PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature Credit Card Review

Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank offers a line of business credit cards to its business banking customers. Of the five business cards offered by the bank, the PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature Credit Card is easily the most high-end card of the bunch.

You’ll note that the card’s name contains the word “options.” Well, it turns out to be appropriate as you can customize just about every aspect of this versatile business card. You can choose to use the BusinessOptions Visa Signature card as a traditional credit card (referred to by PNC as the revolve option), in which case you get a credit limit of up to $50,000, or you can use it as a charge card (referred to as the pay-in-full option) where you pay off your entire balance each month, and in return, you get a credit limit up to $250,000.

That’s just the beginning of the choices you’ll have to make. When it comes to earning rewards, the card gives you three options. You can a) receive cash back at a 1.5% rate on all purchases under the revolve option or 1% with the pay-in-full option, b) earn PNC points to the tune of five points for every $1 spent, or c) choose travel rewards and earn one mile for every $1 spent.

Another way the PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature card incentivizes spending is with a variable annual fee that is inversely correlated with your level of spending. If your business spending on the card comes to less than $50K a year, you’ll pay a whopping $500 per year for this card. If you spend between $50K and $75K, your annual fee will be $250. Spend between $75K and $100K, and your annual fee will be $125. Spend over $100K per year, and your annual fee is waived entirely.

Reviewing the PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature card and assessing its value is a challenging task due to the number of moving parts involved. However, I’d like to think we’re up to the task!

PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature Credit Card At A Glance

Eligibility

PNC describes the entities eligible for the BusinessOptions card as “Businesses with annual credit card spend of $50,000 or more.” Beyond that, you’ll need good to excellent credit to qualify for the card, and you must be a PNC Bank Business Banking customer to apply online.

PNC operates in the following states:

• Alabama
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Missouri
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

You’ll also need to provide the following information about your company with your application:

• Business legal name
• Business street address (no P.O. boxes)
• Business phone number
• Business email address
• Business tax identification or Social Security number (sole proprietors)
• Industry code (NAICS)
• Year business was first established
• Year business was acquired by the present owner
• Gross annual revenue

Rewards & Fees

• Choose one of three different rewards programs: Cash Rebates, PNC points, or Travel Rewards:
  • With Cash Rebates, earn 1.5% cash back on net purchases under the revolve option or 1% cash back under the pay-in-full option, with rebates automatically credited quarterly to your card statement
  • With PNC points, earn five points for every $1 of qualifying purchases — PNC points can be exchanged for merchandise, gift cards, travel, or statement credits
  • With Travel Rewards, earn one mile for every $1 in eligible net purchases — you book your travel, then redeem miles for a statement credit
• Bonus offer: Earn a $400 statement credit when you make at least $15,000 in qualifying purchases in the first three billing cycles
• The annual fee structure is as follows:
  • $500 annual fee when you spend less than $50K/year
  • $250 annual fee when you spend between $50K and $75K/year
  • $125 annual fee when you spend between $75K and $100K/year
  • No annual fee when you spend over $100K/year
• No foreign transaction fee
• Balance transfers carry a fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater
• Cash advances carry a fee of either $10 or 4% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater, with a $75 maximum fee
• Late payment fees run up to $49 (with most cards, the maximum late fee is $39)

The annual fee structure of the PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature Credit Card means that only sizable businesses with a high level of spending stand to gain much from this card. If your annual spending comes in at under $50K, you’ll be hit with a $500 annual fee. Typically, the only cards that carry such a high annual fee offer rewards and benefits above and beyond what this card offers. Even a $250 annual fee is a lot considering the relatively modest reward programs this card offers.

The PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature’s bonus offer of $400 for spending $15K on qualifying purchases in your first three billing cycles is decent but not terribly impressive either. Consider that all three Chase business credit cards currently offer a higher value bonus offer while requiring less spending to obtain it. The same can be said of Capital One’s Spark Cash and Spark Miles business cards as well.

Sadly, the card does not sport an intro 0% APR period.

Redeeming Rewards

Here’s where things get complicated. The PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature card offers three separate rewards programs so each one needs to be evaluated separately. Let’s start with the Cash Rebates program.

• If you’re using your card as a traditional credit card, you’ll get an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases. Not bad, but consider the fact that the Capital One Spark Cash Select card — a much less exclusive card with no annual fee — offers the same cash back rate on all eligible purchases.
• If you’re using your PNC card as a charge card, you’re probably doing it for the high $250K credit limit and not the cash back, which you would earn at the meager rate of 1% on all eligible purchases.
• Your cash rebate will be automatically redeemed as a credit to your company account at the end of your March, June, September, and December billing cycles. You can’t redeem your rewards on a monthly basis like with most competing business cash back cards. Thankfully, redemption is automatic and requires no action on your part.

Moving on to the PNC points program:

• You’ll get five PNC points for every dollar spent on eligible purchases. These points can be redeemed for cash back, travel, merchandise, or gift cards. The card’s points-earning rate is pretty high. They aren’t the most valuable points, however — for example, when redeemed for gift cards, PNC points are worth less than one cent apiece.

As for the Travel Rewards program:

• You’ll earn just one mile for every dollar spent. Again, not hugely impressive. Consider that the Capital One Spark Miles card offers two miles to the dollar on all purchases, so even though you can redeem your PNC miles at 1.26 cents each compared to one cent each with the Spark Miles card, you’ll still be getting more travel bang for your buck with the Spark Miles card.

Benefits

The PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature Credit Card comes with a host of nice benefits:

• No fees for employee cards
• No foreign transaction fee
• Advanced Reporting Tool for monitoring employee spending
• Zero Liability Fraud Protection
• Purchase security
• Extended warranty
• Visa Signature travel benefits
  • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
  • Roadside dispatch
  • Lost/stolen card reporting
  • Purchase security and extended protection
  • Lost luggage reimbursement
  • Emergency card replacement
  • Emergency cash disbursement
  • Travel accident insurance
  • Travel and emergency assistance services
  • Visa Signature concierge

Final Verdict

The PNC BusinessOptions Visa Signature Credit Card is for the business owner who requires a high credit limit (the $250K credit limit you’ll get if you use your card as a charge card is particularly nice) and appreciates customizable rewards. If you’re spending over $100K per year on business purchases anyway, the $0 annual fee that you get for your spending makes the card a pretty solid value.

However, if your spending doesn’t reach that threshold and/or you don’t feel like choosing between multiple reward-earning programs, consider a simpler card with better rewards. None of the card’s three rewards programs quite befit such an exclusive card — as I pointed out, you can find much less exclusive cards offering better rewards programs and better bonus offers.

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