PNC Bank CD Rates: December 2024

Vault’s Viewpoint on PNC’s CD Rates

• PNC offers good rates on some promotional CD terms—currently four months and seven months—and low rates on standard terms.
• Promotional CDs automatically roll over to a standard CD at the end of the promotional term, so make sure to withdraw your money before then.
• To open a PNC CD, you’ll need to make an appointment at a local branch.

Overview of PNC CDs

PNC offers 11 standard CD terms, ranging from one to 120 months, and eight promotional terms, ranging from four to 61 months. The annual percentage yields (APYs) on all the standard term CDs are extremely low, but the APYs for several promotional terms are competitive with the best CD rates other banks are offering. Note that the rates and availability of these CDs may vary depending on your location.

When the promotional term ends, a promotional CD will automatically convert to a standard CD term that’s closest to (but not longer than) your original term and earn the standard term rate at the time. Be sure to withdraw your money at maturity so it doesn’t roll over into a low-rate standard CD.

The minimum amount to open a CD of any term is $1,000. You can renew a CD with as little as $1, but the APY for balances between $1 and $999.99 is a paltry 0.01% for all terms. The bank doesn’t allow partial withdrawals, and you’ll face a penalty for early withdrawals.

PNC also offers IRA CDs that may have different rates and terms than its regular CDs.

Promotional CD Rates

Standard CD Rates (All Terms)

Pros and Cons of a PNC Bank CD

Pros

There are several benefits to getting a PNC CD:

• The APYs on four- and seven-month promotional CDs are currently very good.
• The minimum opening deposit is a relatively low $1,000.
• You can get personalized help from a banker by visiting a branch.

Cons

But PNC CDs also come with some drawbacks, such as:

• APYs on standard-term CDs are very low, and APYs on several of the promotional terms are mediocre.
• Promotional CDs automatically roll over to a standard CD once the promotional term ends.
• You can’t open an account online on your own; you have visit a branch.

How Much Can You Earn With a PNC CD?

If you put $25,000 into a promotional CD at PNC and kept it until maturity, here’s how much interest you’ll earn depending on your CD term. Keep in mind that, although longer CD terms will accrue more interest in total over the full length of their terms compared to shorter-term CDs, the APYs and annual returns may be lower.

Considering that the rates are significantly higher on PNC’s shorter-term CDs, you may be better off getting a shorter-term CD and then reinvesting the money into a new CD when the original matures, rather than getting a longer-term CD off the bat.

How to Open a CD With PNC

To open a PNC certificate of deposit, follow these steps:

• Decide on your desired CD type and term. Before you start the process of opening a PNC CD, do your research to decide what CD type (regular or IRA) and term you want. Currently, PNC’s best rates are on its four- and seven-month terms.
• Find your local PNC branch. PNC doesn’t offer an easy way to open a CD online, so you’ll need to visit a branch in person. You can find your nearest branch with PNC’s branch finder.
• Make an appointment online. You can make an appointment through an online form on PNC’s website. You’ll need to answer some questions about the purpose of your appointment, choose the branch you want to go to, pick a date and time and provide your contact information.
• Go to your appointment and open a CD. When you arrive at your appointment, a PNC banker will walk you through the next steps to open a CD.

Alternatives to a CD With PNC

Although PNC has good CD rates on some terms, you should consider these alternatives as well:

A CD From Another Bank

If you’re chasing the highest CD rate, other banks offer better APYs. This is especially true if you want a CD term that isn’t four or seven months, as PNC’s certificate of deposit rates outside of those two terms are lackluster.

You may also want to look elsewhere if you want features that PNC doesn’t offer. For example, other banks may offer no-penalty CDs or a way to open a CD online without visiting a bank.

A High-Yield Savings Account

You should ideally have a high-yield savings account in addition to a CD—the former for an easily-accessible emergency fund and the latter for money you feel comfortable not accessing for a while. But you can also skip CDs altogether and put all your savings in a high-yield savings account. Some of the best high-yield savings accounts currently have rates that exceed PNC’s highest CD rates.

The main difference between a CD and a high-yield savings account, apart from when you can withdraw your money, is that CD rates are generally fixed while high-yield savings account rates are generally variable. The Federal Reserve has already begun lowering the target federal funds rate. As such, a fixed-rate CD may be better than a high-yield savings account right now, as it allows you to lock in your rate before marketwide CD and savings account rates—which usually follow the federal funds rate—decrease.

Investments

For long-term goals such as retirement, investments like stocks, bonds and index funds are generally better than a CD. While investing in the stock market is riskier than a CD, the potential returns are significantly higher and a long time horizon gives you enough time to recover from the ups and downs of the market.

For example, the S&P 500 (an index often used to track the stock market as a whole) had an average annual return of 10.2% between 2003 and 2023. By contrast, the current highest APY on PNC’s CDs is 5.05%.

Unlike a CD, returns on stock investments aren’t guaranteed. However, a diversified portfolio and a strategy of dollar-cost averaging will help mitigate the risks.