The company operated through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Wisconsin, and also served customers in selected markets nationally.

[3] In 2007, National City Corp. ranked number 188 on the Fortune 500 list, and 9th in terms of revenue in the U.S. commercial banking industry with total assets of about $140 billion.

PNC Financial Services announced October 24, 2008, its purchase of National City[4] for about $5.2 billion in stock with funds from the U.S. Treasury.

At the time of the acquisition, National City had been the 7th largest bank in the United States,[5] two spots ahead of acquirer PNC.

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 6, 2008, that National City Corp. had entered into a memorandum of understanding with federal regulators, effectively putting the bank on probation.

Terms of the confidential agreement, entered into a month earlier with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (which regulates nationally chartered banks), were not known.

[6] On June 10, 2008, National City Corp. confirmed that it had reached agreements with regulators "regarding capital levels, risk-management practices and other aspects of its business."

[8] Reuben Sheldon and Theodoric C. Severance, formerly of the Fireman's Insurance Company, organized The City Bank of Cleveland.

[9] National City Corporation was one of the principal players in the Dawes Plan to rebuild Germany in the post World War I period, contributing $173,000,000 in loans.

[13] In February 1975, National City Corp. announced that it was seeking to acquire the assets of the failed Northern Ohio Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

[20] In July 1979, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the Norwalk–based Huron County Banking Company for an undisclosed price.

[23][24] In December 1981, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the Toledo–based Ohio Citizens Bancorp for $64 million in cash and notes.

[27] In June 1989, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the insolvent Dayton–based Gem Savings Association without the assistance of federal aid.

[52] In December 1997, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the Kalamazoo–based First of America Bank Corporation, with offices in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, for $7.1 billion in stock.

[57] In July 2006, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the Fort Pierce–based Harbor Florida Bancshares for $1.1 billion in stock.

[59] In July 2006, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the West Palm Beach–based Harbor Fidelity Bankshares for $1 billion in stock.

[61] In May 2007, National City Corp. announced that it was acquiring the Clarendon Hills–based MAF Bancorp, with offices in Chicago and Milwaukee, for $1.9 billion in stock.

The sale of San Jose, California, based First Franklin origination franchise and related servicing platform to Merrill Lynch & Co. was completed on December 30, 2006, for $1.3 billion.

Management failed to recognize the extent of problems in the subprime market and did not take sufficient aggressive actions to reduce its real estate mortgage portfolio.

[65][66] On October 9, 2008, The Wall Street Journal ran an article citing unnamed sources indicating that National City was in talks with several other banks for a possible sale.

[citation needed] The article named Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services, Toronto-based Scotiabank, and Minneapolis–based U.S. Bancorp (U.S. Bank) as the leading contenders.

In actuality, over 15,000 employees were laid off, all of them from the previous National City, with PNC losing customer and deposit market share in the Cleveland area as a result.

[75] PNC began to convert the National City branches that were not sold off or closed on November 7, 2009,[82] starting with Pennsylvania (where the two had the most overlap), Florida, and the Youngstown & Steubenville, Ohio regions.