Somebody help me understand why I should keep Penfed

[Anonymous]

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+1

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I'll give you some reasons to keep PenFed:

-- good customer service

-- great car loans (seems to be their specialty)

-- free checking along with free AllPoint ATM withdrawals with direct deposit

-- the best 2% cashback card in the industry:  the PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa

-- excellent rates on certificates of deposit

I don't understand mountaindewvoltage's comments.  I've been a PenFed member for 25 years, and my direct deposits have always posted on the day they are supposed to post, and my debit card transactions always post immediately (within minutes).  A couple of their credit cards sometimes take an extra day to post, but that seems to be caused by the need to sync their transactions with their third party credit card contractor (who I think is a subsidiary of American Express).

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[CreditCuriosity]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Only reason im staying is the possibilty of using them for a future car loan. I found out early, no money no honey, at least with my profile, and i shouldnt have to beg for a 1k increase on a credit card lol. I wont hate on them but ive learned where one pond is for certain kind of fish, there's always another that accepts us little Nemo's

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LOL.. understood kinda like how i feel about discover as they don't like people with alot of credit either like me.  I agree banks/cu's cater to different people in different ways and they kinda make it clear if they like your profile/income level/exposure etc.  I have to live with it whether I like it or not. Amex loves me and discover doesn't.  Who should I pick .

[AverageJoesCredit]

So true CC. Thats one reason to not lock in with just one lender. I think i was more disheartened at having to close my Disco than PF because i really wanted Disco to grow more but at the end of day, just have to Rock on with Navy and Amex

[DaveInAZ]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

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@DaveInAZ wrote:

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Yes, their banking system is outdated, and doesn't show pending transactions on checking/savings accounts, but happy to show you pending CC transactions.

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Could you give us an example of a pending transaction on a checking account?  When I write a check, PenFed doesn't know that check exists until it is presented to them for payment by the payee, and it then posts immediately.  ATM transactions post immediately.  Debit card transactions at merchants post immediately.  PenFed even notifies me a day in advance of posting my monthly annuity check.  Your comment confuses me.

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mountaindewvoltage has posted a couple times that debit card transactions take a few days to post. I never use debit, except to move money to accounts as a credit, with PayPal or Goggle Wallet. For example, when I sell something on eBay instead of it taking a day or two for PayPal to move the money to a bank account I use my PP Debit card & Google Wallet. Wallet #1 account is loaded with PP debit, Wallet #2 account is loaded with the debit card of the bank account I want the $$$ to go to. With DCU & my local CU account the credit transaction shows up in minutes. With Penfed it took a couple days to show up, ACH transfer was actually faster.

Now that I think about it, as I joined in May I was on the strict new account limits for the first 6 months until Nov., and that might have been a reason for the delay in debit card credit transaction showing up.

[Anonymous]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I don't understand mountaindewvoltage's comments.  I've been a PenFed member for 25 years, and my direct deposits have always posted on the day they are supposed to post, and my debit card transactions always post immediately (within minutes).  A couple of their credit cards sometimes take an extra day to post, but that seems to be caused by the need to sync their transactions with their third party credit card contractor (who I think is a subsidiary of American Express).

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Must be you're using a different Penfed. Debit card transactions never show up instantly. 

Day before direct deposits are nice, and another perk of the credit union for those who like it (like me). 

[Anonymous]

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@CreditCuriousity wrote:

Yes since they have acquired another big CU last year their CS waits have greatly increased although they are trying to hire more people to feel to void.  Prior to that acquisition I never had a wait time more then 30 seconds to a minutes.  Now they can be pretty long from 10-20 minutes unfortunately as I can't argue that.

They are my primary CU/Bank and have treated me very well so I don't plan on moving my DD anywhere as have a great auto rate, various LOC's and a large CC limit as well at fair terms and constantly offered BT's if I even need them.  I have never received a pre-qual for any of their products, but honestly don't need them.  Will be buying a house shortly and probably using someone else for that for other reasons, but part of their growing pains is the mentioned wait times for customer service reps although they have always been pleasent to me and I use my atm card like every few months and see withdrawls post immediately along with pending transcations etc on my CC, so not quite sure what MDV is speaking of.  Yes if you are new to them they will put holds on payments etc for i believe the first 3-6 months before your available credit is back to normal although typical of some banks/cu's.  after that no issues for me.

Also another I guess benefit for me is my Direct Deposits land in my penfed account a day or two prior to me other accounts where I have them going to as well.. Meaning Penfed more less entends me credit as they know what is incoming early from my employer and thus credits me at least a day earliy for whatever reason so their DD works wonderful for myself.  No intentions of switching to another CU

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I don't mind the 10 minute wait, it's really not that big of a deal to me.  At least Penfed has friendly, U.S based, knowledgable reps who go above and beyond to answer my question, or get someone who can. 

When I call Citi on the other hand, I usually get someone on the phone right away, but they often have no clue what they're talking about, it always sounds like the same exact woman from India, and I'm rarely satisfied when I get off the phone. 

I'd rather wait 10 minutes for the former. 

[NRB525]

I was declined on my first CC app with PenFed in late 2014. New member, fairly high balances. So I used that HP to open a $500 Secured CC with them. Used it for some charges, a few BT ( yes, to a $500 Secured card ) then apped and instapproved for a $16,500 Promise card Dec 2015. At the time I got a $100 SUB which was nice. 

Now I use it to move no-fee BT onto the card at 4.99%   The autopay is one where it will take the same amount every month even if your CC is in a negative balance so I move some over periodically. The rewards cards aren’t so interesting to me but I like the BT offers. 

[Anonymous]

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@ohjoy wrote:

So, I joined Penfed to app a card for BT. Now, I know that my scores had been dropping because of a mini app spree and accounts were starting to show up. But still, my scores were still hanging out around 720 so [Side note: Stepping into the 700 club has turned me into a credit snob. smh]

So, I apped and was declined. [Cue the shock and awe]. I tried to recon but was told that I'd opened too many recent accounts (duh) and that I should lay low for a few months and then try again. [Well. I. Had. NEVER!]  So, I packed my bags and headed over to the Garden to allow my scores to heal and rebound.  Meantime, my lonely $50 deposit just sits in my Penfed savings account and I have no interest in sending them anything else. [Hmph! That'll teach 'em]  And I'm showing Navy all the love because they first loved me. 

Now I'm seeing a post about, yet another CU with rewards on great categories. And another CU that gives high limits. [Yep. I'm in the garden but a girl can look, right?] So, I'm kicking around the idea of joining one and wondering if I should just close out my Penfed account. After all, Disco and NFCU are now offering me 0% BT, so there!

All that said, is there a major benefit of staying with Penfed that I'm not aware of. I know some rave about Penfed, but why? What are the Pros?

Thanks guys. And yeah, I'm petty. 

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PenFed is good for quarterly preapprovals (pretty much approvals) without a HP. When an HP is initiated they use that same HP for between 30 and 90 days for additional products; decent and competitive rates on most things-neither the best nor the worst and "bragging" rights that you are a member of the third largest credit union in the country (is anybody ever going to find out why that hodunk NC SECU is the second largest? that really bothers me). Oh and I have found that PenFed usually has a great rate on a used car loan up to 48 months that beats out my other CUs.

I used to love PenFed; up until a few years ago they were a little more classy and conservative. Conservative CUs are good for people with great credit because it usually ensures the best rates out there. But a couple of years ago PenFed decided to be the town bicycle (obviously not for you) and nearly everybody gets a ride now. I have seen their lending rates increase and their new commercials are low rent (if thats the right word...not very impressive or spendy for such a large institution). 

I keep $250 in my share savings to ensure a $0.01 interest payment each month and I have a worthless Promise card that I've been meaning to close. Otherwise, I have PenFed around as an option for any credit need I may have. Its great to have options when car/house shopping etc without having to rejoin. But NFCU and SSFCU are my two go-to CU's now as they having better rates.

It is certainly your right to end your membership with them just because they decline you (even though by your own admission you agree that there could be reasons why they would decline you); however, with that rationale I would not have Citi, BofA or Discover as they all repeatedly declined me for a card early on when I was first starting out. I would have missed out on some good cards/rewards if I had sworn them off based on those early denials. 

[pipeguy]

I/we have been members of PenFed since the mid-1970's and used them extensively as our primary lender for many years (at that time you could only belong to 1 CU) - no lates, no defaults of any kind until the crash of 2006-08 when my business closed and our income went from 6 figures to "very little". At the time we had direct deposit from my wife' job going to PenFed, a car loan, one high balance Visa 
$10k +/- balance and a home equity loan for $100k with PenFed. We were struggling to eat and keep the lights on and ended up with several 30 day lates and I think one 60 day - ended up selling one of our cars and some other belongings to pay off the PenFed car loan, caught up on all other accounts and have never been late since then on anything with PenFed or anyone else. 

Accounts never went to collection and we were not pressed hard by PenFed at the time but they did close all of our credit accounts in addition to reporting the lates (as expected). As of today, as far as credit products through PenFed we are blacklisted (over 10 years) and they never lost a penny on our business, the credit card is paid off and we still maintain a small share account direct deposit (balance $1000+/-). Both my wife and I have Fico scores in the high 700's to low 800's, PenFed has no use for our business and I have no use for them. DCU, NFCU and most other major lenders are happy to have our business today (between the wife and myself we have in excess of $500k in credit card limits today).  

Bottom line is if you have NFCU you don't need PenFed, if you have DCU you don't need PenFed, if you don't feel the love from PenFed, it's your life, close your account or just keep the minimum in a share account and don't use them for anything else - you can always go back later and use them - although I won't.  

[Anonymous]

I’m sure I’m in the minority, but my opinion is if you are not rebuilding and if you don’t carry balances, you don’t need pen fed.

If you need them for an auto loan, you could try DCU or a local CU. If you are done with rebuilding and not trading in an upside down loan into a new loan, you can get the same rate with the manufacturer usually.

People have posted on here for two years they are planning to hire more reps, so take that with a grain of salt.