With a gross state product near $500-billion a year, the sixth largest in the U. S., plenty of money flows inside Pennsylvania's borders. That pool of capital attracts financial services, an industry that has experienced much internal growth in this sector during the last two years as commercial banks have evolved into diversified financial service companies; PNCBank in Pittsburgh and Beneficial Mutual Bancorp in Philadelphia are two examples. Now part of Bank of New York Mellon, Mellon Financial Services is among the oldest and largest financial enterprises in Pennsylvania and maintains operations in Pittsburgh. Several foreign banks also have North American headquarters in Philadelphia.

The insurance industry has a large Pennsylvania presence; CIGNA, Colonial Penn and Penn Mutual have headquarters in the Southeast. Regional insurers like Erie Insurance in Erie and the Mutual Benefit Group in Huntingdon have grown into successful multi-line franchises. For investment services, Vanguard Group in Malvern manages over $1 trillion and Federated Investors in Pittsburgh handles some $300 billion for customers. Venture capital investors have increased their presence in Pennsylvania as technology investment has grown. Northeast Pennsylvania, situated less than 100 miles from New York City, offers an attractive location for backup office services. State and federal funding of a broadband communication network will allow Wall Street financial firms to backup data and locate secondary operations in Pennsylvania. The program, called Wall Street West, has seen a number of Wall Street firms establish backup operations in Northeastern Pennsylvania.