topic Re: Penfed membership in Personal Finance

Penfed membership

Yasselife — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 20:11:51 GMT

I recently joined Penfed and would like to share with others that doing it online was very easy fast process, the steps are clear. Prior to applying, I read stories of people having difficulty when doing it on the phone with a representative, and later needing to provide some requests while dealing with slow service + "45" minutes in line waiting on the phone, it sounded like a big headache and made me doubt if I should try them. BTW I joined by choosing the $5 shared savings, it's not necessary to open a checking which requires $500 min balance to avoid maintenance fee.
I joined Navy and Marcus online too, both went smooth... so, online is my preferred method for applying.

Is applying by phone becoming old fashioned like snail mail checks?

my rate for Penfed so far: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have not applied for any other product.

Re: Penfed membership

BearsCubsOtters — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 20:54:24 GMT

@Yasselife wrote:
I recently joined Penfed and would like to share with others that doing it online was very easy fast process, the steps are clear. Prior to applying, I read stories of people having difficulty when doing it on the phone with a representative, and later needing to provide some requests while dealing with slow service + "45" minutes in line waiting on the phone, it sounded like a big headache and made me doubt if I should try them. BTW I joined by choosing the $5 shared savings, it's not necessary to open a checking which requires $500 min balance to avoid maintenance fee.
I joined Navy and Marcus online too, both went smooth... so, online is my preferred method for applying.

Is applying by phone becoming old fashioned like snail mail checks?

my rate for Penfed so far: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have not applied for any other product.

Yes.....I would argue for the past 10 years applying online was the norm. I joined PenFed in 2009 online....

My rate for Penfed after 12 years: ⭐️

They used to be great.

Re: Penfed membership

Ilinferno — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:13:18 GMT

That's great thanks for the info! This is going to be my next CU to join.

Re: Penfed membership

Yasselife — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:16:39 GMT

@BearsCubsOtters

Thanks for your feedback. Would you share what you dislike about Penfed?

Re: Penfed membership

tcbofade — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:29:27 GMT

Can't remember when I joined... I also joined online... I've got four credit cards through them, and am on my second personal loan with them. They've been fine by me.

Re: Penfed membership

chiefone4u — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 22:46:28 GMT

@Yasselife wrote:
I recently joined Penfed and would like to share with others that doing it online was very easy fast process, the steps are clear. Prior to applying, I read stories of people having difficulty when doing it on the phone with a representative, and later needing to provide some requests while dealing with slow service + "45" minutes in line waiting on the phone, it sounded like a big headache and made me doubt if I should try them. BTW I joined by choosing the $5 shared savings, it's not necessary to open a checking which requires $500 min balance to avoid maintenance fee.
I joined Navy and Marcus online too, both went smooth... so, online is my preferred method for applying.

Is applying by phone becoming old fashioned like snail mail checks?

my rate for Penfed so far: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have not applied for any other product.

You can also avoid the fee with $500 a month in direct deposits.... I push money from my BECU account (free to send and receive) and PenFed considers that transfer a direct deposit waving the maintenance fee (I use PenFed checking to pay my PenFed accounts mostly, and the extra 0.5% cash back from my Power Cash Rewards for having the checking account makes it worth the extra couple minutes a month shuffling money).

Re: Penfed membership

BearsCubsOtters — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 01:21:50 GMT

@Yasselife wrote:
@BearsCubsOtters
Thanks for your feedback. Would you share what you dislike about Penfed?

@Yasselife Nothing major really. I just feel that they have declined in recent years. They used to offer SP "approved" credit offers that, once accepted, did not result in a HP and they told you what your loan amount/credit line would be. Maybe they still do, but I never see that anymore.

They started HP EX for personal loans whereas everything used to be EQ or none at all (i.e. SP "approved" offers).

A CSR there hung up on me once because he did not know how to answer my question. Inflexible about APRs and product changes (and that is not unique to PenFed of course).

Again, nothing major. I've had two personal loans in the past and I have a Visa and never any issues. They are not a bad CU overall, just hard to explain...they aren't like they were when I first joined and its been disappointing to see it happen as I used to love being a member. Having said that, I am still with them so clearly they are good to keep around. Their personal loan and car loan rates are often the best offered.

Re: Penfed membership

Yasselife — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 01:31:53 GMT

@BearsCubsOtters

I think my question made you reflect on Penfed more deeply; maybe reconsider your one ⭐️ rate for them?

Re: Penfed membership

BearsCubsOtters — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 01:35:49 GMT

@Yasselife wrote:
@BearsCubsOtters
I think my question made you reflect on Penfed more deeply; maybe reconsider your one ⭐️ rate for them?

Na, just trying to be fair. I have just had a really bad taste in my mouth for them over the past two years. When something used to be great and then you see it erode, its difficult and it makes it seem worse than it is. But it could be a lot worse.

I will give them ⭐️⭐️⭐️ LOL.

Re: Penfed membership

Yasselife — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 14:56:40 GMT

@BearsCubsOtters

Everything has been affected negatively in the past two years, and I know that if we keep a conversation going I can earn one more star from you, fairly.

I wish you gain lots of Fico points next year. 💜

Re: Penfed membership

tcbofade — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:21:32 GMT

I've had the same experience with a smaller, local credit union... it WAS wonderful, but has turned in to "meh".

Navy Federal beat Penfed AND local cu on our most recent car loan... one has to shop and research when they're ready... the best offer today may not be the best offer tomorrow!

Re: Penfed membership

Iusedtolurk — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 13:59:34 GMT

@Yasselife wrote:
I recently joined Penfed and would like to share with others that doing it online was very easy fast process, the steps are clear. Prior to applying, I read stories of people having difficulty when doing it on the phone with a representative, and later needing to provide some requests while dealing with slow service + "45" minutes in line waiting on the phone, it sounded like a big headache and made me doubt if I should try them. BTW I joined by choosing the $5 shared savings, it's not necessary to open a checking which requires $500 min balance to avoid maintenance fee.
I joined Navy and Marcus online too, both went smooth... so, online is my preferred method for applying.

Is applying by phone becoming old fashioned like snail mail checks?

my rate for Penfed so far: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have not applied for any other product.

@Yasselife Congrats on your membership! Since it's very recent and still fresh in your mind I would like a step-by-step on your app process.

Did you have to have credit report unlocked and did they soft pull?

Did you have to upload any documents?

Can (did) you fund with large amounts like 1000 dollars or more?

Are apps for checking and savings separate?

Any other member who sees this post and has recent experience in joining PenFed is welcomed to share!

Re: Penfed membership

tortoise_credit — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 23:21:27 GMT

@Iusedtolurk wrote:
Did you have to have credit report unlocked and did they soft pull?

Did you have to upload any documents?

Can (did) you fund with large amounts like 1000 dollars or more?

Are apps for checking and savings separate?

Any other member who sees this post and has recent experience in joining PenFed is welcomed to share!

I just joined on Nov 30th:

Credit report was frozen, no soft pull as far as I recall.
I did have to upload my Drivers License, Social Security Card, and a proof of residence (I used car registration). I think this was due to Equifax having my "primary residence" as an older address, and not what I provided PenFed.
Limit for me to ACH was $2,500, which I did.
Only a savings account was opened for me at first, I called a few days later to get the checking account opened.

Re: Penfed membership

Iusedtolurk — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 00:26:42 GMT

@tortoise_credit wrote:
@Iusedtolurk wrote:
Did you have to have credit report unlocked and did they soft pull?

Did you have to upload any documents?

Can (did) you fund with large amounts like 1000 dollars or more?

Are apps for checking and savings separate?

Any other member who sees this post and has recent experience in joining PenFed is welcomed to share!

I just joined on Nov 30th:

Credit report was frozen, no soft pull as far as I recall.
I did have to upload my Drivers License, Social Security Card, and a proof of residence (I used car registration). I think this was due to Equifax having my "primary residence" as an older address, and not what I provided PenFed.
Limit for me to ACH was $2,500, which I did.
Only a savings account was opened for me at first, I called a few days later to get the checking account opened.

@tortoise_creditThanks for the datapoints!

Do you know if Equifax is the goto for the credit inquiry? If so I will unlock before application.

That was a lot of ID uploading. My ID has my old address due to the pandemic still having lines around the corner at the DMV hope that won't be a problem if I have to upload ID. (All credit reports and bills show current address.)

Do they set a limit to how much you can fund or is 2500 what you wanted to deposit?

If you are limited to initial funding amount then how and when can you fund more?

I'm just leaning towards a savings account right now to create a relationship.

Looking forward to your response Thanks!

Re: Penfed membership

tortoise_credit — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 01:29:40 GMT

@Iusedtolurk

Equifax is the goto for credit cards as far as I understand. They will not hard pull for membership anymore, so you do not need to unfreeze (unless you're applying for a cc too).

Thinking about it, they may have soft pulled Equifax for address verification. Unfortunately I can't check it as annualcreditreport is not letting me pull my report for Equifax this week.

I don't think everyone needs to upload the docs, it may be random or because of the address issue I mentioned.

The ACH limit was $2,500, but I was able to fund $2,500, then $600 the next day.

I'm sure you'll be fine, they are very friendly over the phone in the case you need to call them to manually process the application.

Re: Penfed membership

CrimsonMoon93 — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 01:54:14 GMT

What is so special about PenFed? I see a lot of people who are joined with other CUs but what separates it?

Re: Penfed membership

summerterrace — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 21:57:42 GMT

I joined Pen Fed for a potential mortgage and then didn't use their program. I have the Power Cash and Pathfinder credit cards. The Power Cash card is a great 2% card (if you can deal with the $500 deposits/shuffling required). The Pathfinder is not that great. The $100 airline incidental is only usable for a few things like seat charges, baggage charges, inflight food and lounge fees. We don't always fly airlines with those charges so I don't always use the airline incidental fee. The reward redemptions on the point earnings cards are sub-par. Only .85 cpp and can only get gift cards in certain amounts. The travel portal pricing is really high and the options are limited.

My biggest beef with this Credit Union is their online presence. Their website is very dated, and the app is not user friendly at all. The Customer Service is adequate when I call in, but they really need to update their technology. I had to mail in my authorized user forms, no reason that can't be electronic...

Their car loan and mortgage rates are very competitve and their High yield savings account is a .15 above NFCU rate.

Re: Penfed membership

Iusedtolurk — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 23:47:58 GMT

@summerterrace wrote:
I joined Pen Fed for a potential mortgage and then didn't use their program. I have the Power Cash and Pathfinder credit cards. The Power Cash card is a great 2% card (if you can deal with the $500 deposits/shuffling required). The Pathfinder is not that great. The $100 airline incidental is only usable for a few things like seat charges, baggage charges, inflight food and lounge fees. We don't always fly airlines with those charges so I don't always use the airline incidental fee. The reward redemptions on the point earnings cards are sub-par. Only .85 cpp and can only get gift cards in certain amounts. The travel portal pricing is really high and the options are limited.

My biggest beef with this Credit Union is their online presence. Their website is very dated, and the app is not user friendly at all. The Customer Service is adequate when I call in, but they really need to update their technology. I had to mail in my authorized user forms, no reason that can't be electronic...

Their car loan and mortgage rates are very competitve and their High yield savings account is a .15 above NFCU rate.

@summerterrace Definitely agree about outdated feel to website. Curious to know why you didn't utilize the Mortgage program.

One of the main reasons I recently joined is for a potential future mortgage choice.

Re: Penfed membership

summerterrace — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 04:33:05 GMT

@Iusedtolurk wrote:
@summerterrace wrote:
I joined Pen Fed for a potential mortgage and then didn't use their program. I have the Power Cash and Pathfinder credit cards. The Power Cash card is a great 2% card (if you can deal with the $500 deposits/shuffling required). The Pathfinder is not that great. The $100 airline incidental is only usable for a few things like seat charges, baggage charges, inflight food and lounge fees. We don't always fly airlines with those charges so I don't always use the airline incidental fee. The reward redemptions on the point earnings cards are sub-par. Only .85 cpp and can only get gift cards in certain amounts. The travel portal pricing is really high and the options are limited.

My biggest beef with this Credit Union is their online presence. Their website is very dated, and the app is not user friendly at all. The Customer Service is adequate when I call in, but they really need to update their technology. I had to mail in my authorized user forms, no reason that can't be electronic...

Their car loan and mortgage rates are very competitve and their High yield savings account is a .15 above NFCU rate.
@summerterrace Definitely agree about outdated feel to website. Curious to know why you didn't utilize the Mortgage program.

One of the main reasons I recently joined is for a potential future mortgage choice.

The rates went up a whole percent about a week before I could apply making them no longer competitive.

Re: Penfed membership

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 14:41:01 GMT

@CrimsonMoon93 wrote:
What is so special about PenFed? I see a lot of people who are joined with other CUs but what separates it?

Whats so special about any banking institution? Its what you make of it and everyone experiences things different. Some Banks/CUs will like one profile over others thus making the experience better for those people.

Imo, Penfed , good or bad is a nice option to have if only for diversity . Some will say website is antiquated but ive seen worse and making a payment is super easy and clear, in my experience. Everyone will have their own opinions and mine was formed through my own experience. Went from liking, to not liking, back to liking as finally have seen growth for a low income profile like my own. Wind aleays changes