Available in 22 states plus the District of Columbia, PNC is offering a welcome bonus for opening a personal checking account and using direct deposit within the first 2 months. This is their smallest offer, and only requires $500 in direct deposits. But if you can, we recommend choosing one of their larger offers (with higher deposit requirements). Remember, even this $50 makes you ineligible for any other personal checking welcome offer for the next 2 years – so grab as much as you can.
You'll need to use the apply now buttons found on PNC's offer page to be sure the promo is attached to your account, or you can opt for a code by email if you prefer to open in-branch.
Assuming you don't have an account with PNC (and haven't within the last 90 days), we definitely recommend claiming this easy bonus.
How To Earn The Bonus
The PNC Virtual Wallet® promotion requires you to set up direct deposits in order to earn the $50 bonus.
Full requirements to receive this bonus are:
- Open a Virtual Wallet® account using the link below from a mobile device.
- Within 60 days, have a total of $500 in direct deposits.
- Bonus will be deposited into your account 60-90 days after requirements have been met.
Open a Virtual Wallet® account before the bonus expires on June 30, 2023
The fine print
- To qualify, the direct deposit must be a recurring deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited by an employer or an outside agency into the account.
- Not available to existing customers with a consumer checking account or to those who have closed a consumer checking account within 90 days.
- You can only receive one new checking account opening related bonus once every two years.
How does this personal checking offer from PNC compare?
To help you determine how this bonus stacks against the rest, here are some of the most popular offers available right now:
Why PNC Bank?
PNC Bank is the 7th largest in the U.S., with nearly 2,300 physical branches across the country. They recently acquired BBVA, increasing their reach even further.
Similar to Citi's "banking packages", PNC offers combo products that pair checking, short and long-term savings accounts together under "Spend, Reserve and Growth" virtual wallets. A single fee covers the trio of accounts and, like most linked accounts, it's easy to transfer money between the three (plus offers 2-layers of fee-free overdraft protection).
Ultimately, however, PNC isn't our top pick if you're shopping for a new bank. Typical of the big national brands, their interest rates are low. And while they offer online and mobile banking with all of the major features, their apps feel more dated than competitor products (and definitely more than the tech-based banks).
Learn more in our PNC Bank review
Virtual Wallet®
At PNC, a personal checking account is called a Spend account, and pairs with short- and long-term savings accounts (which they call "Reserve and Growth") to fill out your "Virtual Wallet".
This base Virtual Wallet is PNC's basic offer, which has its lowest (and easiest to waive) maintenance fee, but offers no interest on your balance and only 2 reimbursements for non-PNC ATM transactions.
All Virtual Wallet accounts come with 2-layers of overdraft protection, access to PNC's online and mobile banking tools, and in-person service via their 2,300 branches.
Fees
Virtual Wallet® does charge a monthly fee of $7, but there are ways to get this waived:
- At least $500 in direct deposits to the account each month
- OR, maintain a $500 monthly balance in Spend + Reserve
- OR, account holder is older than 62
Apply now for a Virtual Wallet® account to earn the $50 bonus offer
PNC Bank Locations
You may sometimes be required to visit a branch in-person to take advantage of a welcome offer. Or, you may just prefer the convenience of banking with institutions that have locations near you.
Fortunately, PNC Bank has a total of 2689 branches in the United States.
Get a better idea of how well PNC Bank can serve you by checking out their branches closest to your area:
112 E Pecan St
San Antonio, TX 78205
101 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
115 E Van Buren Ave
Harlingen, TX 78550
2001 Kirby Drive
Houston, TX 77019
8951 Main Street
Frisco, TX 75034
202 East Washington Street
Lebanon, IN 46052
235 West 5th Street
San Juan, TX 78589
200 East Broad Street
Groveland, FL 34736
115 North Dooly Street
Montezuma, GA 31063
200 South Lawrence Boulevard
Keystone Heights, FL 32656
6518 West Highway 146
Crestwood, KY 40014
5817 North 2nd Street
Loves Park, IL 61111
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank or financial institution. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.