PNC Credit Card Approval Odds: Requirements, Process Explained

Short Answer

PNC Bank does not have a minimum credit score requirement for its credit cards. Instead, it takes into consideration your employment history, income, and debt-to-income ratio. You do not need an existing PNC Bank account to apply for a credit card. To increase your approval odds, you’ll want to pay down existing credit card balances and make on-time bill payments.

PNC Credit Card Approval Odds

PNC Bank has thousands of branches in about 20 states. While PNC offers asset management services, insurance, and investments, most people use its standard banking services and apply for its various credit cards.

Upon application for a credit card, PNC will ask for information like your total annual income and employment status. PNC doesn’t solely rely on your credit score to determine eligibility.

PNC Bank currently offers four Visa-branded personal credit cards:

The PNC Cash Rewards Visa Credit Card provides 1% cash back on all purchases and up to 4% cash back on gas.
The PNC Core Visa Credit Card has a 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) for the first 15 billing cycles on balance transfers made within 90 days of application and a 0% APR on purchases over the same period when carrying a balance.
The PNC points Visa Credit Card gives you four PNC rewards points for every dollar spent.
And the PNC Premier Traveler Visa Signature Credit Card provides two miles for every dollar spent and 30,000 bonus miles if you spend $3,000 in the first three billing cycles.

PNC Card Application Process

You can apply for a PNC credit card online, at a PNC branch location, or by calling (800) 762-5684. The process takes less than five minutes, according to the PNC website.

You’ll need to enter your Social Security number, monthly housing payment, and your total annual income.

Other required information includes whether or not you use PNC online banking and your employment status. If you already use PNC online banking, the application will auto-fill some of your personal information. However, you do not need an existing PNC account to apply for a PNC credit card.

You may get a response instantly; if approved, your card will arrive in four to 10 days. If you don’t get an immediate response, you can contact PNC’s underwriting department at (800) 762-0974 to check the status of your application.

PNC Credit Card Requirements

Requirements for approval are not listed on PNC’s website, so we called customer service to ask about the PNC credit card approval process.

A representative said there is no minimum credit score requirement because PNC has “technology to look at so many things other than just credit score.” These other factors include your employment history, your income, and your debt-to-income ratio.

While PNC Bank could not give specifics on credit application approval odds, the customer service department did provide the following ways you can improve your chances of approval:

Make timely payments on all bills.
Be careful not to carry a large amount of total credit card debt.
Avoid maxing out any credit cards.
Avoid too many credit inquiries in a short period of time, as these “hard pulls” on your credit report can lower your credit score.

For more information on credit applications, see our articles on credit cards that use TransUnion only, credit cards that use Experian only, and credit cards that use Equifax only.