topic Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App) in Credit Card Applications

PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Openwater — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 03:37:13 GMT

I've been reading up a lot on Pedfed lately. From what I've gathered they seem to be categorized as a conservative lenders, but all the recent SL have been very high. At least from the members that have been posting. I would assume they have shifted their model to be a little more lenient based on these higher limits.

Additionally, I've noticed that many members on the forums have complained about them doing 2 HP, when apparently they are supposed to do 1 (90 days) if you apply for membership and credit.

So moving forward with them, how many people have applied for membership prior to a credit app? What does everyone think about applying and which order would provide the more favorable results.

My guess would be to apply for credit first and then membership as their website states that applying for the Power Cash Rewards 1.5% then 2% for members. Fine print stating you can apply for membership afterwards to get the additional 0.5%.

Thoughts?

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

M_Smart007 — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 04:16:56 GMT

@Openwater wrote:
I've been reading up a lot on Pedfed lately. From what I've gathered they seem to be categorized as a conservative lenders, but all the recent SL have been very high. At least from the members that have been posting. I would assume they have shifted their model to be a little more lenient based on these higher limits.

Additionally, I've noticed that many members on the forums have complained about them doing 2 HP, when apparently they are supposed to do 1 (90 days) if you apply for membership and credit.

So moving forward with them, how many people have applied for membership prior to a credit app? What does everyone think about applying and which order would provide the more favorable results.

My guess would be to apply for credit first and then membership as their website states that applying for the Power Cash Rewards 1.5% then 2% for members. Fine print stating you can apply for membership afterwards to get the additional 0.5%.

Thoughts?

Pretty sure you have to be a Member in order to apply for Credit card.

"To get a PenFed credit card, you must be a current or eligible PenFed member (if you aren’t a member, you can become one when you apply for a credit card)."

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 04:22:35 GMT

And I haven’t seen any evidence that they’ve loosened their UW in any way. I’d still label them as conservative.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 04:38:17 GMT

"I've been reading up a lot on Pedfed lately. From what I've gathered they seem to be categorized as a conservative lenders, but all the recent SL have been very high. At least from the members that have been posting. I would assume they have shifted their model to be a little more lenient based on these higher limits."

Nope. They have not loosened up. What you noticed is the dichotomy of Penfed. (and a lot of credit unions) They are conservative when it comes to approving a credit apps (except NFCU) but give large limits when approved. Inquiries, lots of new accounts and any negative info not aged at least 2 years will usually get you polite...."No".

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 04:55:35 GMT

@Openwater wrote:
I've been reading up a lot on Pedfed lately. From what I've gathered they seem to be categorized as a conservative lenders, but all the recent SL have been very high. At least from the members that have been posting. I would assume they have shifted their model to be a little more lenient based on these higher limits.

Additionally, I've noticed that many members on the forums have complained about them doing 2 HP, when apparently they are supposed to do 1 (90 days) if you apply for membership and credit.

So moving forward with them, how many people have applied for membership prior to a credit app? What does everyone think about applying and which order would provide the more favorable results.

My guess would be to apply for credit first and then membership as their website states that applying for the Power Cash Rewards 1.5% then 2% for members. Fine print stating you can apply for membership afterwards to get the additional 0.5%.

Thoughts?

@Openwater Credit unions are membership based financial institutions. Consequently, you must be a member of a credit union before you can avail yourself of their services. I'm not aware of any credit union that will open credit accounts without the applicant first becoming a member. In PenFed's case, if you don't have a military affilation you can become eligible for membership by contributing a minimal amount to one of the two charities listed on the application.

As far as I know, to get the 2% cash back on the Power Cash Rewards card you must either have served in the military, or keep at least $500 in your Access America checking account.

Since January 2018, PenFed has limited new members to $10,000 in credit for the first six months. There have been exceptions reported but this has generally been the case since that date. For some $10K is generous, others would think its conservative. See this thread: PenFed approval. Max 10k for new members? -- UPDATE: CONFIRMED

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

coldfusion — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 13:34:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
As far as I know, to get the 2% cash back on the Power Cash Rewards card you must either have served in the military, or keep at least $500 in your Access America checking account.

More specifically it's either active military or honorably discharged veteran. For non-military they at least used to require a minimum $500 balance or a mininum direct deposit of at least $500/month in an Access America account held by the cardholder but they may have waived the mininum balance/depost requirement.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 15:48:25 GMT

I would take the HP for the membership and wait a year to apply for CC. Seems like that makes it appear that you're not out for a quick big limit on a CC. Lots of members get denied for a CC the first try.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

soxfaininfl — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 12:49:51 GMT

So when I pay the 17 dollars to become a member I get a HP? I have no military affiliation, so I thought I could join by making the 17 dollar donation.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:29:09 GMT

That's right. That's how I became a member....and got a CC a year later.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:49:05 GMT

Not everyone has to wait a year to get a cc, fyi. Know your profile and you can have a small idea on where you may stand on applying for a cc. One application wont kill you and can tell you alot where you stand with PF.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Aim_High — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 21:39:33 GMT

@Openwater wrote:
I've been reading up a lot on Pedfed lately. From what I've gathered they seem to be categorized as a conservative lenders
Additionally, I've noticed that many members on the forums have complained about them doing 2 HP, when apparently they are supposed to do 1 (90 days) if you apply for membership and credit.

So moving forward with them, how many people have applied for membership prior to a credit app? What does everyone think about applying and which order would provide the more favorable results.

Concur with above comments that PenFed is still a conservative lender.

*Everyone* gets a HP from PenFed just to join (open a share account) and even if you apply for a credit card the same day, it's still a double-HP. I even did it in-branch to try to avoid the 2nd HP but the customer service rep explained that they have two separate computerized systems that don't talk to each other when it comes to banking or credit. They aren't "supposed" to do only one HP; there's no restriction on how many times they can pull it, beyond what you authorize. And they tell you up-front that it's a HP for banking and a HP for credit. There are other banks or credit unions that pull your credit report just to open banking accounts, so while it's not required it's also not uncommon, especially with more conservative lenders.

I am honorably-discharged military veteran with high FICO, high income, and thick file. I was able to open an account and get a credit card approval same-day with a high (for them) starting limit of $15K. This won't work for everyone.

Former military seems to do much better in this regard, probably seeing how they were originally restricted to military people. If you are all-civilian and especially with less than exceptional credit and high income, it has appeared to me that your best odds for credit approval are to open banking accounts, use them for awhile (at least six months to a year) to establish a relationship and let them get to know you; then apply for credit. I would actually USE the accounts, don't just park $5 and expect that to help you establish relationship. They have good banking products, so it's worth putting some money towards them.

As stated above, PenFed requires you to be a "member" before you can open a credit card. You can do both at the same time but technically, the membership is always established FIRST before the card is processed.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

randomguy1 — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 21:45:39 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@Openwater wrote:
I've been reading up a lot on Pedfed lately. From what I've gathered they seem to be categorized as a conservative lenders
Additionally, I've noticed that many members on the forums have complained about them doing 2 HP, when apparently they are supposed to do 1 (90 days) if you apply for membership and credit.

So moving forward with them, how many people have applied for membership prior to a credit app? What does everyone think about applying and which order would provide the more favorable results.
Concur with above comments that PenFed is still a conservative lender.

*Everyone* gets a HP from PenFed just to join (open a share account) and even if you apply for a credit card the same day, it's still a double-HP. I even did it in-branch to try to avoid the 2nd HP but the customer service rep explained that they have two separate computerized systems that don't talk to each other when it comes to banking or credit. They aren't "supposed" to do only one HP; there's no restriction on how many times they can pull it, beyond what you authorize. And they tell you up-front that it's a HP for banking and a HP for credit. There are other banks or credit unions that pull your credit report just to open banking accounts, so while it's not required it's also not uncommon, especially with more conservative lenders.

I am honorably-discharged military veteran with high FICO, high income, and thick file. I was able to open an account and get a credit card approval same-day with a high (for them) starting limit of $15K. This won't work for everyone.

Former military seems to do much better in this regard, probably seeing how they were originally restricted to military people. If you are all-civilian and especially with less than exceptional credit and high income, it has appeared to me that your best odds for credit approval are to open banking accounts, use them for awhile (at least six months to a year) to establish a relationship and let them get to know you; then apply for credit. I would actually USE the accounts, don't just park $5 and expect that to help you establish relationship. They have good banking products, so it's worth putting some money towards them.

As stated above, PenFed requires you to be a "member" before you can open a credit card. You can do both at the same time but technically, the membership is always established FIRST before the card is processed.

Good advice. I have money just parked there. I will move some funds over and start using the bank as bill pay.

Re: PENFED (Membership vs CC App)

Openwater — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 22:16:21 GMT

Thanks for all the replies. Seems like to get the CC with them will be 2 HP, no matter what. I'm more interested in getting credit with them. Although from what everyone says they are a phenomenal CU. I think I will garden for a bit before jumping on board as I don't want 2 HP's for 1 CC. I don't think I have a use for the Credit Union at the time, so getting a HP just to hold my money wouldn't be in my best interests at the moment. Once I'm ready I'll go for the double HP for the credit card. Thanks for all the help, appreciated it.