A Look at the Virtual Wallet of PNC Bank
The PNC Bank encourages its consumers to take advantage of their high yield savings account in combo with a checking account. The program is called Virtual Wallet.
The Virtual Wallet is designed to have a structure of three accounts in one: the Spend Account or the best Checking Account, the Growth Account or the high interest rate savings account, and the Reserve Account which is for overdraft protection and short term savings.
The Virtual Wallet requires a minimum deposit of $25. It does not require any maintaining balance or monthly service fees. It also has check writing privileges that charges consumers $0.50 if he or she exceeds 3 checks on a monthly basis.
ATM fees at non-PNC ATM terminals will be refunded if an account has a monthly balance of $2000 in the Spend and Reserve portion of their Virtual Wallet.
The rates are very competitive for the high interest rate savings account or Growth account. The deposit earns 3.00% APY for balances through $25K and 1% for amounts above the cap. The Reserve Account earns 0.10% APY.
The bank does not charge for the set up of the overdraft protection and also does not collect from transfer fees. The system also provides online tools which can help consumers manage their funds.
PNC encourages Virtual Wallet holders to take advantage of technology and pay bills online.
Virtual Wallet also has an ACH transfer capability but is bounded with a lot of limitations. For the first 2 months, a consumer may only 5 external transfers of not more than $2K each scheduled over a month’s period. After the 60-day limitations, one may ask the bank for an increase in limits and this can be for as much as $25K.
The Virtual Wallet was started in 2008. Today, with all the interest rates dropping, this program seems to be very favorable. Again, it will be best to ask the banks for an updated rates chart before signing up for anything.
PNC Bank has offices in Kentucky, Delaware, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Florida, Mary Land, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. These branches will increase in number since National City is already with PNC.
The bank is FDIC insured with certificate # 6384.
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