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.