Consumer Beware... Employer Beware...
I opened an employer sponsered HSA account (Health Savings Account) with this sorry bank. After trying to use the card... I found out that I am paying this bank to hold my money as ransom and delegate laws and terminolgy as if they are the Government. I pay for the HSA ... I fund the HSa.. but finding out.. I can only use the account at a dorctors office or a pharmacy... I am not able to reimburse myself for medical expenses... unless I provide PNC with my DNA make up. I have since opened annother HSA account with a bank that I am very pleased with. To this day, I have not received my finds from PNC.. (and you can believe they are holding my funds, without earning interest). I was told on the phone... I CANNOT go in an withdraw ... I cannot use the ATM to withdraw... I have to request that they mail a check ... YES.. that's right MAIL... a check to me; which we know takes weeks ... when you are getting it from a freakin bank. I am very disgruntled... PNC was one of the banks we bailed out... for what? They should have folded... Too many hidden fees.. Poor customer service... ( I am being modest with the word POOR)... just service and products in general. The sad part is... now that PNC and Nat'l City have merged... I feel sorry for the Nat'l City Bankers (like myself).. that has to reduce their standards.. becuase a KRappy bank bank merged with a decent bank.. BAD BUSINESS... So to any employers looking to opoen an HSA account for your employees with this bank...DON'T!!! They are confused as to WHO and WHAT they are... They are a BANK.. not the GOVERNMENT! The normal practice... Hold your money... Charge you hidden fees... in addition to mocking your service complaints... I can go on and on... But this ink on this page is not POISON!!!

After charging my purchases, I have $55.00 left in my account. This account is joint with my husband. My husband was not aware of the balance left and took out $103.50 (twice) through ATM machine. This bank allow the money to be taken out after the fact that it only has $55.00 available, and charge me $36.00 on each item that I already purchased totaling $288.00 (6 charges). Now this is an ATM NOT Credit Card as I was aware and representative from bank advised me that it should not let the money go through if there's only $55.00 available. I called the bank and spoke to representative and saw the charges, instead of helping me solve this issue (which I take responsibility getting charge for the money that my husband withdraw), he has the nerve to tell me to watch how I spend my money and that he cannot do anything for me to resolve it. Not one single overdraft charges was placed back in my account. This is OUTRAGEOUS!!! My husband and I have a checking account (debit card) NOT Credit card...This bank is making way too much money scheming people, advising them that you cannot get the money out of your account if you do not have enough. (oh, and the 4 of those charges are less than $5.00). I am IRATE and very DISSAPPOINTED at this bank.

PNC Bank is a complete rip off! I overdrew my account by $2 and then again by $9 so a total of $11, but I was charged $36 each time I overdrew it and $6 a day after that!
They also charged me for pending transactions which is completly ridiculous and sounds almost illegal!
I am now at Wachovia and have closed down my PNC account. They are a horrible bank and kick you when you're down, especially in an economy like this! No one can afford the fees they tack onto minor things. I will never go back to PNC and I recommend anyone who is still there to get out while they still can!

This email that I sent to the PNC Bank website explains it all. I can only hope that this helps avoid the same thing from happening to yet another consumer -

I would like to go on record stating that PNC Bank is ripping off consumers by charging overdraft fees for items pending. The system holds items in a pending status, showing a false account balance online. Once additional transactions are made (based on the false account balance), the system processes the transaction (from largest to smallest) in order to maximize the number of fees.

Last week I was charged 5-overdraft fees. On August 18th, the online account balance was negative approx $29 which prompted me to make a deposit of $45. By the end of the business day, after the deposit was made, I had already been charged 3 overdraft fees; meanwhile, the $29 charge was still pending. The explanation that I received was that all transactions were processed on the same day. This did not make sense since all transaction were completed on a Sunday and were posted on different days- i.e. the $29 charge was made on Sunday August 16th and was still pending on August 18th. The true explanation is that PNC bank applies transactions retroactively, or in “real time” so long as that processing method results in an overdraft fee.

I will be cancelling the direct deposit on my account as quickly as possible so that I can close my accounts. I am extremely disappointed that this level of corporate fraud has not been investigated and regulated. As indicated on many consumer websites listing complaints about PNC's level of service and fee's ( http://www.complaints.com/directory/2005/august/4/40.htm, http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/pnc_bank.html, http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/pnc-bank-a931.html), this has been an on-going scheme and PNC Bank is reaping serious benefits.

Additionally, I will be filing complaints with the State Banking Office, the Office of Comptroller of Currency, the Federal Reserve Board and the Americans for Fairness in Lending corp. I also plan on voicing my complaint on various websites, to try and shed light on these unfair business practices.

As a consumer, I feel as if I had been robbed. The media focuses our attention on identity theft, when the true thief is inside your corporate offices. How can you develop a system that takes away from the consumers that have helped build your business? PNC Bank would not stand as tall without the ‘little guy.’ I can only assume (and partially hope) that your retention rates are plummeting as consumer become aware of these ‘discrepancies.’

Today I began to close my PNC accounts, and to end my business relationship with them.

Over three weeks ago I went into my local branch to deposit two checks. These checks were in Canadian dollars, and written on a Canadian bank.

Firstly, I was asked for my driver's license for identification - to make a DEPOSIT! (I have been an account holder with this branch of PNC since they acquired it from another bank years ago!) I was then left at the counter for at least 10 minutes while the teller dissappeared. (Again - this is for s DEPOSIT!) I did not ask for any cash, just to deposit the checks to my account. For my record of this transaction, I was given a hand-written scrap of paper that did not even have a date written on it.

Over three full weeks later, I have no funds from these checks. (I am originally from Canada, and often cash checks on Canadian banks. It usually takes 5-7 days.) The branch manager made a call and informed me that they are "waiting to see if there are enough funds to cover the checks". (Note that I have called the payors of the check, and the funds were withdrawn from their accounts almost TWO WEEKS AGO!) The branch manager now informs me that it may take up to SIX WEEKS to get my funds! These were not checks for some weird Eastern Bloc country, but for CANADA. I could have walked from Maryland to Canada, cashed the checks, and walked back to Maryland in the time that has elapsed. (Note that the PNC Bank website boasts about their international banking expertise and services.)

In addition to the ridiculous hold time on these checks, and what I consider to be an outright lie about the status of the processing, the local branch manager evidenced a complete lack of interest in my issue. While it would probably not be possible for a branch manager to expedite the corporate processing of these checks, I do believe there are actions a local manager could take to alleviate the issue. While courteous at all times, this manager indicated he was not willing to take any additional action, even though my business was at stake.

I did not choose to be a PNC Bank customer, but accounts I held at two other banks, as well as my house mortgage, are now with PNC due to PNC acquisitions. While I immediately closed one account, I was told I must keep my other account open until these checks (eventually?) clear. Then I am done with PNC Bank. Good Riddance.