PNC Checking and Savings Review 2026: Monthly Fee, Waiver and Rates

For someone with a $400 average balance and no paycheck in the account, PNC Simple Checking is the cheapest PNC checking account, at $5 a month. Virtual Wallet costs $84 a year in that case, and Performance Select costs $300. These figures come from PNC's own fee schedules, read October 10, 2026, and each schedule states the test that waives its fee, where one applies.

PNC's checking lineup works like a fee ladder, and the cheapest rung depends on where your paycheck lands and how much you keep in the account. Simple Checking is the only account here whose main waiver is a direct deposit, with no balance test. Outside the age and employee waivers, the other three accounts each need a balance or deposit of at least $500 to drop the fee.

FinanceRadar data: 10 of the 14 checking accounts we verify have no monthly maintenance fee, as of October 9, 2026 (checking account statistics). PNC is not among those 14, so the fee figures below come from PNC's own schedules.

The four personal checking accounts and their waivers

PNC runs four main personal checking accounts, and each one waives its fee through a different test. A student version of Virtual Wallet sits outside this page. The opening deposit is $25 at a branch, and nothing at all when the account is opened online.

Simple Checking is the only one that any paycheck can clear, however small. The schedule defines a qualifying direct deposit as a recurring payment of pay, a pension, Social Security or other regular income. Transfers, card cash advances, wires, and branch, ATM, mobile or mailed deposits do not count. Virtual Wallet's balance test is the lowest of the balance tests, and it accepts deposits as well. The Performance tiers ask for balances in the thousands, so a balance well below those levels pays the full monthly charge unless a deposit test is met.

That makes Simple Checking the fit for a salaried worker who wants no balance test. Virtual Wallet fits someone who keeps the balance or the deposits at its threshold, and the Performance tiers only make sense for a buyer who keeps thousands in the account or links enough deposits to meet the test.

What it costs in three balance scenarios

Each row applies the waivers above to a balance with no paycheck, then multiplies the monthly charge by 12.

At $400, Simple Checking is the cheapest, and it wins because it has no balance test to meet. Below Virtual Wallet's balance test with no paycheck, Simple undercuts it, and at that test Virtual Wallet drops to free. The Performance Spend balance test is met exactly on the middle row, which is why it shows free there.

A paycheck changes the answer. With a qualifying direct deposit, Simple Checking is free, and Virtual Wallet is free once a deposit test is met. Without a paycheck, Simple still charges its monthly fee at the top balance, because no balance waives it.

Savings: the fee tests are published, the APY is not

PNC's savings schedules print fees and waivers but no APY. Each one tells readers to call 1-888-PNC-BANK for the current rate, and the Spend account on Virtual Wallet earns no interest at all.

Standard Savings costs $5 a month. An average balance of $300 in the account removes the fee, and so does one automatic savings transfer of $25 or more from PNC checking in the statement period, a link to a qualifying checking account, or age under 25.

Premiere Money Market costs $12 a month unless the account holds an average balance of $5,000 or is linked as a benefit account to a qualifying checking account. Without the balance or a link, the fee runs to $144 a year before any interest.

High Yield Savings has no monthly service charge and opens with no minimum. Its schedule says the balance earns interest and gives no rate. A PNC product page for the account shows 3.15% APY in its title with no date, and the body says the product is not available in every area. We do not treat that figure as a verified rate.

FinanceRadar data: the 48 high-yield savings accounts we verify with a published APY average 3.25%, as of October 10, 2026 (high-yield savings statistics). Check PNC's current yield before you set it against that average. Our CD rate statistics cover other banks, and PNC's CD rates are not covered here.

The charges that cost more than the monthly fee

A monthly fee is predictable. The charges below are not, and they differ most between the two accounts.

• Overdraft on Virtual Wallet: $36 per item, capped at one fee a day. PNC refunds the fee when the account is overdrawn by $5 or less at the end of the day. A single item costs more than five months of the $7 charge.
• Overdraft on Simple Checking: no charge per item on its schedule. Returned items cost nothing on either account.
• ATM outside the PNC network on Simple Checking: $3 in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and $5 elsewhere. PNC's own ATMs are free.
• Paper statements: $3 a period on Virtual Wallet and $2 on Simple Checking, unless you enroll in online statements within the first three statement cycles. Customers 62 and older pay nothing.

The overdraft line is the one to read before you open Virtual Wallet, because a thin balance is what triggers it.

How we checked

We read PNC's fee schedules for Simple Checking, Virtual Wallet, Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend, Virtual Wallet with Performance Select, Standard Savings, High Yield Savings and Premiere Money Market on October 10, 2026. The main schedules are Simple Checking, Virtual Wallet, Performance Select and Standard Savings. Their effective dates are February 22, 2026 for Simple Checking and Performance Select, May 31, 2026 for Virtual Wallet, Standard Savings and Premiere Money Market, November 16, 2025 for Performance Spend, and June 22, 2025 for High Yield Savings. Every fee and waiver figure is the threshold its schedule prints, and the Simple Checking product page states the same direct deposit and age waivers. The scenario totals are our arithmetic: the monthly fee times 12, with the waiver tested against the balance shown. The statistics come from our own checking and savings data, recomputed on the dates shown. We did not open an account.

FAQ

What does a PNC checking account cost per month?

Monthly charges run from the lowest tier to the highest in the table above, on schedules effective between November 2025 and May 2026. Simple Checking is the lowest and Performance Select the highest. Each charge goes away when its waiver is met, so the amount you pay depends on the balance and deposits you keep.

Which balance waives the PNC checking fee?

Virtual Wallet needs $500 in average monthly balance across Spend and Reserve, or the same amount in qualifying direct deposits. Performance Spend needs $2,000, or $10,000 across linked consumer deposit accounts. Performance Select needs $5,000, or $25,000 across linked deposit and Wealth Management accounts. Simple Checking has no balance test, so a direct deposit, an age waiver or employee status clears its fee.

Is PNC Simple Checking free?

Only with a qualifying direct deposit, or for customers under 25, customers 62 and over, or PNC employees. Otherwise the monthly charge applies, which comes to $60 a year.

What is the PNC savings APY?

PNC's savings schedules print no APY and direct readers to 1-888-PNC-BANK. A High Yield Savings page shows 3.15% in its title with no date, and the product is not available in every area, so we do not quote it as a verified rate. Confirm the current yield with PNC before you choose an account.

How much is the PNC overdraft fee?

On Virtual Wallet an overdraft item costs $36, capped at one fee a day, and PNC refunds it when the account is overdrawn by a small amount at the end of the day. Simple Checking's schedule lists no charge per overdraft item.

Can I open PNC checking with no deposit?

Not at a branch, where the minimum is $25 on the checking accounts, Standard Savings and Premiere Money Market. Opening online, the minimum drops to nothing on those accounts. High Yield Savings has no minimum either way.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm current fees, waiver tests and rates with PNC before you open or keep an account.

Cite this: FinanceRadar, "PNC Checking and Savings Review 2026: Monthly Fee, Waiver and Rates", October 2026.