PNC Virtual Wallet® with Performance Select $300 Bonus

PNC is offering a competitive welcome bonus for opening a personal checking account and using direct deposit within the first 2 months. 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.

If the $5k in direct deposit is too high, they're also running a couple of smaller offers with lower deposit requirements.

Assuming you don't have an account with PNC (and haven't within the last 90 days), we definitely recommend grabbing this easy bonus.

How To Earn The Bonus

The PNC Virtual Wallet® with Performance Select promotion requires you to set up direct deposits in order to earn the $300 bonus.

Full requirements to receive this bonus are:

1. Open a Virtual Wallet with Performance Select account using the link below.
2. Within 60 days, have a total of $5,000 in direct deposits.
3. Bonus will be deposited into your account 60-90 days after requirements have been met.

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:

U.S. Bank

U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking

Bonus

up to $1000

Account Type

Personal Checking

Expires In

29 days

Requires

• Direct Deposit
• Min Balance (optional)

Full Details

Citi®

Citi Priority Relationship Tier

Bonus

up to $2000 w/activities

Account Type

Personal Checking

Expires In

99 days

Requires

• Min Balance

Full Details

Discover

Cashback Debit

Bonus

up to $360

Account Type

Personal Checking

Expires In

Limited Time

Requires

• Card Spend

Full Details

Why PNC Bank?

PNC Bank is the 7th largest in the U.S., with over 60,000 ATMs and approximately 2,400 physical branches across the country. This includes the former BBVA locations, which they acquired in 2021.

PNC offers "Spend, Reserve and Growth" virtual wallets. Spend is for day-to-day activity, Reserve is for short term planning, and Growth is a long term savings account. 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 in some markets. 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® with Performance Select

At PNC, a personal checking account is called a Spend account, and is intended for day-to-day spending. It pairs with short-term planning account (called Reserve) and a long-term savings account (called Growth) to fill out your "Virtual Wallet".

Virtual Wallet with Performance Select is PNC's premium offer (with a matching premium maintenance fee), but offers PNC's highest interest rates on your checking balance.

All Virtual Wallet accounts come with 2-layers of overdraft protection, access to PNC's online and mobile banking tools, and in-person service at one of their branches.

Fees

Virtual Wallet® with Performance Select does charge a monthly fee of $25, but there are ways to get this waived:

• At least $5,000 in direct deposits to the account each month
• OR, maintain a $5,000 monthly balance in Spend + Reserve
• OR, maintain a monthly balance of $25,000 in all PNC consumer and/or investment accounts

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.

Get a better idea of how well PNC Bank can serve you by checking out their branches closest to your area:

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.