Points Credit Card that is a Visa card offered by PNC Bank. You can earn rewards in form of points that can be redeemed for gift cards, merchandise, and transfer points to other rewards programs. Should you apply for the PNC points Card? Lets find out.
What credit score do I need for PNC Points Card?
The minimum credit score for the credit card is 700 points. However, your application can be denied even if you have 750 points. The reason can vary from too many recent inquiries, high balances on other cards, or not enough disposable income.
Earn points
When you use the credit card to make purchases it earns you 4 points per dollar. In addition you can get a boost of 25% when you have PNC checking account that is called Virtual Wallet.
| Boost | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 25% | Have Virtual Wallet account |
| 50% | Virtual Wallet account with monthly balance of $2,000 or $2,000 direct deposit or $15,000 in connected account |
| 75% | Virtual Wallet account with monthly balance of $5,000 or $5,000 direct deposit or $25,000 in connected account |
With the bonus points you can earn
| Boost | Earn when you spend $1,200 per year |
|---|---|
| 0 | 4,800 points |
| 25% | 6,000 points |
| 50% | 7,200 points |
| 75% | 9,400 points |
Does PNC points credit card have Cell phone protection?
Cell phone protection is a valuable benefit that PNC points card offers. To be eligible you must pay your monthly cell phone bill using the credit card. The benefit is handled by Visa and covers up to $800 in cell phone damage. However, it has $50 deductible.
If you have a cell phone worth $1,000 and it was stolen, then you can file claim and receive $750 in reimbursement.
0% Intro APR
Some people can find it valuable to leverage PNC introductory APR for the first 12 months (1 year). When you make purchases or transfer balance to the credit card you don’t have to pay any interest, but you still must make minimum payments. After the introductory period APR will go up to current variable rate that ranges from 18% and up to 30%.
Purchase offer and balance transfer offer are valuable it you have a clear plan to payoff the balance at the end of 12 billing cycles. Otherwise you shouldn’t carry the balance to avoid getting trapped in credit card debt.
The minimum amount of balance transfer is $200. Before you attempt balance transfer make sure you are aware of 3% balance transfer fee with $5 minimum. The fee is valid for the first 3 months, but then it goes up to 4%. In this light 0% balance transfer offer doesn’t looks so nice. I would call it 3% intro APR.
Cash Advance
Cash advance of PNC points credit card is not something you wan’t to try. It cost 5% (with $10 minimum) of the cash advance amount. In addition to the cash advance fee you should keep in mind, that APR on the amount of cash advance starts accumulating on the very first day.
Foreign transaction fee
PNC points card is not something you want to take for a trip. Each foreign transaction fee will cost you 3% of the amount. Any purchase in currency that is not US dollars is going to cost you 3%.
For example, when you buy something in Euro for an equivalent of $100, PNC charges you $3. In addition to the fee PNC Bank decides which currency conversion course it is going to use. I assure you it is not going to be the most favorable.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual Fee | none |
| Foreign Transaction | 3% |
| Balance Transfer | 4% with $5 minimum |
| Cash Advance | 5% with $10 |
| Late Payment | $38 |
| Returned Payment | $38 |