Pen Fed and NIH FCU Questions

[AndySoCal]

I am considering a credit card with these two credit unions. 

How is the customer service with these credit unions? I have read some posts on forum good na bad.

Does these either or both report the actual payment amount for the credit card?

Thanks for any input you may have

[Janneman]

---

@AndySoCal wrote:

I am considering a credit card with these two credit unions. 

How is the customer service with these credit unions? I have read some posts on forum good na bad.

Does these either or both report the actual payment amount for the credit card?

Thanks for any input you may have

---

I never have had any experience with NIH FCU because I never dealt with them. Speaking of Penfed then it was a terrible experience I had. 5 years ago Penfed closed two of my credit cards all of sudden without any reason given. Yes, without any reason given except "we don't want you"....It was out of blue and it happened when there was no credit score changed, no any changes in credit reports for anything, no any utilization issue, no any kinda issue whatsoever....I appealed the closure but if you have dealt with any CU then you should know that they always deny the appeal...I am sure that there might be some people who would try to dissect on the reasoning like this and that could be the reason, but there was no any negative or anything whatsoever. Since then I didn't like this CU and don't recommend it to anyone as when they could treat me like this then they could treat anyone. I don't like when a lender treats their long time customers like this. I rather take my business somewhere else.

Nevertheless, you should know that some people over here might have wonderful experience with Penfed. Thus, you need to weigh in to determine if this CU is worth dealing with. All I could say in the end is that lately this CU sucks which is evident all over online. Good luck

[Follower]

I'm not a credit union guy myself, but I recall seeing a number of recent posts to the effect of "PenFed used to be okay, but they're really annoying to deal with now."

[Kforce]

---

@Follower wrote:

I'm not a credit union guy myself, but I recall seeing a number of recent posts to the effect of "PenFed used to be okay, but they're really annoying to deal with now."

---

^^^^ This.

Reputation has taken a down turn.

[Flarty]

Unique data point here.  I was denied membership from NIH because of too many Chexsystems inquiries.  This was years ago, they've never allowed me back in.  

Was a member of PenFed but their online banking system was totally antiquated.  Had to make calls into the bank to g change external accounts, etc.  Maybe different now.  They also denied me for a credit card after a year of membership.  Would I ever bank with PF again?  No.

[NoMoreE46]

PenFed is perfectly fine if we are in 1996. 

[AndySoCal]

My primary interest  in Penfed is the Pen Fed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa only. I need to be able to link 5 to 10 external accounts in OLB in order for me to bank  ( checking)  with any credit union or bank. 
The interest in NIH FCU is the blue credit in the link below

https://www.nihfcu.org/personal/loans-credit-cards/credit-cards/ 

There is a third credit union who I have interest in years past I had a negative impression. But now they have upgraded their product offerings and I read a post that was positive.  The credit union is American Heritage FCU

The credit card of Interest is the Cash Reward Mastercard in the link below.

https://www.americanheritagecu.org/loans/credit-cards 

Chex systems wise I would have four inquiries total 3 of which would be 2 to 3 years old and 1 around a year old. I am not worried about that. Both NIH and American Heritage per CSR  pull Experian and Chex. Pen Fed does not pull Chex is my understanding.

[Snow-Leopard]

---

@AndySoCal wrote:

My primary interest  in Penfed is the Pen Fed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa only. I need to be able to link 5 to 10 external accounts in OLB in order for me to bank  ( checking)  with any credit union or bank. 
The interest in NIH FCU is the blue credit in the link below

https://www.nihfcu.org/personal/loans-credit-cards/credit-cards/ 

There is a third credit union who I have interest in years past I had a negative impression. But now they have upgraded their product offerings and I read a post that was positive.  The credit union is American Heritage FCU

The credit card of Interest is the Cash Reward Mastercard in the link below.

https://www.americanheritagecu.org/loans/credit-cards 

Chex systems wise I would have four inquiries total 3 of which would be 2 to 3 years old and 1 around a year old. I am not worried about that. Both NIH and American Heritage per CSR  pull Experian and Chex. Pen Fed does not pull Chex is my understanding.

---

PenFed will only let you link a single external account.

Do give American Heritage a try.

I am a member, though American Heritage is not my "primary." Last year, American Heritage's cash rewards card offered 3% back on ALL purchases during the holidays, and they offer a 9.99% fixed-rate card too.

By the way, American Heritage is very friendly. They will send you lots of paper mail and call you repeatedly after you join. Not geofenced, either.

[Royalbacon]

American Heritage required me to print a paper application off and notarize it along with a statement of why I wanted to join from out of state and what specific products I was interested in and mail it in since I was out of state after submitting an online application. No idea if they've changed since then.

I told them to cancel the application at that point.

If you only got 1 Chex inquiry within the past 12 months and the rest are 2+ years old you're golden for even the most Chex-Sensitive institutions.

[AndySoCal]

Based on what several people have posted about Pen Fed I have lost my interest in them.

@Snow-Leopard  Thank you for your information on American Heritage. Their legacy club for those who 60 and older is very nice. I qualify for with seven years to spare.  American Heritage savings accounts and CD rates are also higher than many credit unions.

@Royalbacon Thank for your input on Chex Systems. I have one new Chex pull and two more that will fall by end of year which will get me to where I would like to be.