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I am seeing mixed messages on the forums as to whether a pre-approved offer from PENFED, be it on their site or a mailer, if its a HP or a SP so I thought I would start a thread to put them all together for everyone to share their experience.
So if you ever received a PenFed "Pre-Approved" offer for a CC and apped for it, regardless if you we're approved or declined, did you receive a Hard Pull for your efforts or a Soft Pull on your credit Report? Also, which CC was it you were being offered
From reading, it seem's >> pre-approved offers from the site are "SP" .. but with PenFed YMMV
Pre-Approved mailers are HP .. Ask me how I know? .. PenFed Power Cash Rewards Mailer "HP" ..
@coldfusion, Will chime in with more solid info
Happy HP New Year!
The quarterly (Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct 1) online preapprovals for CC or auto loans extended through the My Offers section online have a consistent and established track record of being soft pulls. I would not trust prequal offers sent via USMail, as amongst other things those are also sent to non-members which means they almost certainly wouldn't infer immunity from taking a HP.
@coldfusion wrote:The quarterly (Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct 1) online preapprovals for CC or auto loans extended through the My Offers section online have a consistent and established track record of being soft pulls. I would not trust prequal offers sent via USMail, as amongst other things those are also sent to non-members which means they almost certainly wouldn't infer immunity from taking a HP.
If I was brave enough (which I am not ) I would be the guinea pig and try for the PF Plat since I am getting the offer again (on my account), but I don't need an HP because as we all know we have to *assume* the HP, and be happy if its a SP.
You can try lurking in the Approvals section of the forum over the next several days and watch for approval announcements if you don't want to be the data point you're looking for.
I used the select-the-same-card-you-already-hold loophole a few years ago to get a SP CLI on my PCR which I understand is still valid although one has to be mindful of the current $25K CL cap on cards not grandfathered by virtue of already being at $25K+ CL when the limit was imposed.
@Wavester64 wrote:I am seeing mixed messages on the forums as to whether a pre-approved offer from PENFED, be it on their site or a mailer, if its a HP or a SP so I thought I would start a thread to put them all together for everyone to share their experience.
So if you ever received a PenFed "Pre-Approved" offer for a CC and apped for it, regardless if you we're approved or declined, did you receive a Hard Pull for your efforts or a Soft Pull on your credit Report? Also, which CC was it you were being offered
So here is a potential DP for anyone who has the quarterly offer from PENFED:
Since I was worried about a HP, at the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try for it with freezing my Equifax Report. I never did this before, so I figured there is a 1st time for everything and I had nothing to lose . I already had an Equifax account, so I went on there to freeze my EQ report. Wasn't sure how long it took to take affect, but from the looks of it, its instant.
So if everything went well, I should be able to app for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature (the one I was pre-approved for online) without issue, they should not HP me since I have the online pre-approved offer, and if they did HP, I have them blocked.
So I clicked on my offer, accepted everything, clicked submit, the wheels were spinning, and then the site had error issue, but I noticed I immediately got an email and it said:
Dear XXXXXXXX
Thank you for applying for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® card.
Upon attempting to access your credit information, we received notification that your credit information is locked (frozen). In order for us to perform our credit review processes, we will need access to this information.
Please click here to visit the PenFed Notifications Portal (authentication will be required) for additional information and next steps.
Your application number is: XXXXXXXX. Please keep this number for your records.
Sincerely,
@Wavester64 wrote:
@Wavester64 wrote:I am seeing mixed messages on the forums as to whether a pre-approved offer from PENFED, be it on their site or a mailer, if its a HP or a SP so I thought I would start a thread to put them all together for everyone to share their experience.
So if you ever received a PenFed "Pre-Approved" offer for a CC and apped for it, regardless if you we're approved or declined, did you receive a Hard Pull for your efforts or a Soft Pull on your credit Report? Also, which CC was it you were being offered
So here is a potential DP for anyone who has the quarterly offer from PENFED:
Since I was worried about a HP, at the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try for it with freezing my Equifax Report. I never did this before, so I figured there is a 1st time for everything and I had nothing to lose . I already had an Equifax account, so I went on there to freeze my EQ report. Wasn't sure how long it took to take affect, but from the looks of it, its instant.
So if everything went well, I should be able to app for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature (the one I was pre-approved for online) without issue, they should not HP me since I have the online pre-approved offer, and if they did HP, I have them blocked.
So I clicked on my offer, accepted everything, clicked submit, the wheels were spinning, and then the site had error issue, but I noticed I immediately got an email and it said:
Dear XXXXXXXX
Thank you for applying for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® card.
Upon attempting to access your credit information, we received notification that your credit information is locked (frozen). In order for us to perform our credit review processes, we will need access to this information.
Please click here to visit the PenFed Notifications Portal (authentication will be required) for additional information and next steps.
Your application number is: XXXXXXXX. Please keep this number for your records.
Sincerely,Lending ServiceSo there you have it - nothing is automatic these days, especially as it pertains to me (and Penfed) . They sc***ed me once before and I am glad I didn't give them a chance to do it again.
I do not think that by freezing EQ and then applying that it truly indicates it will result in a HP.
For example ..
They pull EX for loan products and you can check your rate with only a SP... *UNTIL* ..you accept an offer. Then it results in a HP on EX.
With that being said, I have EX frozen, went for a preapproval (SP) and got the same email (and text) you did. I encourage other memebers to try this out also. We know checking rates is SP until accepting an offer.
@OzonMike wrote:
@Wavester64 wrote:
@Wavester64 wrote:I am seeing mixed messages on the forums as to whether a pre-approved offer from PENFED, be it on their site or a mailer, if its a HP or a SP so I thought I would start a thread to put them all together for everyone to share their experience.
So if you ever received a PenFed "Pre-Approved" offer for a CC and apped for it, regardless if you we're approved or declined, did you receive a Hard Pull for your efforts or a Soft Pull on your credit Report? Also, which CC was it you were being offered
So here is a potential DP for anyone who has the quarterly offer from PENFED:
Since I was worried about a HP, at the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try for it with freezing my Equifax Report. I never did this before, so I figured there is a 1st time for everything and I had nothing to lose . I already had an Equifax account, so I went on there to freeze my EQ report. Wasn't sure how long it took to take affect, but from the looks of it, its instant.
So if everything went well, I should be able to app for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature (the one I was pre-approved for online) without issue, they should not HP me since I have the online pre-approved offer, and if they did HP, I have them blocked.
So I clicked on my offer, accepted everything, clicked submit, the wheels were spinning, and then the site had error issue, but I noticed I immediately got an email and it said:
Dear XXXXXXXX
Thank you for applying for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® card.
Upon attempting to access your credit information, we received notification that your credit information is locked (frozen). In order for us to perform our credit review processes, we will need access to this information.
Please click here to visit the PenFed Notifications Portal (authentication will be required) for additional information and next steps.
Your application number is: XXXXXXXX. Please keep this number for your records.
Sincerely,Lending ServiceSo there you have it - nothing is automatic these days, especially as it pertains to me (and Penfed) . They sc***ed me once before and I am glad I didn't give them a chance to do it again.I do not think that by freezing EQ and then applying that it truly indicates it will result in a HP.
For example ..
They pull EX for loan products and you can check your rate with only a SP... *UNTIL* ..you accept an offer. Then it results in a HP on EX.
With that being said, I have EX frozen, went for a preapproval (SP) and got the same email (and text) you did. I encourage other memebers to try this out also. We know checking rates is SP until accepting an offer.
I am wondering if there has ever been an instance where PENFED pushed the approval through even though they were requesting your report be unfrozen and you were previously pre-approved via quarterly offers. 🤔 I am guessing no, but hey, its nice to to think if it could happen
My guess is that they would not, and that has to do at least in part with of AR-tagged soft pulls (i.e. the normal monthly soft pulls) and the legalities of permissible purpose.
Oddly enough, I remember trying for a loan a couple of months ago and my EX was frozen at the time. I ended up having to unfreeze it a short time later. I logged in to Penfed one day and noticed that I had a preapproval for a loan. Ended up taking it and then the HP hit my CR.