MyCardBlog

The subprime crisis has decimated large financial institutions and has ultimately transformed the current financial services market. WaMu was acquired by Chase, Wachoiva was taken by Wells Fargo, AIG is taken over by US government, and Lehman Brothers & Co filed bankruptcy.  National City is also in trouble now. However, one company that has withstood this market turbulence has been PNC Financial Services. (PNC is America’s 11th largest bank by deposits.)

I think you would be surprised to hear that only 2% of PNC’s $143 billion in assets is tied to subprime mortgages. So I think it’s OK to jump PNC’s checking account bonus right now. At least, we don’t have to worry whether this bank will be taken over by FDIC or not.

I reported that PNC offered $100 bonus in July 2008. The $100 bonus sign up page has been changed to the $75 sign up bonus page (link). This $75 bonus is given to new customers to PNC Bank with qualified direct deposit and open a personal checking account between Oct 6 and 18.

The fine print has specific requirement for the direct deposit (PayPal and ING will not work.):

The payout of $75 will be credited to the eligible account within 7 days of the first Direct Deposit, which must occur before 12/31/08. The payout will be identified as “Direct Deposit Reward” on your monthly statement. A qualifying Direct Deposit is defined as a Direct Deposit of a paycheck, pension, Social Security or other regular monthly income electronically deposited into a Free, Performance or Performance Select Checking account. The minimum amount of any single Direct Deposit must be at least $500. The Direct Deposits must be made by an employer or an outside agency. Transfers from one account to another or deposits made at a branch or ATM do not qualify as Direct Deposits. Offer available to new PNC Bank Checking account customers only. Offer may be extended, modified or discontinued at any time and may vary by market.

There are 3 kinds of checking accounts to choose from: Free Checking, Performance Checking, and Performance Select Checking Account. I strongly suggest you open a Free Checking Account to get the $100 bonus offer. The free checking account features:

• No minimum balance and no monthly service charge
• Non-PNC ATM fees reimbursed with a $2,000 average monthly balance
• Free transactions at any PNC Bank ATM
• Free PNC Bank Visa^® Check Card
• Free Visa Extras Rewards Program when you enroll your check card
• Free Online Banking and Bill Pay

There is no hard pull during the account opening process.

PNC is also running a visa card promotion. Any time you use your PNC Bank Visa Card for qualifying purchases between October 1 and December 31, 2008, you’re automatically entered to win a weekly prize of $500 or the grand prize of $20,000.

Please be advised that a “Qualifying Purchase” is any signature-based purchase, Internet purchase, phone or mail-order purchase, bill payment, or small dollar purchase for which you are not required to sign, made with a PNC Bank Visa Card, which is processed through the Visa U.S.A. Inc. payment system.

Any PNC visa check card, visa credit card, business visa credit card is qualified to enter the promotion.