Easy Way to Meet Minimum Spend & Earn $50 (or More) with a PNC Checking Account!
Hey, You! Have you recently opened up a new credit card (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, perhaps)!?
Yes? Well good for you!
And now that you have your card in hand, I am fairly certain that you will be spending the next few months trying to meet the minimum spend requirements for that credit card so you can earn your sign-up bonus and redeem for free/discounted travel… right!?
If you are in the above position and currently working those minimum spends with all your might (spending responsibly, of course), I have good news for you! There is a great opportunity with PNC Bank, where you have the ability open a new checking account, fund the account with a credit card (up to $2,000), and earn a checking account cash bonus in the process!
As you will note in the offers, there are actually 3 different checking account options (offering $50, $200, & $300 promotional bonuses), each featuring a different bonus amount that comes with specific requirements, so make sure to read the fine print and pick which is right for you!
The offers actually expire today, 8/31/2016 (though will probably appear in the future) and you can sign-up online with relative ease in a matter of 10 minutes or less!
And here is a quick rundown of the bonus information:
- PNC Bank Account Type:Virtual Wallet (VW), VW with Performance Spend and VW with Performance Select
- Availability:Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois
- Expiration Date:08/31/2016
- Credit Inquiry:No, soft pull only via ChexSystems
- Credit Card Funding:Yes, up to $2,000 with Visa or MasterCard
- Direct Deposit Requirement: Yes, $500-$5,000, depending on account type
- Monthly Fee:$7-$25, waived by meeting specific average monthly balance, direct deposit and/or linked accounts requirements
- Additional Requirements:Make at least 10 purchases with your PNC Bank Visa Debit Card.
Check out Money’s My Life’s post for more on the PNC Bank promotions!
For those that are inexperienced in the world of checking account promotion bonuses, there are a few things to look for in order to determine if the bonus is worth your time and effort…
My Criteria and How the PNC Checking Accounts Stack Up:
(1) The checking account can be funded with a credit card – PNC checking accounts can be funded with a credit card up to $2,000… Check!
Tip – You can use the funds in the new checking account write checks and pay bills (including your credit card bill for the credit card that you used to initially fund the account!)
(2) The funding is coded as a purchase – PNC checking account funding is coded as a purchase, if you use the right card… Check!
Note: This is an important factor! If your initial credit card funding is coded as a cash advance, rather than a purchase, it will not count toward your minimum spend requirements and will also charge you a fee – normally the greater of $10 or 5%. So how do you know how the credit card funding will ultimately code? Well, Doctor of Credit has a great listing that collects the actual experiences of other points enthusiasts just like you!
Another tip – Call or secure message/chat your card issuer to set your cash advance limit to $0 to prevent the transaction from coding as a cash advance!
(3) The checking account can be opened with NO Hard Inquiry – The PNC checking account requires a soft pull only… Check!
Note: Hard inquiries will result in a negative impact to your credit. A hard inquiry on a checking account is really not necessary and should be avoided, if possible. I always try to limit hard inquiries outside of those that I incur to open up new credit card accounts for big time sign-up bonus offers only!
(4) The checking account offers a promotional sign-up bonus – The PNC checking accounts have sign-up bonuses ranging $50-$300… Check!
(5) The checking account has no monthly fees (or, only has fees that can be waived relatively easily) – The PNC Bank checking accounts do have monthly fees, but these can be waived based on reasonable average monthly balances, set-up of direct deposit and/or the linking of other PNC accounts… Check!
Final Thought
Checking account promotional bonuses are a great way to meet minimum spending requirements for credit card bonus offers and earn some bonus cash in the process.
The PNC Checking account promotions meet all of my top criteria, which is why I decided to go ahead and open an account yesterday! I opted for the $50 promotion based on the direct deposit requirement and the additional work that would be required for me personally to achieve the $300 promotion requirements, but all of the promotions seem worth the time and effort in my opinion!
Will you be opening a PNC checking account today!?
Happy Minimum Spending!
DW
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