cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?

tag
Wavester64
Valued Contributor

POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?

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 Smiley Happy






Potential Future Cards
Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
M_Smart007
Legendary Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?

From reading, it seem's >> pre-approved offers from the site are "SP" .. but with PenFed YMMVSmiley Very Happy

Pre-Approved mailers are HP .. Ask me how I know? .. PenFed Power Cash Rewards Mailer "HP" ..

 

@coldfusion, Will chime in with more solid infoSmiley Happy

 

Happy HP New Year!

Message 2 of 15
coldfusion
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?

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. 

 

 

 

(3/2024)
FICO 8 (EX) 846 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850
FICO 9 (EX) 850 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850

$1M+ club

Artist formerly known as the_old_curmudgeon who was formerly known as coldfusion
Message 3 of 15
Wavester64
Valued Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?


@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 Smiley LOL) 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.






Potential Future Cards
Message 4 of 15
coldfusion
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or 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.

(3/2024)
FICO 8 (EX) 846 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850
FICO 9 (EX) 850 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850

$1M+ club

Artist formerly known as the_old_curmudgeon who was formerly known as coldfusion
Message 5 of 15
Wavester64
Valued Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?


@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 Smiley Happy


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  Smiley Happy. 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 Service
 
So there you have it - nothing is automatic these days, especially as it pertains to me (and Penfed) Smiley Happy. They sc***ed me once before and I am glad I didn't give them a chance to do it again.





Potential Future Cards
Message 6 of 15
OzonMike
Member

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?


@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 Smiley Happy


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  Smiley Happy. 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 Service
 
So there you have it - nothing is automatic these days, especially as it pertains to me (and Penfed) Smiley Happy. 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.

Message 7 of 15
Wavester64
Valued Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?


@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 Smiley Happy


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  Smiley Happy. 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 Service
 
So there you have it - nothing is automatic these days, especially as it pertains to me (and Penfed) Smiley Happy. 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 Smiley Happy






Potential Future Cards
Message 8 of 15
coldfusion
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

(3/2024)
FICO 8 (EX) 846 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850
FICO 9 (EX) 850 (TU) 850 (EQ) 850

$1M+ club

Artist formerly known as the_old_curmudgeon who was formerly known as coldfusion
Message 9 of 15
coreyb80
Super Contributor

Re: POLL: PENFED Pre-Approved offers : HP or SP?

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.  

Message 10 of 15
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.