PNC’s acquisition of BBVA banks still pending

As a major banking merger awaits regulatory approval five months after being announced, its impact on customers in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado remains undefined.

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) said in November that it had entered into an agreement to purchase Houston-based BBVA USA Bancshares Inc. (NYSE and MAD: BBVA) and its U.S. banking subsidiary, Birmingham, Alabama-based BBVA USA, for $11.6 billion in cash, in a move that would expand PNC’s footprint from coast to coast, give it a presence in 29 of the country’s 50 largest markets, and make it the nation’s fifth largest bank in terms of assets, increasing them by an estimated $102 billion.

At that time, PNC said BBVA branches in Colorado would be transitioned into PNC-branded locations.

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Further information remains sparse, and local BBVA branch managers refer inquiries to PNC corporate spokespeople in Pennsylvania.

“It is really too early for us to be more specific or offer additional details at this point, given that the transaction is still pending regulatory approval,” said Marcey Zwiebel, PNC’s director of corporate public relations, in an email to BizWest. After the deal closes, she wrote, “BBVA USA branches will assume the PNC Bank name and BBVA USA customers will be converted to the PNC platform, but there isn’t any additional information specific to the Northern Colorado region that we could offer at this time, given where the process currently stands.

“We anticipate the transaction will close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.”

BBVA USA, a subsidiary of Bilbao, Spain-based multinational Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., operates 637 branches, mostly in Colorado, Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. Its Colorado branches include locations at 3000 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder, 2640 E. Harmony Road in Fort Collins, 3501 W. 12th St. in Greeley, 1200 W. South Boulder Road in Lafayette, 1849 Main St. in Longmont, 5275 McWhinney Blvd. in Loveland, and 9191 Sheridan Blvd. and 7347 Federal Blvd. in Westminster.

BBVA USA’s growth included the purchase of Compass Banks in 2007. It branded itself as BBVA Compass for the next 12 years.

As of Jan. 1, BBVA’s parent company, which was founded in 1857 and is Spain’s second-largest bank in asset size, operated 7,432 branches and 31,000 automatic teller machines in approximately 30 countries.

So far, PNC’s area presence is limited to ATMs at two 7-Eleven convenience stores in Loveland and one in Berthoud. PNC, which currently operates in 19 states in the Northeast, South and Midwest, offers traditional banking services including checking and savings accounts, investment and financial services, online banking, business loans, consumer loans including mortgages, and credit and debit cards.

The initials PNC are derived from the bank’s two predecessor companies, Pittsburgh National Corp. and Provident National Corp., which merged in 1983. It currently ranks seventh in the nation with $463.1 billion in assets. It originated in 1852 as Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Co.

Central to PNC’s growth and resilience has been its relationship with BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager. PNC bought controlling interest in BlackRock in 1995 for $240 million and retained a 70% stake in that company when it went public in 1995, then reaped more than $14 billion last May when it sold most of its stake.

On March 8, PNC Bank’s Institutional Asset Management organization launched the PNC Gifting Portal, intended to streamline how charitable organizations manage donor-advised funds, which are designated accounts allocated to charitable causes by a sponsoring nonprofit at the recommendation of the donor.

According to a PNC news release, the acquisition of BBVA will “add approximately $86 billion of deposits and $66 billion of loans based on BBVA USA’s Sept. 30, 2020, balance sheet. Post-closing, the estimated allowance for credit losses to total loans for the combined entity is 2.85%, including reserves for the acquired loans from BBVA USA of 3.85%.

When the acquisition was announced, PNC sent BBVA customers a few details about what they could expect.

“Your branch will remain with the BBVA USA brand until at least the close of the acquisition. At that time you should expect to hear more about the changes that will be coming to your local branch,” it said. “In the meantime, you will continue to interact with the bank in the same way you always have. Once the timing has been defined, customers will receive ongoing, transparent and open communication through various channels (email, direct mail, bbvausa.com website, etc.) so customers know what to expect each step of the process.”

Until the closing, predicted to be in the second half of this year, BBVA customers were told they don’t need to reopen an account with PNC or call PNC customer services about issues with their accounts.

“At this time you will not be able to use PNC branches to transact using your BBVA USA account until the integration is complete,” they were told. “Additionally, you also cannot use your BBVA USA debit card in the PNC ATM network without getting charged an out-of-network fee until the integration is complete.”

“Although there are some differences in how we segment our teams, our models are very similar, and our franchises are largely complementary, which is beneficial for both teams,” said Mike Lyons, PNC’s corporate and institutional banking leader. “Together we’ll emerge as one of the most formidable competitors in banking across the country.”

See related story – PNC to acquire BBVA in $11.6B deal, rebrand branches