PNC Bank Promotions: Get $50 – $400 For New Checking Account

I grew up in on Long Island in New York and went to school in Pittsburgh for several years and would end up settling in Maryland. I've only ever lived in the Mid-Atlantic region, if Long Island counts, and for my adult life, PNC Bank has always had a location nearby.

When I went off to school in Pittsburgh, I opened a student checking account at a local PNC Bank.

One of my first bank accounts was at PNC Bank, opened at the branch on the corner of South Craig and 5th Avenue. I did it because they had ATMs in the University Center and I didn't have a car. Back then, you had to do a lot in a branch. Nowadays, you can do most of it on a mobile app.

When I opened up my account, I think I got a t-shirt.

If you open up an account today, they'll give you hundreds of dollars. 🙂

How to get $50 – $400 from PNC Bank

PNC Bank is offering big bonuses if you open a checking account that includes their Virtual Wallet Product. The offer you get will depend on whether you are inside or outside PNC Bank's geographic footprint.

PNC Bank will give you up to a $400 cash bonus reward if you open up a new account. There are three accounts that qualify:

• Open a Virtual Wallet account and establish total qualifying direct deposits of $500+ and get $50.
• Open a Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend account and establish total qualifying direct deposits of $2,000+ and get $200.
• Open a Virtual Wallet with Performance Select account and establish total qualifying direct deposits of $5,000+ and get $400.

What's nice is you can open this completely online, no need to visit a branch. If you do need to visit a branch, use this branch locator to find them.

Learn more
(Offer expires 2/1/2021)

How to Avoid Account Fees

There are account fees associated with each of the three accounts but they are easy to avoid. In fact, if you meet the bonus requirements and maintain that direct deposit, you avoid the monthly fee.

Otherwise, there are other ways to avoid them if you remove the deposit.

For the Virtual Wallet, you can avoid the $7 monthly fee if you do one of the following:

• $500+ in qualifying direct deposits each statement period,
• $500 average monthly balance in Spend and Reserve accounts,
• Be age 62 or older.

For the Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend, you can avoid the $15 monthly fee if you do one of the following:

• $2,000+ in qualifying direct deposits each statement period,
• $2,000 average monthly balance in Spend and Reserve accounts,
• $10,000 combined average monthly balance in PNC consumer deposits.

For the Virtual Wallet with Performance Select, you can avoid the $25 monthly fee if you do one of the following:

• $5,000+ in qualifying direct deposits each statement period,
• $5,000 average monthly balance in Spend and Reserve accounts,
• $25,000 combined average monthly balance in PNC consumer deposits.

Oh, to set up the direct deposit, you may need to lookup your PNC Bank routing number.

Is This A Good Bank Offer?

There are offers with high dollar amounts but they often have deposit minimums or higher direct deposit requirements. This offer, of $200 to just open an account and receive a qualifying direct deposit (and make 10 purchases), is very easy to achieve.

Wells Fargo has the highest dollar amount bonus currently available at $400 but it requires you to receive a total of $4,000 or more in qualifying direct deposits into the new checking account within 90 days from account opening in the first 90 days. The minimum deposit is trivial ($25) and reaching the qualifying direct deposit amount over that long of a period is often quite doable.

Alternatively, Discover Bank has an offer on their Online Savings Account but you need to deposit at least $15,000. If you open an account and deposit $15,000 then you get $150. If you can deposit $25,000 or more, then you can get $200 for your trouble. What's nice is that it's a savings account so you earn a pretty solid interest rate of 0.50% APY.

So the PNC Bank promotion is a slightly lower bonus but has much easier bonus requirements to get the money.