What National City Bank Customers Can Expect from the PNC Bank Transition

National City bank branches in Northeast Ohio will close their doors at 4 this afternoon and reopen on Monday morning as PNC Banks.

"We are all very excited about the transition this week," said Richard Lewis, PNC's Northern Ohio regional market manager. "Our customers will come in on Monday to see the same smiling faces."

The Pittsburgh-based PNC acquired the Cleveland-based National City at the end of 2008 to form the fifth-largest bank in the nation. The company is in the midst of a two-year, multi-phase conversion of National City branches to the PNC brand.

This weekend's transitions will affect branches in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Toledo and surrounding areas. The rest of Ohio has already made the switch, along with banks in Kentucky, western Pennsylvania, Indiana and Florida.

ATM machines from both banks will be available this weekend. However, online banking will shut down at 3 p.m. on Friday before becoming available again on Monday morning.

PNC has issued new debit cards to National City customers, and Lewis advises customers to activate them immediately. This will inactivate the old National City debit cards.

If customers don't activate the new PNC debit cards, the old National City cards will still work for another 30 days.

PIN numbers will remain the same on the new debit cards, and customers can contact the bank using the same phone numbers and Web sites.

PNC has also set up a new welcome Web site (WelcomeToPNC.com) to answer customers' questions about the transition. The customer service line will also be available at 877-762-9119 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Customers can continue to use their old supply of National City checks. When the checks run out, the next set of checks will display the PNC branding and account numbers.

On that topic, customers will not have to notify their employers or Social Security of their new bank account numbers.

"We've taken care of that," Lewis said. "Direct deposits and automatic payments will get there just fine."

The only exception is for automatic payments that come from a debit card - for example, a gym membership. Customers will have to contact the recipients of those payments and give them the new PNC debit card numbers.

National City customers' banking rewards points will be converted to the PNC points program.

Tallmadge customer Karl Starks is taking the transition in stride, since it's not the first time for him.

"I'm probably the oldest customer they have," Starks said. "I've been banking here since the '50s, when it was Goodyear Bank. I'm indifferent to the change, as long as the service stays the same."