Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors will slash the company's quarterly common stock dividend from $.66 to $.10 per share in aim to save $1 billion a year and boost liquidity.

The dividend cut comes as executives at many banks are feeling pressure to reconsider their companies' dividends as their stock prices fall and the market puts a greater premium on capital preservation.

The next dividend is expected to be declared in early April.

On Monday, Chief Executive James Rohr said, "We are taking this proactive step to build capital, further strengthen our balance sheet and serve our customers in an unprecedented and uncertain economy."

PNC said last month that it would continue paying the dividend, even as it posted a fourth-quarter loss and planned 5,800 job cuts while absorbing troubled Cleveland bank National City Corp., acquired late last year.