PNC Bank opens Riverdale call center

PNC Bank of Pittsburgh has opened a new satellite call center at 5700 Rivertech Court in Riverdale, with 80 part-time employees. About 15 of the employees worked in the same facility when it was a call center for Riggs Bank of Washington, D.C., which PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired two years ago for $779 million.

PNC Bank has three branches in Maryland, in Beltsville, Greenbelt and Clinton, according to its Web site. The Riverdale call center, which totals about 3,000 square feet, is open from 8 a.m. to noon and 7 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

PNC Bank President Michael Harreld said that as the bank expects to continue its ‘‘outreach” to multicultural communities, it will be seeking to hire ‘‘a number of” multi-lingual employees, which he said will be easier to do here than in Pittsburgh where the bank’s main call center is located. PNC Bank plans to open another call center in State College, Pa., Harreld said.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc., the bank’s parent company, reported net income of $381 million for the second quarter, a 35 percent increase over the $282 million earned for the second quarter of 2005.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.