According to PNC’s head of treasury management Emma Loftus, the arrangement is in its early phase. It will begin by allowing wealth and asset management clients to trade cryptocurrencies directly through their PNC accounts, without requiring them to log out of the bank’s platform.
PNC will also provide selected banking services to Coinbase, likely in treasury management.
Loftus said the bank is evaluating cryptocurrency use cases for commercial and corporate clients, particularly in payments and treasury management functions, but noted that these are not yet fully developed.
She said PNC sees future potential in settling payments in digital assets as they become common at the point of sale or written into contracts. However, she emphasized that such capabilities are not imminent.
PNC expects any large-scale stablecoin initiative to be led by an industry consortium, CEO William Demchak said on the company’s recent earnings call, adding that PNC would participate.
Loftus said she has examined crypto and blockchain as alternative payment methods for more than a decade and believes the current regulatory environment will accelerate adoption.
She added that the technology is not new but that prioritizing it now makes sense for the bank.
