PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has created a new digital tool to help customers avoid overdraft fees, with a pilot program showing that the tool helped reduce these fees by more than 60 percent.

The Low Cash Mode digital offering will allow customers of PNC’s Virtual Wallet product to manage situations when the account has a low amount of cash or when payments have been mistimed. Instead of the bank making decision about debits, customers who use the tool will be able to determine whether to process certain checks and ACH transactions that might otherwise result in overdrafts, PNC said in a statement.

Real-time alerts will let customers know when their balance is low. If the balance is negative, customers will have at least 24 hours or more to prevent or address overdrafts before any fees are charged.

“Low Cash Mode gives our customers the ability to avoid unnecessary overdraft fees. With this new tool, we’re able to shift away from the industry’s widely used overdraft approach, which we believe is unsustainable,” William S. Demchak, PNC’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in the statement. “Low Cash Mode is a great example of how advances in our technology allow us to better align with a core principle of supporting our customers’ financial well-being. This is the right move for our customers and the bank.”

PNC said some studies estimate that U.S. consumers pay $17 billion each year in overdraft fees. With the Low Cash Mode tool, PNC said it expects to help its customers avoid approximately $125 million to $150 million in overdraft fees annually. The bank’s 2021 revenue outlook had already anticipated this fee reduction and will not be affected.

“While we expect to realize a reduction in fee revenue, we firmly believe that this innovative and differentiated approach will drive significant growth in new and existing customer relationships over time as we execute our national expansion strategy,” Demchak said.

The bank said it piloted Low Cash Mode with nearly 20,000 customers and saw overdraft fees collectively reduced by more than 60 percent.

“We understand that regardless of income or level of wealth, everyone has low-cash moments,” Karen Larrimer, head of retail banking and chief customer officer at PNC, said in the statement. She added: “Putting customers first is simply the right thing to do.”

PNC said Low Cash Mode would launch nationwide to Virtual Wallet customers in June and July and is currently available to customers using the Virtual Wallet Checking Pro product. Virtual Wallet Student users will have access during April.