topic Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account. in General Credit Topics

PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

captseaton — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 02:13:58 GMT

Earlier today, I received a standard MyFico alert "You have an updated score!".

As I am currently gardening, I was expecting maybe a 4 or 5 point bump in my score. Nope, 31 point drop.

This was caused by a reported $15,568 increase on a line of credit account which is set up for overdraft protection

This line of credit (and the associated checking account) are never used. I set it up several years ago when PenFed claimed I would be able to make deposits at certain local ATMs (I could not).

The line of credit is only $1000.00, so currently I am sitting on 1557% usage on the account.

Obviously, the amount of usage is going to trigger some flags and I am concerned about the damage this could do to other accounts if they are issued by overly sensitive lenders. I'm half expecting Synchrony to just close all my accounts tonight.

PenFed customer service claims that a "glitch" is to blame and it is affecting a few other members.

Has anyone else been affected?

I've never heard or witnessed a "glitch" like this before.

I'm wondering if I need to take any other steps to protect my credit?

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

ENTD2020 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 02:18:23 GMT

Good evening,

Yes, I received the same alert and so did my husband. Crazy thing is it's for the same exact amount. This is a mess.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

captseaton — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 02:21:36 GMT

Wow, that is super weird.

I wasn't expecting it to be the same amount.

I got through, on the phone, at 7:38pm and customer service closes at 8:00pm. I told the representative, I hope you get to go home tonight!

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

Patient957 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 02:57:45 GMT

Similar issue here. My SSL, which has a balance of $231.51 on an original loan of $3150 is reporting a balance of $15,568.

The result:

PenFed, the Dennis the Menace of Credit Unions.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

captseaton — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 03:38:51 GMT

Holey moley, that is severe!

I am a little skeptical that this can be fixed in 24 hours, as they claim.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

GZG — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 04:52:58 GMT

@captseaton wrote:
Earlier today, I received a standard MyFico alert "You have an updated score!".
As I am currently gardening, I was expecting maybe a 4 or 5 point bump in my score. Nope, 31 point drop.
This was caused by a reported $15,568 increase on a line of credit account which is set up for overdraft protection

This line of credit (and the associated checking account) are never used. I set it up several years ago when PenFed claimed I would be able to make deposits at certain local ATMs (I could not).

The line of credit is only $1000.00, so currently I am sitting on 1557% usage on the account.

Obviously, the amount of usage is going to trigger some flags and I am concerned about the damage this could do to other accounts if they are issued by overly sensitive lenders. I'm half expecting Synchrony to just close all my accounts tonight.

PenFed customer service claims that a "glitch" is to blame and it is affecting a few other members.
Has anyone else been affected?
I've never heard or witnessed a "glitch" like this before.
I'm wondering if I need to take any other steps to protect my credit?

file a NUCA complaint, and demand immediate re-reporting if they haven't already done it to all CRA's to prevent any adverse action from your other creditors, include proof that your current balance, is, in fact, not $15,000.

also send a message to their EO team and demand the same include the NUCA complaint number

this does not surprise me from them at all, they are really a garbage tier CU

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

captseaton — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 05:11:55 GMT

@GZG wrote:
file a NUCA complaint, and demand immediate re-reporting if they haven't already done it to all CRA's to prevent any adverse action from your other creditors, include proof that your current balance, is, in fact, not $15,000.

Thank you for the advice, I will look in to this in the morning.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

jreg — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 05:30:14 GMT

I have also experienced this issue. I received an alert that my balance has increased by $15,568 and it has negatively impacted my Equifax credit score by 36 points! I was concerned when I saw this and checked my accounts but did not see anything out of the ordinary. I called customer service to inquire about the balance increase and to confirm I wasn't a victim of fraud. The representative was already aware of the issue and told me there have been many customers calling in with the same issue and they will resolve the issue within 24 hours. I'm sceptical that they will fix this in that time frame.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

ocheosa — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 05:56:24 GMT

@GZG wrote:
@captseaton wrote:
Earlier today, I received a standard MyFico alert "You have an updated score!".
As I am currently gardening, I was expecting maybe a 4 or 5 point bump in my score. Nope, 31 point drop.
This was caused by a reported $15,568 increase on a line of credit account which is set up for overdraft protection

This line of credit (and the associated checking account) are never used. I set it up several years ago when PenFed claimed I would be able to make deposits at certain local ATMs (I could not).

The line of credit is only $1000.00, so currently I am sitting on 1557% usage on the account.

Obviously, the amount of usage is going to trigger some flags and I am concerned about the damage this could do to other accounts if they are issued by overly sensitive lenders. I'm half expecting Synchrony to just close all my accounts tonight.

PenFed customer service claims that a "glitch" is to blame and it is affecting a few other members.
Has anyone else been affected?
I've never heard or witnessed a "glitch" like this before.
I'm wondering if I need to take any other steps to protect my credit?
file a NUCA complaint, and demand immediate re-reporting if they haven't already done it to all CRA's to prevent any adverse action from your other creditors, include proof that your current balance, is, in fact, not $15,000.

also send a message to their EO team and demand the same include the NUCA complaint number

this does not surprise me from them at all, they are really a garbage tier CU

Penfed's back office...

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

LivingTheAmericanDream — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 06:19:44 GMT

The fall has been long and hard for PenFed...Sad to see.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

CreditCuriosity — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 10:12:59 GMT

Wow huge mistake it appears impacting many. Hopefully this doesn't impact me but we shall see as seems like a computer program error likely. Hopefully they can get it resolved for the people impacted near immediately and do off cycle reporting to fix this issue as can be devastating for many. Penfed has certainly fallen from a good CU to a meh CU. Still decent rates on auto loans but not much else really.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

captseaton — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 10:12:58 GMT

@jreg wrote:
I have also experienced this issue. I received an alert that my balance has increased by $15,568 and it has negatively impacted my Equifax credit score by 36 points! I was concerned when I saw this and checked my accounts but did not see anything out of the ordinary. I called customer service to inquire about the balance increase and to confirm I wasn't a victim of fraud. The representative was already aware of the issue and told me there have been many customers calling in with the same issue and they will resolve the issue within 24 hours. I'm sceptical that they will fix this in that time frame.

So, obviously this is a "glitch" that is affecting more than one person. When I called in, yesterday, there were long wait times. The agent still took the time to have me read my full birthdate, social security number (even though I already verified through the touch tone system). She paused and then had me verify my email address, my home address, and then "how can I help you today?". After explaining the problem, she put me on hold to "check a few things". When she came back, she explained this was some kind of glitch. Their back end is working on the issue and it should be resolved sometime today.

I have to say, for PenFed's sake, now is the time for transparency and communication.

All of us affected, need to be contacted by email, secure message, or phone call. Here is what happened, and here are the steps we are taking to make this right. This is what we are doing to ensure this never happens again. I will be interested to see if any of us are contacted regarding this snafu.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

captseaton — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 10:20:56 GMT

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
Wow huge mistake it appears impacting many. Hopefully this doesn't impact me but we shall see as seems like a computer program error likely. Hopefully they can get it resolved for the people impacted near immediately and do off cycle reporting to fix this issue as can be devastating for many. Penfed has certainly fallen from a good CU to a meh CU. Still decent rates on auto loans but not much else really.

So far, it seems to only have affected those members with Lines of Credit. I don't know if anyone has reported the same issue with a standard credit card. One of the weirdest parts of the whole thing is everyone is being reported with the same balance.

One thing is certain, when you get the notification, it is very scary. It feels like fraud.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

CreditCuriosity — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 11:48:23 GMT

@captseaton wrote:
@CreditCuriosity wrote:
Wow huge mistake it appears impacting many. Hopefully this doesn't impact me but we shall see as seems like a computer program error likely. Hopefully they can get it resolved for the people impacted near immediately and do off cycle reporting to fix this issue as can be devastating for many. Penfed has certainly fallen from a good CU to a meh CU. Still decent rates on auto loans but not much else really.
So far, it seems to only have affected those members with Lines of Credit. I don't know if anyone has reported the same issue with a standard credit card. One of the weirdest parts of the whole thing is everyone is being reported with the same balance.

One thing is certain, when you get the notification, it is very scary. It feels like fraud.

Have a line of credit on overdraft only 1k. Haven't checked yet but about ready to although likely won't make any difference as aware of it if so but another voice if my 1k thrifty line of credit aka overdraft was impacted or not. Been meaning to switch my primary FI for years from PenFed to another place but such a PITA to switch FI's and all the bills associated with auto draft and CC's etc..

Edit: just pulled me 3 reports from annualcreditreport.com and all looks good on my unsecured LOC.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

Patient957 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:22:06 GMT

@captseaton wrote:
All of us affected, need to be contacted by email, secure message, or phone call. Here is what happened, and here are the steps we are taking to make this right. This is what we are doing to ensure this never happens again. I will be interested to see if any of us are contacted regarding this snafu.

Agree, but I'm not holding my breath.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

Patient957 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:38:01 GMT

To those affected, @captseaton, @jreg, @ENTD2020, is this affecting your TU or EX reports yet or just EQ?

So far for me it's just EQ, but I'm waiting for the other two shoes to drop at any time now.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

Patient957 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:17:49 GMT

UPDATE:

Just spoke with PenFed this morning, Wednesay 9 am Eastern. The rep told me they're aware of it and fixing it, with no committment on the timing. I asked if it's going to affect the other 2 bureaus, and she said no in a very unreassuring tone, so I asked for a supervisor.

Unlike the frontline rep, the supervisor wasn't even aware of the issue, so I had to update him. Unbelievable. After I told him it was affecting many others, he put me on hold and got himslef updated on the situation. I asked if it was going to affect my other 2 bureaus, and he said yes, he thinks so. I asked when they would have it fixed, and -- get this -- he told me normally they fix these things within 30 days. YIKES! 30 Days?? You mean you're not planning to do an off-cycle update? He said since this is affecting many members, it's "top priority" so they may fix it in less than 30 days, "hopefully within a few days" but with absolutely no committment on their part.

So it's going to hit all 3 of our reports and tank all 3 of our scores, and maybe they'll fix it before 30 days or maybe they won't.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

jonnyc — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 13:47:33 GMT

I noticed the same thing this yesterday morning. I have a $300 line that’s been unused, but it suddenly showed a reported balance of $15,568. I called first thing and was told it was an error with the bureau, not PenFed, and that it could take up to 60 days to resolve. I knew this was not the case as I have the update on my Equifax and Transunion reports, Experian still seems fine for now. I called back later, and the rep put me on hold. When she returned, she said the associate she spoke with mentioned he had already received three calls about it. The way she worded it made it sound like he got three calls about my account specifically, not the issue in general, so I’m assuming they hadn’t realized yet that it was widespread. I was still told it could take up to 60 days.

It was on my mind all morning, and I couldn’t stand the idea that this might take so long to fix, especially since I had just paid off several balances and saw a significant score boost, only for this error to completely wipe it out. I ended up emailing the CEO. He responded quickly, saying he would research it and get back to me (I’m assuming this was still before they realized it was a widespread issue).

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

ENTD2020 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 13:52:36 GMT

At this time only Equifax.

Re: PenFed Credit Union reported a $15,568 balance on an unused account.

Patient957 — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:28:00 GMT

Folks, PenFed CEO James Schenck can be reached at the email address james.schenck@penfed.org.

Perhaps it would help PenFed be more commital regarding a timeline to fix this if Mr. Schenck's office received a few more emails this morning.