topic Re: Penfed Denied? in Credit Card Applications

Penfed Denied?

alexak — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 19:34:41 GMT

I just checked prequalification for the PenFed gold for the BT promo. I was denied but it also showed an amount of $7500 but was never asked for a credit limit. Would it be worth the recon?

I have an auto loan with them currently but have some baddies on my report from about 2.5 years ago (none with them).

Eq 680

Tu 690

Ex 660

Util 33%- a bunch of $0 balance but a few with high balances (hence the BT dream)

I've seen some here say they've emailed but I can't find a "secured message" option in my account so would calling be the best bet? If so is there a specific number I should call?

thanks in advance.

Re: Penfed Denied?

imtherealghost — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 19:41:11 GMT

Hard pull? Did you actually apply or was this denial response just using the pre-qual tool they offer?

I don't have an answer to your question but was just curious in general.

Re: Penfed Denied?

alexak — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 19:44:27 GMT

it was from the pre-qual tool so no HP.

I also just realized I'm in the wrong section and I don't know how to move it *facepalm*

Re: Penfed Denied?

pizzadude — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 20:04:14 GMT

Moved to CC Applications

Re: Penfed Denied?

CubanCheapSkate — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 00:16:46 GMT

My recent experience with PENFED is the soft pull decline will turn into a hard pull decline on a recon call. The rep will just see the decline (supposedly they can't see the reason or just can't disclose on the phone) and will advise they need to run a hard pull to retry. They run a hard pull and you'll still be declined but at least this time they will mail you a nice reason(s) to your address.

Re: Penfed Denied?

youngandcreditwrthy — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 04:28:44 GMT

Im very very optimistic and got most of my prime cards in the high 600s to low 700s even the amex 20k+ and boa 20k+ limits. Penfed will not approve you with scores in that range ime. Ive applied for penfed 2x with 750 scores and every time they denied for "debt pyramiding" I had prob 15 cards open, 20 closed.. and only one with a major balance.. util like 10%. penfed is crazy but they have amazing deals Good luck either way

Re: Penfed Denied?

Horseshoez — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 04:36:21 GMT

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Im very very optimistic and got most of my prime cards in the high 600s to low 700s even the amex 20k+ and boa 20k+ limits. Penfed will not approve you with scores in that range ime. Ive applied for penfed 2x with 750 scores and every time they denied for "debt pyramiding" I had prob 15 cards open, 20 closed.. and only one with a major balance.. util like 10%. penfed is crazy but they have amazing deals Good luck either way

Hmmm, not sure I buy that; PenFed instantly approved me for a Platinum Rewards card with a $6,000 starting limit (my highest limit at the time) when my scores were 630(ish).

Re: Penfed Denied?

SUPERSQUID — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:42:15 GMT

@alexak wrote:
I just checked prequalification for the PenFed gold for the BT promo. I was denied but it also showed an amount of $7500 but was never asked for a credit limit. Would it be worth the recon?

I have an auto loan with them currently but have some baddies on my report from about 2.5 years ago (none with them).

Eq 680
Tu 690
Ex 660

Util 33%- a bunch of $0 balance but a few with high balances (hence the BT dream)

I've seen some here say they've emailed but I can't find a "secured message" option in my account so would calling be the best bet? If so is there a specific number I should call?

thanks in advance.

Penfed approved me for a PCR 7500 sl back in 2021 with a 1 year old bk7 and scores in the 660's. a year later they gave me a cli to 10k with scores around 680.

Maybe they tightened up, I know they stopped offering bt's in December.

Their website has always been a disaster, i f it was me I would call. Perhaps you could get the phone number through an internet search, thats how I find those types of numbers, anyway, good luck.

Re: Penfed Denied?

youngandcreditwrthy — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 17:02:55 GMT

Really??? @Horseshoez omg lucky duck.

like I said, they denied me for "debt pyramiding" which i dunno.. I had one card maxed out bc it was 0% and the rest were all paid off.

I guess it all depends on the profile. you're the prime example of how being in the 600s with low inquiries and low new accounts can get approve vs someone with a higher score and many new accounts/inquiries. I prob hd 3-4 new accts and 10+ inquiries.

Re: Penfed Denied?

Horseshoez — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:48:06 GMT

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Really??? @Horseshoez omg lucky duck.
like I said, they denied me for "debt pyramiding" which i dunno.. I had one card maxed out bc it was 0% and the rest were all paid off.

I guess it all depends on the profile. you're the prime example of how being in the 600s with low inquiries and low new accounts can get approve vs someone with a higher score and many new accounts/inquiries. I prob hd 3-4 new accts and 10+ inquiries.

Hmmm, well, my scores/reports were far squeaky clean when PenFed approved me:

Chapter 13 discharged 14 months prior
18 hard pulled in the previous 12 months
3 new credit cards approved in the previous 12 months (one of which was already closed)
The only mark in my favor was the fact my two open credit cards (limits of $5,000 and $3,000) had a balance of about $50 on one and $0 on the other

Re: Penfed Denied?

LADave — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 05:08:59 GMT

A few months ago I did a PenFed pre-qualification for funsies and I got declined. Actually, I accidentally submitted it 3 times. It was later I realized I was declined three times, and they gave me a generous SL amount that I wasn't approved for.

Within a week, I got three almost letters in the mail explaining why I was declined. I don't have the letters anymore, but they were insightful (it was mostly about account velocity, IIRC). I've opened 2 PenFed cards in the last year, and I'm sure that was one reason why they weren't excited to give me a third one yet.

Just to see what would happen, I tried it again just now and got denied, with this message: "Sorry, we were not able to match you with any offers at this time. We will send you information detailing the reason(s) why we arrived at this decision."

If you saw something like that, you'll probably get a letter in the mail, too.

Re: Penfed Denied?

Stephen_Credit — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 22:17:14 GMT

Any updates on this, Dave? Same experience here. Did anything come about from your letters?

Re: Penfed Denied?

FicoMike0 — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 22:31:07 GMT

Penfed turned me down for $15000 with a score of 850. Too many recent accounts. I have a checking and ssl with them, but I decided if 850 isn't good enough I'm not applying again. I wanted the pathfinder, but got navy flagship since.