Hoping to increase overall loyalty, PNC Bank NA, a member of The PNC Financial Services Group Inc., is adding new credit cards to its portfolio whose rewards are based on the consumer’s relationship with the bank, the Pittsburgh-based issuer announced March 1.
The new credit cards, which carry no annual fees, include the PNC CashBuilder Visa, the PNC Points Visa and the PNC Flex Visa.
“We are focused on understanding what our customers want and need to achieve their financial goals,” Joseph Guyaux, PNC president, said in news release. The credit cards feature benefits and rewards that increase based on the extent of the cardholder’s relationship with the bank, Guyaux said.
The CashBuilder card enables consumers to earn 1.25% cash back on all net purchases. Consumers who open a card account between now and the end of March will earn 1.75% cash back for the first billing cycle.
Cardholders with a PNC Performance Select Checking account, however, will continue to earn 1.75% cash back, while cardholders with a PNC Performance checking account will earn 1.5% cash back after the promotional period.
The cash-back rewards never expire, and cardholders may be redeem the funds once the amount reaches $50. They may apply the funds toward their credit card account balance or deposit them into their checking or savings account.
The PNC Points card enables cardholders to earn four points per $1 spent on qualifying purchases such as groceries and gas. Consumers have no limit on the number of points they may earn and will receive 3,000 bonus points on their first qualifying purchase.
Cardholders with a PNC Performance Select checking account will receive a 75% bonus on points earned, while customers with a PNC Performance checking account will receive a 50% bonus and those with a PNC Virtual Wallet will receive a 25% bonus on points earned.
Consumers may redeem their points for cash rewards, gift cards, electronics and travel.
The Flex Visa is similar to the Points Card but also enables consumers to save on interest and to receive a longer introductory offer and a lower balance-transfer rate.
Cardholders who hold a qualifying checking account and meet minimum-balance requirements in that account or other linked accounts will receive enhanced benefits such as 100 points per $1 in nonpromotional interest billed with a total combined average balance of $1,500 or more in an applicable linked account. Consumers with a combined average balance of $500 to $1,499 may earn 100 points per $2 in non-promotional interest billed.
A full relationship program similar to Citibank NA’s ThankYou program, which PNC appears to be emulating, is “a great way to extend your customer base,” Brian Riley, research director for Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup, tells PaymentsSource.
But for rewards credit cards like this, consumers need to go into it with open eyes and really understand the point system because for many rewards programs it takes a lot of purchases to get a small reward, he adds.
For example, for PNC’s point-based credit cards, cardholders require 5,500 points to receive a $10 Starbucks gift card, and they need to spend $40,000 just to get a $100 gift card to Amazon, Riley explains. So for many cardholders, it could take at least three or four years just to get a $100 card, he notes.
And while offering no annual fee for the cards is good, it remains to be seen how the cards will play out and whether the issuer will be able to support it, Riley contends.
Aside from offering new credit cards, PNC also added new checking accounts and updated its Virtual Wallet service (
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