NEW YORK (AP) – PNC Bank is the latest major U.S. financial services company to raise wages to retain and attract employees, raise its minimum wage to $ 18 an hour, while granting higher paid workers a raise.
The bank said Monday that the wage increase will apply to both PNC employees and those who work for BBVA USA, which PNC acquired last year. Base-level PNC employees will increase their wages from $ 15 an hour to $ 18, which is a 20% increase. The increase is even more pronounced at BBVA, which had a minimum wage of $ 11 before PNC bought the bank.
About 20,000 PNC and BBVA employees will increase their base salary to $ 18 an hour, the bank said.
“We want the best we can find and we can afford it,” said Bill Demchak, chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group Inc., in an interview. “We need to show that we can offer both a career path and compensation that makes us a lifelong opportunity.”
In addition to the higher base salary, PNC and BBVA employees who earn more than the minimum wage also receive a raise, which Demchak called the “accordion effect” in his branches.
Pittsburgh-based PNC is now one of the largest banks in the country following the acquisition of BBVA, giving it a nationwide presence and enabling it to compete more effectively with major money market banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
After completion of the takeover, PNC will employ around 60,000 people nationwide.
Bank of America announced in May that it would raise its minimum wage to $ 25 by 2025, and announced last year that it would pay all employees $ 20 an hour. Other banks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo pay up to $ 20 an hour depending on the location of the employee.
Demchak said the wage increase was both necessary to compete with other banks and a moral choice. Coupled with the fact that many bank branch employees had to physically work at their locations during the pandemic, the economic impact of the pandemic made many of their jobs more complex and important than ever, he said.
“There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about what a living wage means and that resonated with me. I thought, ‘How can I give someone a lifelong career if I can’t offer them a living wage?’ “He said.
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