Downfall of PenFed, Need New CU!

[youngandcreditwrthy]

the wonderful thing about these products and institutions is that you can choose to enjoy all of them, some, or none.

and even though many of us do PIF our CCs, interest rates DO impact us in a plethora of ways indirectly (inflation to name a primary one); banks will absolutely use the fed's increase in rates to raise their own rates including CUs. It's a cash grab (and theyll approve more loans and lose more money but net on net - banks win with higher rates)

You never know what kind of emergency could eat up all your savings and land you needing to borrow $$$. Look at AIG in 2008, they had to borrow 185 billion at 13% interest I think it was. 

[CreditUp26]

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@pizzadude wrote:

If you look around at other CUs as pointed out by others I think you'll find 18% to be pretty good compared to most.  

Whinging about interest rates on your PenFed cards when you always PIF seems like complaining about the price of gas when you don't own a car.   

Also I'm not a PenFed member, but if you are that heartbroken and feel like you're being exploited then close your accounts and move on but I suspect you'll be equally disappointed in the future. 

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Well increased gas prices cause increased consumer goods prices but that's besides the point. I'm a member of over a dozen credit unions and have already begun closing my PenFed accounts.

[Horseshoez]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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• And finally their interest rate on savings is 3.00%; they pay the highest of any FCU I've seen (granted I haven't looked at them all).

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3% is pretty low at present.   Take a look at

High Yield Savings Accounts – Daily Rates | DepositAccounts

So one of my local (but open to all) FCUs is paying 5% and banks are paying up to 5.5%

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Yeah, I'm well aware; that's why most of my money is elsewhere.

[Horseshoez]

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@CreditUp26 wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

•  
• And finally their interest rate on savings is 3.00%; they pay the highest of any FCU I've seen (granted I haven't looked at them all).

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3% is pretty low at present.   Take a look at

High Yield Savings Accounts – Daily Rates | DepositAccounts

So one of my local (but open to all) FCUs is paying 5% and banks are paying up to 5.5%

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This is what I'm saying, there's so many better CU options. People just don't know because they don't look or assume they don't qualify. 

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I don't see a single CU out there which can match the best of what I'm getting from non-CU financial institutions.  Said another way, I'm not missing anything.

[longtimelurker]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

•  
• And finally their interest rate on savings is 3.00%; they pay the highest of any FCU I've seen (granted I haven't looked at them all).

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3% is pretty low at present.   Take a look at

High Yield Savings Accounts – Daily Rates | DepositAccounts

So one of my local (but open to all) FCUs is paying 5% and banks are paying up to 5.5%

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Yeah, I'm well aware; that's why most of my money is elsewhere.

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Well, now you have seen FCUs that pay more than Penfed!

[Horseshoez]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

•  
• And finally their interest rate on savings is 3.00%; they pay the highest of any FCU I've seen (granted I haven't looked at them all).

---

3% is pretty low at present.   Take a look at

High Yield Savings Accounts – Daily Rates | DepositAccounts

So one of my local (but open to all) FCUs is paying 5% and banks are paying up to 5.5%

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Yeah, I'm well aware; that's why most of my money is elsewhere.

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Well, now you have seen FCUs that pay more than Penfed!

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I've seen a few "claim" to pay more, but when you look at the details there are caps and rules and associated accounts required.  I don't consider those viable options.

[Guyatthebeach]

@CreditUp26 ,

I totally understand your point of view. My classic Navy League Promise card went from 10.49% APR to 15.24% and will going up to 17.99% soon. I pay my cards in full every month, so it's a non-issue, but this would be one of the cards where I'd carry a balance if I wanted too.

Given the recent issues Penfed has had recently, I'm starting to pay close attention to them. I'm not closing my accounts and ending my membership yet, but I'm watching them.

If you are in SC, take a close look at SCSCU. Their platnium Visa has a fixed rate of 9.49% and the Visa Signature has a rate of 12.5%, no BT fees or FTF fees. They also offer free ACH transfers with a limit of 5 external accounts, now it can take a few business days for the transfers to be completed. They have been my hub credit union since my bankruptcy. Also take a look st SDFCU and BCU. Both CU's have decent credit card rates and solid banking services.

Guyatthebeach

[lhslancers3270]

I've been a member of Penfed NFCU and PSECU for 17 years now. Even when I got my Gold card back then the interest rate was 12.49% so I only used the card enough to keep it open. I have direct deposit with Navy and they have a branch 10 minutes from the house so in addition to being convenient I found them easier to deal with all around. Got a car loan from them years back on the phone while waiting for a tow truck to take me and my car to the dealer for a trade in. Easy as could be got the dealer to drive me to Earle in Wall NJ to pick up the check from Navy drove the new car home that afternoon. If I ever need to do a balance transfer I use PSECU and pay under 3% for the money while it get 5% on money sitting in a brokerage account. At my age of 72 I am tempted to just close the never used Penfed Gold card and have one less worry about ID theft in my life.