[Expired] PNC Up To $400 Checking Bonus – Available Nationwide

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $400 
• Availability: Previously this deal has been restricted to: AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, VA, WI and District of Columbia. But this no longer seems to be the case.
• Direct deposit required: $2,000-$5,000 depending on bonus
• Additional requirements: One bill pay 
• Hard/soft pull: Soft 
• Credit card funding: Up to $2,000 with Visa or Mastercard
• Monthly fees: $7-$25, waive-able 
• Early account termination fee: $25 if closed within six months
• Expiration date: December 31st, 2015

Update 11/12/15: They have now updated this offer and it’s much more restricted than before.

The Offer

Direct link to offer

There are actually four separate bonuses on offer depending on which account you select, let’s have a look at each one:

• Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend: Earn a $200 bonus when you do the following:
  • Open a new Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend
  • Establish a qualifying direct deposit of $2000 to your new account
  • Make at least one payment with PNC Online Bill Pay
• Performance Checking: Earn a $200 bonus when you do the following:
  • Open a new Performance Checking account
  • Establish a qualifying direct deposit of $2000 to your new account
  • Make at least one payment with PNC Online Bill Pay
• Virtual Wallet with Performance Select: Earn a $400 bonus when you do the following:
  • Open a new Virtual Wallet with Performance Select
  • Establish a qualifying direct deposit of $5000 to your new account
  • Make at least one payment with PNC Online Bill Pay
• Performance Select Checking: Earn a $400 bonus when you do the following:
  • Open a new Performance Select Checking account
  • Establish a qualifying direct deposit of $5000 to your new account
  • Make at least one payment with PNC Online Bill Pay

The Fine Print

• This bonus offer is valid for new accounts opened through this web page only
• Requirements must be completed within 60 days of account opening
• Account must be kept open to receive bonus
• Bonus will post 60-90 days after the requirement is met
• A qualifying Direct Deposit is defined as a recurring Direct Deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited into a Performance or Performance Select Checking account, or the Spend account of a Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend or Virtual Wallet with Performance Select
• New checking account will not be eligible for the offer if any signer has signing authority on an existing PNC Bank consumer checking account or has closed an account within the past 90 days, or has been paid a promotional premium in the past 12 months
• Limit of one bonus per account

Avoiding Fees

Virtual Wallet With Performance Spend $15 Monthly Fee ($200 Bonus)

You can get this fee waived if you meet any of the following:

• Average monthly balance of $2,000 or more
• Qualifying direct deposit of $2,000 or more
• $15,000 in linked eligible accounts

Performance Checking $15 Monthly Fee ($200 Bonus)

You can get this fee waived if you meet any of the following:

• Average monthly balance of $2,000 or more
• Qualifying direct deposit of $2,000 or more
• $15,000 in linked eligible accounts

Virtual Wallet With Performance Select $25 Monthly Fee ($400 Bonus)

You can get this fee waived if you meet any of the following:

• Average monthly balance of $5,000 or more
• Qualifying direct deposits of $5,000 or more
• $25,000 in linked eligible accounts

Performance Select Checking $25 Monthly Fee ($400 Bonus)

You can get this fee waived if you meet any of the following:

• Average monthly balance of $5,000 or more
• Qualifying direct deposits of $5,000 or more
• $25,000 in linked eligible accounts

Early account termination

• You must pay a $25 early account termination fee if you cancel your account within 6 months of opening (source)

Our Verdict

This is a great offer especially if you have an extra $5,000 laying around to get the full $400 bonus. Now that this bonus seems to be available nationwide, here is my plan:

• Open Performance Select Checking account
• Fund it with $2,000 using a Visa or Mastercard (see what cards did/didn’t count as cash advance here in the past)
• Add in $5,000 as a direct deposit of my payroll (if you can’t easily change your payroll, see what counted as a direct deposit in the past here)
• Pay a bill
• Withdraw all but $5,000 to keep the account fee free
• Wait for my bonus to post
• Wait six months from account opening to avoid early account termination fee
• Close account
• Wait twelve months from receiving first bonus and hopefully do it all again

I’ll have to tie $5,000 up for six months, but I’ll get $400 and also an easy $2,000 in credit card funding to meet some minimum spend requirements. Because this bonus is so good I’ve added it to our list of the best bank account bonuses currently available, which you can view if you click here. You can also view all the bank bonuses currently available here.

In the past PNC has offered bonuses up to $300 online or $400 in branch, but this new offer is vastly superior to those offers.

Hat tip to Yeshu on Twitter