City renews PNC Bank contract

AZLE — During a July 16 Azle City Council meeting, city officials decided to continue using PNC Bank as its primary depository bank, renewing its five-year contract. City Finance Director Martin Avila introduced Tim Pinon, a representative of Valley View Consulting LLC, to explain why remaining with PNC would be favorable to switching to another Azle bank.

Municipalities are legally required to solicit available banks at least every five years. With Sept. 30 marking the end of its current contract, the City of Azle was tasked with choosing who will hold city funds for the next two years with three optional one-year extensions. The city reached out to six potential candidates in Azle: Herring Bank, NBT Financial, Pinnacle Bank, PNC Bank, Prosperity Bank and Woodforest National Bank. Three banks responded: PNC Bank, Herring Bank, and NBT Financial.

On reviewing the different pros and cons of each bank, the Valley View team narrowed its list down to just Herring and PNC. Herring caught the consultant’s attention with its direct monetary benefits. In a two-year and five-year period, Herring offered a higher rate of returns and fewer fees compared with PNC. However, after a deeper dive into each bank’s services and features, Valley View ultimately chose to recommend PNC.

“You’ve got millions of dollars floating in and out of the accounts on a regular basis, you need a fairly sophisticated bank to be able to handle all of that,” Pinon told the council. “The finance part would be nice that Herring has to offer but at the end of the day this is a banking contract, it’s not an investment contract. If you’re investing in a (commercial bank), Herring’s your choice but if you’re looking for a robust service, really PNC is your best offer.”

Same day automated clearing house transfers, which is a type of electronic bank-to-bank payment, and a later ACH cutoff period were major points in PNC’s favor, Pinon said. He argued those amenities make a world of difference in ensuring city employees receive their paychecks on time in the event of unforeseen circumstances that could otherwise cause delays. The bank’s electronic lockbox features, account validation, real time payments, “more robust services,” and PNC’s track record are several other factors that influenced the firm and the city’s decision to stick with the incumbent.

“Changing banks is not a small task; there is a fair amount of work involved,” Pinon said. “It’s worth it if you’ve got a compelling reason to do so, we just didn’t see that looking at the capabilities that Herring and PNC have to offer.”