PNC Announces New Center for Financial Services Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd of students, faculty and administrators at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, PNC Financial Services Group chairman and CEO James E. Rohr announced his company's support for the creation of the PNC Center for Financial Services Innovation at Carnegie Mellon. Rohr made the announcement today during his presentation as part of the Tepper School's W.L. Mellon Speaker Series.

"Advances in technology and their potential application in financial services underscore the importance of research and education in these areas," said Rohr. "Carnegie Mellon is regarded as a global leader in business and technology and our company has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with its students, alumni, faculty and administrators. We are confident that our continued work together will bring tested, secure solutions by introducing new technology and services that will continuously improve the banking experience for consumers."

The PNC Center for Financial Services Innovation will initially focus on research and education pertaining to the retail banking sector, seeking to capitalize on new technologies and the effective use of data to advance the functionality of banks and the services they offer to customers.  Sunder Kekre, the Bosch Professor of Operations Management, has been chosen to lead the new center as its director.

The center will conduct research that addresses emerging consumer banking topics, such as the integration of data and technology to help customers better manage their money, and the use of new channels such as mobile devices and social media to deliver banking services when and where customers need them. The center also will oversee curricula and project courses addressing the banking industry and executive education programs designed to address advances in technologies, processes and information.  

"Collaboration thrives at Carnegie Mellon and the new center will benefit from incorporating faculty and resources from across our campus, combining strengths in business and computer science with other disciplines, such as public policy, consumer behavior and engineering," said Robert Dammon, Dean of the Tepper School of Business.  "PNC has an exceptional reputation in banking and a longstanding relationship with our university. Our connection through the new center will be an important conduit for expanding knowledge within the retail banking sector as well as finding solutions to the present and future challenges facing the industry."

The PNC Center for Financial Services Innovation will be housed at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. Work is under way to develop the center's operational processes.

About Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 11,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon's main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of "Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University," which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. Follow @PNCNews on Twitter for breaking news, updates and announcements from PNC.

SOURCE Carnegie Mellon University