PNC Enhances Vested Interest 401(k) Product With New Funds And Advanced Technology.

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- PNC Bank has made several enhancements to Vested Interest(R), its daily-valuation bundled 401(k) product that offers critical plan features and fiduciary elements in one package.

The enhancements to Vested Interest include:

-- New fund families. Vested Interest has added alliances with American

Century Funds, Federated Investors and Neuberger Berman Management,

boosting Vested Interest's total funds offering to 107 funds. Vested

Interest offers PNC's proprietary funds, the BlackRock Funds (formerly

the Compass Capital Funds); six "lifestyle" collective investment funds

called the PNC Profile Funds; and the PNC Investment Contract Fund. In

addition to the new fund families, Vested Interest also offers funds

from Fidelity Advisors, Janus, INVESCO and Scudder.

-- Same-day trading. Vested Interest participants can now submit their

trade requests until 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. All

trades will be executed at that day's closing price.

-- Additional voice response unit capabilities. Through Vested Interest's

telephone-based voice response unit, participants will now have more

flexibility in choosing the funds offered by their employer,

transferring between funds, requesting loan applications, inquiring

about loan information and obtaining balance information on their

accounts. They can also input their fax number to have their current-

day statement faxed to them.

-- Expanded Internet capabilities. Participants and plan sponsors can

access a variety of educational information through the Vested Interest

Web site (www.intrust.pncbank.com), including retirement worksheets,

bulletins, newsletters and other materials on investment- and 401(k)-

related topics. Plan sponsors can also use the web site to e-mail

inquiries and information to their PNC client service officer. Future

enhancements will enable participants and plan sponsors to view

information about their plan and its structure, the performance of the

funds in their plan and their current statement.

"PNC Bank is committed to regularly enhancing Vested Interest to meet the changing needs of plan sponsors and maintain our leadership position in the defined contribution marketplace," said Nancy B. Wolcott, executive vice president. "These initiatives make it even easier for plan sponsors to offer a high-quality 401(k) product to their employees."

"These enhancements follow on the heels of several technology upgrades we undertook in 1997," said Patricia S. Bergey, Vested Interest product manager. "Our ongoing investments in Vested Interest will ensure that plan sponsors and participants are getting one of the best 401(k) product on the market."

Vested Interest offers plan sponsors a comprehensive set of services, including plan design, conversion, a full range of investment options, extensive employee education and communications materials, administration, and custody, trustee, daily recordkeeping and compliance. Vested Interest's features have been well received by the market, reflected by its 50 percent sales growth in 1997 over the prior year.

PNC Bank Corp. (NYSE: PNC), headquartered in Pittsburgh, is one of the largest diversified financial services organizations in the United States. Its major businesses include Regional Community Banking, National Consumer Banking, Mortgage Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management, Mutual Fund Servicing, Corporate Banking and Secured Lending.

Visit PNC Bank on the World Wide Web at http://www.pncbank.com