The bank will offer its customers crypto trading through Coinbase’s crypto-as-a-service platform.
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), the leading platform for cryptocurrency trading, has entered into a strategic partnership with PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC), the parent company of the nation’s seventh largest bank, PNC Bank.
The partnership will see PNC provide select banking services to Coinbase and its customers. In turn, Coinbase will provide access to its crypto-as-a-service (Caas) platform for PNC’s banking clients and institutional investors.
“Partnering with Coinbase accelerates our ability to bring innovative, crypto financial solutions to our clients,” William Demchak, PNC chairman and CEO, said. “We will also provide PNC’s best-in-class banking services to Coinbase. This collaboration enables us to meet growing demand for secure and streamlined access to digital assets on PNC’s trusted platform.”
PNC to deploy crypto-as-a-service
The crypto-as-a-service platform supplies the tools and infrastructure for PNC to offer crypto-related services to its customers. PNC will work with Coinbase to develop a program for clients to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies from their PNC accounts.
The crypto platform will initially be offered to the bank’s wealth and asset management clients, PNC’s head of PNC Treasury Management, Emma Loftus, told Bloomberg.
“This partnership with Coinbase enables us to explore where we think the market holds the most promise, where there’s the most demand and frankly where our clients are really most interested in,” Loftus said in an interview with Bloomberg.
PNC is also considering developing digital payments and treasury-management functions for corporate clients through the partnership, but that’s down the road.
“PNC is a market leader in delivering best-in-class products for their clients. We’re thrilled to support their entry into the digital asset market with our leading Crypto as a Service platform, which provides PNC with a powerful set of tools to develop a scalable, high-growth business, built on a foundation of uncompromising security,” Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional, said.
PNC stock gets upgrades
PNC reported second quarter earnings last week and beat expectations. The bank reported a 4% increase in revenue to $5.66 billion, which was better than estimates of $5.06 billion.
Net interest income rose 2% to $3.6 billion on higher loan growth, while the net interest margin increased by two basis points to 2.80%.
Net income jumped 11% to $1.64 billion, while earnings rose 13% to $3.85 per share. That surpassed estimates of $3.55 per share.
PNC stock got a slew of price target upgrades post-earnings with Argus boosting it by $35 to $218 per share while Citi increased it by $12 to $217 per share. Also, BofA bumped it up by $3 to $226 per share while Morgan Stanley raised it by $7 to $189 per share.
PNC has a median price target of $216 per share, which would indicate about 10% growth over the current price.
Also, PNC raised its dividend by 10 cents to $1.70 per share, marking the 15th straight year of dividend increases. It also pays out a hefty yield of 3.26%.
Coinbase releases its second quarter earnings on Thursday July 31 after the market closes.
