctuations: As the company is operating in numerous countries it is exposed to currency fluctuations especially given the volatile political climate in several markets across the world.
  • Competitor Technical Advancements: New technological advancements by a few competitors within the sector constitutes a threat to PNC since customers who are drawn to this new technology may switch to competitors, reducing PNC’s overall market share.
  • Pandemic: Financial losses incurred by companies as well as individuals can cause a threat to the bank in repayment of loans. 
  • Increased Marketing Efforts: Due to the rise of digital marketing, there is an increasing number of promotional messages which are being sent by competitors. It clutters up the space, which leads to losing out on customers. PNC is well versed and trying to adopt a variety of the latest digital marketing skills to get ahead of the competition. You must also check out these skills to achieve the same. 
  • Controversies: PNC has been in more than 5+ legal controversies including security fraud settlement, not giving overtime wages, lawsuits from a military channel and many more. 
  • Cyber Security: It’s been one of the major risk factors in the financial sector. Such as recently, a woman from Washington country’s bank account was wiped out by a hacker pretending to be a bank representative.


This ends our detailed SWOT analysis of PNC. Let us conclude our learning below.

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To Conclude

PNC is growing in the sector of banking in the United States, as well as the global market too. As we had a look at the SWOT Analysis of PNC, there is a lot more to grow in many aspects.

With the emergence of the digital world, where almost every individual spends at least an hour of his/her time on phones, proper digital marketing, and online presence can be a great way to improve customer relations. 

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We hope this blog on the SWOT Analysis of PNC has given you a good insight into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You can also read our comprehensive study on the SWOT Analysis of JP Morgan Chase.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

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