I’m bothered by the fact that PNC Bank will continue offering free checking to senior citizens. What’s to be gained by making an announcement now when the change isn’t going to take place for a year? Select a date in the near future and automatically switch all free checking customers to the new fee-based account.Grandfather free checking immediately and switch to the new fee-based account at the same time for future checking customers.If you’re going to drop free checking, why not select one of these two strategies after developing your new checking product line and ensuring it is ready to launch: I’m not sure why a bank would drop free checking, replacing it with a fee-based account where the fee is waived by simply meeting a small minimum balance requirement – in the case of PNC it’s $500 – or by agreeing to a monthly direct deposit.Īnd I’m puzzled why a bank would make an announcement that free checking was going away a year from now. It’s as if they sat around in countless meetings, wringing their hands and taxing their brains, trying to come up with a new strategy to please every possible customer, prospect, competitor, regulator, and shareholder. Some of the weird decisions banks make never cease to amaze me. I’m sure some of PNC’s competitors are already licking their chops over marketing campaigns that can be launched soon to lure free checking customers to their bank or credit union. One thought that quickly came to mind is that by announcing the demise of free checking now, it will give the bank’s free checking customers plenty of time to switch banks before the June, 2014, switch-over. If free checking is such a drag on the bank’s revenue stream, why not make the changes as soon as possible? Why announce it now yet drag it out for the next eleven or twelve months? What really intrigues me about PNC’s announced changes is the timing. My assumption would be June 2, 2014, as June 1 falls on a Sunday. I was unable to find a specific date in June, 2014, when these changes are to be made. Three, Standard Checking customers will be charged a $7 monthly service charge UNLESS they meet the average monthly balance requirement of $500, receive $500 in monthly direct deposits, or are age 62 or older.įour, sometime in June, 2014, the bank will begin offering two new, fee-based checking accounts that can be free of the monthly service charge if the customers meet the minimum balance requirements. Two, current free checking accounts will be grandfathered until sometime in June, 2014, at which time the customers will be switched to the bank’s new Standard Checking account. The exception is for people age 62 and older. One, effective August 18, 2013, free checking will no longer be available to new and existing customers wanting to open a PNC checking account. Reading several of these articles, here’s what I’ve learned about PNC’s recent announcement: So, you have to ask yourself – is the bank eliminating free checking or only partially eliminating free checking? If you’re 62 or older, you’ll continue receiving free checking, although it will go by a different name.Īpparently, consumers 62 and older walking into the branch beginning Augand after will continue having the choice of a free checking account. The bank is only “killing” free checking for customers age 61 and younger. It’s merely going to cease using the name “Free Checking” to describe one of its checking accounts. I was surprised that words like “demise,” “disowns,” and “banishes” were absent from this list.īut here’s the problem – based on what I read the bank is not eliminating or killing free checking. I am amused by the writers’ choice of action words to describe what was happening to free checking at PNC Bank. PNC Bank To Stop Offering Free Checking.PNC Bank Phasing Out Free Checking Accounts.PNC Bank to Discontinue Free Checking Accounts.PNC to phase out free checking accounts.PNC to end always-free checking accounts.Just take a look at some of the headlines I found doing an online search. Earlier this week the financial and mainstream media were abuzz with articles about PNC Bank’s announcement on June 11 that it was finally falling in line with the other 19 largest banks in America and eliminating the free checking account.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |