Update 11/6/22: New signup bonus offer is $750 with $25,000 spend, Direct link to offer. (There’s also a separate PNC business card with $400 bonus for $3,000 spend.)
The Offer
- The PNC BusinesOptions Credit card is offering a bonus of $400 in the form of statement credit when you spend $15,000 or more in qualifying purchases
The Fine Print/Card Details
- Offer is valid until
June 30th, 2017January 31st, 2018 - Annual fee varies on spend, first annual fee is due in the 13th billing cycle after account opening (e.g it’s waived first year) and as follows with annual spend of:
- $0-$49,999.99: $500 annual fee
- $50,000-$74,999.99: $250
- $75,000-$99,999.99: $125
- Greater than $100,000: $0
- Choose one of three rewards programs:
- Cash back:
- 1.5% when you choose a revolving card (e.g normal credit card)
- 1.% when you choose a pay in full card (e.g charge card)
- PNC points: 5x points per $1 spent (points are worthless)
- Travel Rewards: 1x mile per $1 spent:
- 25,000 miles = air ticket worth up to $315, then you must redeem in increments of 5,000 miles = $50
- Cash back:
Our Verdict
Ok, so the actual card sucks and there is absolutely no reason why you’d want it after getting the sign up bonus. Annual fee of up to $500 is ridiculous considering it comes with no real benefits (wow you get to control employee spending and you can add your logo for another $350. Are you kidding me?).
Best card is the one that offers 1.5% cash back. If you spent the $15,000 required for the bonus you’d earn:
- $225 in cash back
- $400 from the sign up bonus
Means you’ll be earning at around 4.16% for that $15,000 in spend. Not that bad, but not that great either. I can see this as being useful for somebody that has high spend and it’s certainly better than their crappy 50,000 point personal bonus but for the majority of people there are much better options out there.
Hat tip to Curmudgeon
