PNC Minimum Balance 2026 — Checking and Savings Accounts

As of September 2026, PNC’s confirmed checking lineup is PNC Simple Checking ($5/month), Virtual Wallet ($7/month), and Virtual Wallet with Performance Select ($25/month). Virtual Wallet, PNC’s signature product, bundles checking and savings into a three-account system.

Correction note: earlier versions of this page referenced a “PNC Standard Checking” account and a “Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend” middle tier. Two independent live checks of pnc.com’s checking account pages in September 2026 showed only the three products above. “Standard Checking” was likely a misnaming of Virtual Wallet paired with the wrong fee context; PNC’s actual lower-cost account is Simple Checking at $5/month. Confirm at pnc.com whether a Performance Spend tier is still offered before relying on a $15/month, $2,000-balance figure for it.

PNC Account Minimums at a Glance

Verified against pnc.com in September 2026. Confirm current terms before opening an account, as PNC periodically updates its account lineup.

PNC Simple Checking

PNC Simple Checking charges $5 per month. The fee is waived with any qualifying direct deposit, or automatically for account holders under 25 or 62 and older. Qualifying direct deposits include payroll, government benefits, and pension payments; transfers from your own accounts at other institutions do not qualify.

Virtual Wallet

Virtual Wallet is PNC’s flagship checking product. It combines three accounts in one: Spend for everyday transactions, Reserve for short-term savings, and Growth for longer-term savings. The $7 monthly fee is waived with any qualifying direct deposit, or through a balance-based waiver — confirm the exact current balance threshold and calculation method (PNC has in the past described this as a combined balance across all three linked accounts) at pnc.com.

Virtual Wallet with Performance Select

Virtual Wallet with Performance Select charges $25 per month, waived by maintaining $5,000 in direct deposits or average balance, or by holding a linked PNC mortgage. Performance Select includes benefits such as unlimited non-PNC ATM fee reimbursement.

PNC Savings Account Minimums

Standard Savings charges a $5 monthly fee, waived by maintaining a $300 minimum daily balance or by linking the savings account to any PNC checking account. The linked-checking waiver means most PNC checking customers can hold a Standard Savings account at no charge without maintaining any specific balance in the savings account itself.

For customers using Virtual Wallet, the Reserve and Growth savings accounts are included in the package and have no separate fee or minimum balance requirement beyond the Virtual Wallet waiver conditions.

For current savings rates, see the PNC savings account guide.

How to Avoid PNC Monthly Fees

For Virtual Wallet and PNC Simple Checking, setting up any qualifying direct deposit is the most reliable waiver for most employed customers. For PNC Simple Checking specifically, customers under 25 or 62 and older get the fee waived automatically regardless of activity.

For a full breakdown of all PNC charges, see the PNC fees guide.

For a complete overview of PNC accounts, limits, and contact information, see the PNC complete guide.

Written by WealthVieu

WealthVieu researches and writes data-driven personal finance guides using primary sources including the IRS, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, and Census Bureau.