The nation’s fifth largest bank is gearing up to expand in Orange County.
PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), a Pittsburgh-based bank with nearly $560 billion in assets, has opened an office in Irvine, its first ever in Orange County.
Last October, it hired Jarrod Ingle, a long time Southern California banker with prior experiences at JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
“We’re in the process of expanding our office space in Irvine to accommodate all of the business lines,” said Ingle, who is now regional president and head of corporate banking for Orange County and the Inland Empire.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in interviewing bankers to be in corporate groups.”
Continuing Trend
PNC’s plan confirms a trend by banks prominent elsewhere to establish a foothold in Orange County.
Torrey Pines Bank, a unit of Western Alliance Bank, last year opened its first OC office in Costa Mesa. Truist Bank, the nation’s seventh largest and which has OC offices for investment banking and insurance, is studying entering the California market. Fifth Third Bancorp, the nation’s 14th largest by assets, opened its first OC office in 2018.
It’s easy to see why. OC bank deposits increased 15% to $174.9 billion as of June 30. That follows a 23% increase in 2020 (see list, page 32).
“We are open to the competition,” Ingle said. “That’s what drives a good strong local economy.
“Our vision is a local approach. We try to ensure that our bankers are in the community where our clients are living.”
Midwest Roots
Ingle grew up in Iowa, receiving a degree in business finance from Iowa State University. While at Wells Fargo, he transferred to Orange County, where he’s been since the late 1990s.
“Early in my career, I was with a bank and a merger created opportunities on the West Coast,” Ingle said, noting Orange County is “a little warmer” than Iowa.
After 16 years at Wells Fargo, where he rose to senior relationship manager, Ingle in 2013 joined JPMorgan, eventually rising to market executive for the Inland Empire.
Another acquisition last year created an opportunity for Ingle.
Last June, PNC completed its $11.5 billion purchase of the U.S. assets of Madrid-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., or BBVA.
PNC is strongest in the mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southeast, while BBVA has branches through the Sunbelt, including a large presence in Texas.
“The acquisition gave PNC the opportunity to leverage its presence in the West Coast,” Ingle said.
“With this expansion, it’s become a national bank.”
West Coast Openings
PNC has made a strategic decision to open offices on the West Coast, including spots in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix and Las Vegas as well as Irvine.
Its local spot is at the 2020 Main St. office tower in the Irvine Concourse campus, near the airport.
“PNC is fairly new on the West Coast; its expansion really got me excited.”
Ingle said he joined PNC because he loves its culture.
“It’s very nice collaborative, friendly. You feel a strong culture. Someone would drop anything to help you.”
PNC, which can trace its roots to 1852, operated 2,162 branches and 8,900 ATMs as of Dec. 31.
One of Ingle’s responsibilities will be to handle medium and larger size businesses. His other role is to oversee areas like retail and wealth management.
PNC’s products include anything offered by a full-service relationship bank such as Treasury and depository services and lending products.
“We offer everything and anything in between,” Ingle said.
“We view ourselves as a main street bank offering national services,” he said.
Source: ocbj.com
