August 6, 2019
When I first had an overdraft fee charged to me, I was confused, ashamed and embarrassed. I didn’t know what the policies were and who to speak to about this issue. After a little research, I realized that Americans paid 34 billion dollars in overdraft fees in 2017 alone! I realized this was a common occurrence for Americans, but the most important thing you can do is to arm yourself with information. Every bank will have different standards for what they can and will charge and I’m here to talk about PNC overdraft fees.
How a PNC Bank Overdraft Fee Works
Let’s say you bought a package of M&Ms for $1, but your account only had 50 cents. Well, guess what folks, PNC could charge you $36 per overdraft transaction and up to 4 times a day, for a possible total of $144! In other words, if you are unable to bring your balance back up to zero, PNC might also charge $7 for up to 5 or more days in a row up to a total of $98. That’s a lot of cheddar!
Two Types of Overdraft Protection Services
Now let’s take a look at the different overdraft services PNC offers:
1. Overdraft Protection
PNC will give you the option to link an additional checking or savings account or a credit card or personal line of credit to your bank account. What will happen is, if you end up purchasing something where you would not have enough money to cover it, PNC, will then pull money from these different sources you have linked to pay the amount of purchase. PNC will, however, charge a $10 fee to take care of this transfer.
However, the credit card, bank account or line of credit must be a PNC account! Yep, that’s right! If you have accounts from elsewhere you will not be able to use them to help prevent a PNC overdraft fee
2. Overdraft Coverage
The other option is an Overdraft Coverage. This is a way for PNC to cover debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals at their own discretion. This means PNC could decline the debit purchases from going through. Once you opt-in, you will need to reach out to PNC once you have overdrafted and they will take a look to see if they will waive their $36 charge on a case by case basis.
Avoiding a PNC Overdraft Fee
Some helpful hints and tips for avoiding these nasty fees are to create a reasonable budget that not only reflects your spending habits but also has room for unexpected expenses and includes self-care activities.
Try taking a month to track every purchase that you make. Guilt-free of course! Write them down and at the end of the month take a look to see what purchases you find. Sort out what’s necessary from what isn’t. You work hard and you deserve to enjoy a worry-free life!
Another option would be using an app such as Brigit! You can connect your bank account information and we would be able to tell when you are close to overdraft. Brigit can predict your upcoming balance, provide a breakdown of your expenses, and if you need it, even send you money to prevent you from ever getting an overdraft fee! There are no hidden fees, credit checks or even interest!
