The FNBO secured credit card is a Visa with EMV chip offered by FNBO Bank. It should help you to build your credit score. Why is a credit score so important? A good credit score can save you a lot of money in interest on auto loans and mortgage. It can also give you valuable benefits in the form of a cash bonus when you open a new credit card with a signup bonus.

FNBO Secured credit card is one of those cards which you may consider. Offered by a big respectable bank this Visa card may seem appealing. When you make a security deposit between $300 and up to $5,000 you can use the same credit limit. After 7 months of payments on time FNBO can increase your credit limit without need for additional deposit.

The noticeable benefit of the FNBO Secured Credit Card is graduation. Just like in college but much easier. When you pay off your balance on time every months for some time your credibility with your bank increases. At some point bank can trust you and return your money. In case of this FNBO Secured card after 11 months of payments on time they can return your security deposit and upgrade your card to unsecured one.

The Secured Credit Card of FNBO doesn’t have an annual fee, which makes it a fine choice to hold in the long term. There are many secured and unsecured credit cards for bad credit that charge origination fee, monthly fee, annual fee. FNBO Secured card has no any of these fees.

Additionally they report your payments to 3 credit bureaus every months. It means your credit score can be improved quite soon.

The FNBO credit card has 3% foreign transaction fee. It means using the card abroad is not a good idea. There are credit cards that have no international transaction fees that you can use to buy things in currencies other than US dollars.

Before you apply for this secured credit card make sure you pay off all your credit card debt. It makes no sense to build you credit score if you still cannot manage credit. Carrying any balance using the FNBO credit card is expensive. The APR is 23% which makes building credit score meaningless.

Cash advance and balance transfer of this card will cost you an arm and leg. Fees for cash advance and balance transfer is 5% or $15 whichever is greater. It makes these transfers very expensive.

Being late with minimum payment on a secured credit card is probably the worst thing you can do. It not only costs $40 but also hurts your credit score.

Overall I think the FNBO Secured credit card is a fine choice to build your credit score and keep the card for a long time.

FNBO Evergreen credit card is a Visa card with contactless payments feature. It is offered by First National Bank of Omaha, also known as FNBO. If you compare it with the FNBO Secured Credit card and FNBO Getaway card, then Evergreen is the best card. Other banks, however, can offer similar cards with much better benefits.

First benefit of the FNBO credit card is a one time 20,000 points signup bonus. These 20,000 points are worth $200. You can get the bonus after you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months of account opening. While this bonus is definitely a nice thing, some credit cards can give $200 when you spend only $500.

Second benefit of Evergreen FNBO credit card is 0% intro APR for the first 12 months after you get the card. Current inflation rate makes the offer super attractive. If you must buy something anyway and have money right away you can do the following. Put money in a high interest savings account and pay off the balance over the following 12 months. However, there are credit cards that offer 15 and 21 months intro APR.

Third benefit is a flat 2% cashback. There are no special categories to earn more cashback. In this sense FNBO Evergreen credit card is similar to Wells Fargo Active Cash with its flat 2% cashback.

You can redeem FNBO Reward points in $25 increments. The options are statement credit, ACH deposit to your checking account or as a gift card.

To be approved for this credit card you need a good credit score. When you apply for the card FNBO makes a hard pull. The credit inquiry may result in a small dip in your credit score, but should go up after the first payment. When available credit limit increases, credit utilization goes down which in its turn raises your credit score.

FNBO Evergreen credit card has no annual fee. It is a great benefit that is expected from this kind of card.

Balance transfer will cost you $10 or 5% fee. It is too expensive in my opinion. Many credit cards charge you only 3% for balance transfer. Cash advance at the same time cost $15 or 5% fee.

I would suggest using this card only to receive the signup bonus and leverage 12 months intro APR. After this, using the FNBO Evergreen credit card makes no sense.

FNBO Getaway credit card is a greenish MasterCard that with features like security EMV chip and contactless payments technology.

The card is the next step after you have improved your credit score to at least 620 points. Even though the credit card has low minimum credit score requirement it is not a secured credit card. Getaway card requires no security deposit and no need for an annual fee. Which is a very nice thing.

The most noticeable benefit of this FNBO credit card is 0% intro APR for 12 months. It means you can make only minimum payments for 11 months and put the rest of the money into a high interest savings account. Then after 12 months you can pay off the balance from this savings account and avoid its regular 27% APR.

The cash back of the Getaway card is OK, but not great. You can earn 3 points on travel, dining, and gas. Which is fine if you don’t have alternatives. Also you can get only 1 point cashback on everything else.

One point is worth 1 cent. So you can redeem the reward points for cashback as a statement credit or ACH deposit. But you can redeem not less than $25.

There are few additional benefits like airport concierge and global services. Airport concierge gives you 15% discount on personalized airport services. For example, you can get a dedicated agent to escort you through more than 700 airports of the whole flat world. I would expect this benefit from a premium credit card like American Express Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve. Why would someone with FNBO Getaway Credit Card need such a service?

Global services can provide you card replacement or emergency cash if you are stuck somewhere in a foreign country. The benefit is so rarely used, that mentioning it makes no sense in my opinion.

FNBO Getaway Credit Card has no foreign transaction fee and no annual fee. But it has a balance transfer fee. It is $10 or 5% of the amount of balance transfer. Cash advance fee is $15 or 5% and late payment fee is $40 and returned payment is $35.

FNBO Getaway Credit Card has numerous competitors with much better benefits. Its 15% discount on personalized airport services makes no sense. Target audience of this card is not in a position to buy luxury services.

PNC Core Credit Card is a plain Visa card. It may be worth your attention if you already have a PNC Virtual Wallet account. Unlike other PNC credit cards Core has some valuable benefits.

To be approved for a PNC Core credit card you’ll need a good credit score. Some people recommend 750 points or more. In exchange you can get a $100 signup bonus when you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months. You may also receive pre-selected offer without any signup bonus. Getting free cash is very nice, but there are cards like PNC Cash Rewards that give you $200 for the same spending amount. There are cards that give $200 when you spend only $500. For example, Quicksilver from Capital One and Freedom from Chase.

Then there is 0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months. It is definitely better than 12 months of PNC Cash Rewards. If you have a high interest saving account with 5% APY it can be worth more than $50 as a cash bonus. For example, Varo Savings pays 5% on up to $5,000.

Credit Limit

Credit limit that you can get for the PNC Core credit card can go as high as $10,000. PNC Bank automatically considers you for a higher credit limit every 6 months. It means if your initial credit limit is low after half of a year it can go up.

This card has no annual fee, which is a big plus. I like cards that pay a nice bonus and don’t charge an annual fee.

As most credit card PNC Core credit card has EMV chip for additional security. It also has contactless payment feature, so that you can tap to pay in store. Merchant should have enabled terminal. However, the benefits which make the PNC Core card stand out are the following.

Purchase security

Purchase security is also known as purchase protection. When you use the credit card to purchase non-perishable goods like personal electronics for up to $500 per claim and up to $50,000 per year. In case of theft, fire, vandalism, water it should reimburse you for repairs and replacement. The $500 is quite a small coverage, but still better than nothing.

Please be aware, that insurance covers limited number of cases.

• Sudden accidental damage from electric current
• Accidental discharge of water or steam from household plumbing
• Windstorm, hail, rain, sleet, or snow
• Caused by vehicles like car

It doesn’t cover cases like

• Items stolen from card
• Medical and professional equipment
• Pre-owned, refurbished items
• Purchased for resale
• Items in your luggage
• Items with expiration date

To get coverage you have to call within 60 days of occurrence to Administrator 1-800-553-4820

Cell phone protection

When you pay your cellphone bill using PNC Core credit card it insures your phone. Insurance has $50 deductible and covers up to $800 per claim. There is also a limit of $1,600 per year.

Travel and emergency assistance

When you travel and have some medical or legal troubles, you can use card’s hot line that can coordinate the services. However, you have to pay for them yourself.

Travel accident insurance

When you have and accident during your trip, the PNC Core Card supposed to cover you up to $250,000 in case of accident. Keep in mind, that it applies only when you buy tickets using the credit card.

Roadside dispatch

This benefit can help you in case of troubles on the road. This service includes assisting with coordination of tire changing, towing, jump starting, fuel delivery. To use this benefit you can call 1-800-847-2869. The service cost $70 per service call.

Fees of PNC Core credit card.

You should pay attention to the fees of PNC Core Credit Card.

Fee	Amount
Annual fee	$0
Balance transfer fee	3% or $5 for the first 90
Cash advance fee	5% or $10
Foreign transaction fee	3%
Late payment fee	$38
Returned fee	$38

If you like the benefits and the $100 signup bonus, then apply for PNC Core card, but there are better cards with high signup bonus and more generous benefits.

PNC Core credit card is a great option if you already have PNC Virtual Wallet account and want to keep your finance simple. Having credit and debit accounts under the same bank allows you to have less efforts to track your spending.

Cash Rewards credit card is offered by PNC Bank to people with good or excellent credit scores. This card has many reasons to grab your attention. The list of pros include generous signup bonus, cashback rewards, intro APR, and no annual fee. It has few cons that you should be aware of.

Before you apply for PNC Cash Rewards Credit Card make sure to read my review. It can save you from some costly mistakes.

If you are eager to earn a cash bonus, then welcome to the club. Get $200 after you make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Make sure to not overspend, but $200 is a good discount if you must buy something anyway. You should also know about PNC Core Credit Card that offers only $100 bonus on the same conditions.

After you spend the $1,000 you can and probably should stop using the card. Setup a monthly payment of $100 and forget about this card for the next 12 months. Its intro APR of 0% is a good choice. But after 12 months carrying any balance becomes prohibitively expensive. Regular APR of the PNC credit card ranges from 16% and up to 28%.

You can use the card from time to time to get 4% cash back at gas stations. It seems fine for dining and restaurants with 3% cash back. However you’d better use some other card for grocery stores and other purchases. PNC Cash Rewards with 2% cashback and 1% don’t have a chance.

Category	Cashback
Gas Stations	4%
Dining and Restaurants	3%
Grocery stores	2%
Other	1%

To redeem cashback you should have at least $25 in rewards account.  You can take it as a statement credit which should lower your balance or deposit it to your PNC savings account. The cashback doesn’t expire, but I would strongly advise to redeem your cashback as soon as you can.

Unlike PNC Secured Card this Rewards Credit Card has no annual fee which makes it a fine card to keep in the long term. After a few years it should strengthen your credit history.

The PNC credit card has an EMV chip for additional security. This way it is way harder to copy your card. It also has contactless payments technology that allows you to pay with a tap. It is on par with majority of other Visa cards offered by other banks.

What I don’t like about this card is foreign transaction fee of 3% which makes it a bad choice for any purchases other than in US dollars. You should take something else on your trip abroad.

Fees

Fee	Amount
Annual Fee	$0
Cash Advance fee	5% (min $10)
Balance Transfer fee	4% (min $5)
Foreign Transaction fee	3%
Late payment	$38

Late payment and returned payment fee can go up to $38. After late payment the penalty APR gets 31%. So make sure to make a minimum payment as soon as you get a statement. You can then make any additional payments. It is also a great idea to setup autopay to avoid termination of intro APR.

PNC Cash Rewards Credit Card requires good or excellent credit score. With high credit score you can get a lot of good credit cards. Why else do you need a credit score?

Lack of any other benefits concerns me the most. The card has no purchase protection. Many other cards insure your purchase for the first 3 months. It has no cellphone insurance, no extended warranty, no car rental waiver.

Let’s be honest. If you want easy cash, then go ahead and apply. Other than getting $200 signup bonus and using 12 months intro APR, the PNC Cash Rewards card is worthless.

The secured credit card offered by PNC Bank is supposed to help you to establish and build your credit score. Why is it important to build a credit score? A good score can save you a lot of money in interest on auto loans and mortgages. It can also give you valuable benefits in the form of cash bonuses when you open a new credit card and other perks.

Can I apply for PNC secured credit card online?

You CANNOT apply for PNC Secured Credit Card online. The only way to get this card is to visit banks branch and apply in person. This is very inconvenient, but it is what it is. Other PNC cards allow you to apply online, but this one is exception.

What credit score do you need for a PNC secured card?

Unlike other cards, this secured card doesn’t require you to have high credit score. You can get approved even with a low credit score. Approval odds depend on many factors and not only on score. You have to earn enough disposable income to payoff it in full every month.

Is it a legitimate card?

PNC credit card is one of those cards which you may consider. Offered by a big respectable bank this Visa card may seem appealing. The credit card has an EMV chip for additional security and a contactless payment feature. You can use it to make payments in person and online.

What credit limit can I get?

Your credit limit of determined by your security deposit. When you make a security deposit of up to $2,500 you can get the same credit limit. When you close the credit card you have to first pay it off in full and only the you can get the deposit back.

Does PNC Secured Credit Card have graduation?

No, unfortunately the secured credit card has no graduation. It means if you don’t want to pay the annual fee you must close the account. Then you can get your security deposit. The whole idea of a secured credit card is graduation when credit score improves.

Benefits

The Visa benefits package of this card is very limited. The only thing included is Roadside Dispatch. When you have some troubles on the road you can call 1-800-847-2869 and let them know what is your problem. It cost $70 per service call that provides towing up to 5 miles, tire changing, lockout, fuel delivery up to 5 gallons, winching, and jump-starting. While it is not free, it can be cheaper than local services.

Fees

Fee	Amount
Annual fee	$3 per month or $36 per year
Balance Transfer	3% of the amount ($5 minimum)
Cash Advance	4% of the amount ($10 minimum)
Foreign Transaction	3% of the amount
Late payment	$35
Returned payment	$35

How to make payments?

You can pay your credit card bill online using PNC Online banking account or through regular mail. The last way is to call automated phone service by calling 1-800-558-8472

Concerns

My first concern is that you can apply for the card only in person at a PNC Bank branch. That seems strange. Other banks like US Bank and Capital One allow you to apply for the secured card online.

My second concern is that the PNC secured credit card doesn’t have graduation. Graduation means your secured credit card is converted to an unsecured one and your security deposit is returned back to you. Then you can keep using the card. It is very useful when you build your credit score. One of the key factors that affect your score is the length of your credit history. How old is your oldest credit? You should always keep your first credit card. So if your credit score increased and you decide to close your secured card? Then the length of your credit history will go down and pull your credit score with it.

My third concern is that you cannot open this card online. You have to go to the branch and apply in person. This is super inconvenient.

My fourth concern is the monthly fee of $3. This is $36 per year. I don’t like credit cards for bad credit that have a monthly fee, annual fee, origination fee, etc.

So my conclusion is you should not waste your time on this PNC secured credit card. Bank made it as inconvenient as possible. Focus on a good card that you can keep for many years to come.