PNC Bank; Alyssa Powell/Business Insider
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- The rules about which PNC accounts you can open depend on if you live in a market with branches.
- You can qualify for a high-yield savings account if you live in a market without PNC branches.
- PNC doesn’t offer a standalone checking account but instead offers a three-account package.
- See Insider’s list of the best high-yield savings accounts »
Should you use PNC Bank?
| You might like banking with PNC if you: | You might not like banking with PNC if you: |
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Savings
The
This account is only available online, and only to residents of states where there are no PNC branches. You aren’t eligible to open a PNC High Yield Savings Account if you live in one of the following states:
- Alabama
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Virginia
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Note that PNC does have one branch in Texas, but residents of Texas can still open a
This setup may be discouraging for residents of states like New York and West Virginia, where there are only a few branches, but people are still unable to open
PNC does offer other savings accounts for in-person bankers, but rates are significantly lower, and there are monthly maintenance fees.
Checking
PNC has an online checking account called
PNC calls its everyday checking features Spend. At no extra cost, you can also open a
You may qualify to earn a $200 sign-up bonus when you open a
CDs
PNC offers more types of CDs than most banks, including regular term CDs and a Ready Access CD, which doesn’t charge a penalty if you withdraw funds before the CD matures.
Rates are comparable to or higher than what you’ll find at many other brick-and-mortar banks, but still low compared to what online banks pay.
PNC Bank does offer more term options than most banks, so if you want to open a CD with a term shorter than three months or longer than five years, PNC Bank could be a good option. However, CDs are only available to residents of states where there are branches, so if you don’t live in one of 21 states or DC, you’re out of luck.
Money market
The
The
How PNC Bank works
PNC Bank has 2,310 branches across 21 US states and Washington DC. Here are the states with brick-and-mortar locations:
- Alabama
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Your decision to bank with PNC could largely depend on whether you live near a branch. You have to live in a state with branches to open a CD. However, you can only access high-yield savings options if you live in a market where there are no branches, with the exception of Texas.
PNC offers an easy-to-use mobile app, which has received 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.4 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store. You’ll download a separate app if you have a Virtual Wallet, and the Virtual Wallet app has 4.4 stars in the Apple store and 4.3 stars in the Google Play store.
PNC has a feature for its Spend account to help avoid overdraft fees called Low Cash Mode. The perk, available through the bank’s mobile app, gives you 24 hours to bring your account balance to $0 before you’re charged overdraft penalties. You also have the option to pay or return individual checks and payments made using your checking account when your balance is negative.
To contact customer support, call Monday through Friday between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. ET, or weekends from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. The bank also has a live chat function, but you’ll have to check back later if all representatives are busy; there’s no way to queue.
Your PNC accounts are FDIC insured for up to $250,000, or $500,000 for joint accounts.
Is PNC Bank trustworthy?
The Better Business Bureau gives PNC Bank an A+ in trustworthiness. A good BBB rating signifies a company responds effectively to customer complaints, has honest advertising practices, and is transparent in how it handles business.
Despite PNC’s great BBB score, the bank has had one recent public scandal. In 2019, PNC was accused of aiding a man in carrying out a fake debt relief project, which cost customers a total of $85 million. In 2014, PNC had suspected the man of running a scheme and closed his bank accounts. But nine months later, the bank let him open more accounts.
How PNC Bank compares
We’ve compared PNC with one bank that has both physical and digital banking capabilities (Capital One), and one bank with branches in the same parts of the US as PNC (Wells Fargo).
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PNC |
Capital One 360 |
Wells Fargo |
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Savings APY Up to |
Savings APY |
Savings APY |
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Minimum opening deposits Up to $5,000 |
Minimum opening deposits $0 |
Minimum opening deposits Up to $5,000 |
|
Monthly fees Up to $25 |
Monthly fees $0 |
Monthly fees Up to $30 |
PNC Bank review vs. Capital One review
Capital One is primarily an online bank, but it does have branch locations in eight US states and Washington DC. You may like Capital One if you’re comfortable banking online, and you’ll get the best of both worlds if you live near a branch.
Unlike PNC, Capital One doesn’t have rules about what you can access if you live in a market with or without branches. It pays competitive rates on savings accounts and CDs, and unlike PNC, it lets you open a standalone checking account.
You still may prefer PNC if you want to open a money market account, though. The
PNC Bank review vs. Wells Fargo review
Wells Fargo is a brick-and-mortar bank. Although it has online banking capabilities, there aren’t any online-specific accounts. Wells Fargo has branches in more states than PNC, so if you prefer in-person banking and live near a Wells Fargo branch, you may prefer it to PNC.
However, you don’t have any high-yield options with Wells Fargo. PNC will pay higher rates on CDs, and you may qualify for a high-yield savings option if you live in certain markets. If earning interest is important to you, then you’ll probably like PNC.
Laura Grace Tarpley is an editor at Personal Finance Insider, covering mortgages, refinancing, bank accounts, and bank reviews. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF). Over her four years of covering personal finance, she has written extensively about ways to save, invest, and navigate loans.
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