Feed The Pen

[TheBoondocks]

Hey guys, so I was looking back at my emails when I signed up for Penfed, and I joined in December of 2013, it's been 7 years or so and I have never seen a pre-approval for no credit cards. I have received a mail from them for a personal loan but that's about it. Actually, when I first got my credit card with them, the Pathfinder, recently I just got a CLI from $2300 to $5K. I thought that was cool, but I don't even use it. Just use it for the travel credit 😂 anyway I just want a soft pull for the Power Cash lol.

But yeah, did you guys have a checking account in order to get that pre-approval? Cause I heard if you have a checking account with them, it means you're having a relationship with the bank. I just only have a savings that is required. But, I might move my money over just for the early DD cause somehow my NFCU doesn't offer it, but they do give better rates tho. Its another reason to bank with Penfed, it's a bump to the Power Cash too so both is good I guess.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Having a savings or checking with them doesnt mean one will get preapprovals or offers. Imo, no correlation . Id say they have to like your credit profile or what you have to offer , ie goid income, etc. Just my opinion but i always feel PF cherry picks which members to give more credit to while leaving others in dust. Perfectly their right and im sure most banks do this. Obviously they want profit but im certainly glad to have found the exact opposite of this trend with Navy.

To boot , just like Navy , putting money in your accounts wont force them or coerce them to extend more credit.

[crys12065]

Well I had $5 in a savings account with them for the last year, no checking and never touched the savings.  When I originally joined in Jan 2019 I apped for a credit card with them and was denied for too many INQ.  Then I apped last week on a whim with even more INQ but a higer credit score and was given the PCR card with a $10K SL.  I then opened a checking account with them for the 2% CB.  

So no I don't think they are relationship based from my experience. I think it's overall profile and credit score they look at. 

[TheBoondocks]

Congrats on the PCR! That's a good CL!

[AverageJoesCredit]

Score is meaningless to Penfed imo. Ok no more about Penfed from me, im officially retiring

[Traveler101]

op, if I'm reading your post correctly, you took a hp from Penfed last week for a cli? If so, that pull is generally good for 30 days to get an additional product.

[Revelate]

If you're waiting for lenders to come to you, you're doing it wrong .

Build a plan, if Penfed is in it, great!  If not, that's OK too.  Same thing applies to NFCU even if I think (a non-member who has just been on this forum watching a while) that if you do have access, they should be built into said plan.

Penfed isn't a bad lender in terms of their rates, their products, and their policies; they're a little disorganized at times and they seemingly don't review things over time (like my old tax lien, and I applied and was approved for a PLOC and I couldn't actually USE it based on some original membership restrictions... and I had to reach out to them to get it fixed which they did adroitly).  They are admittedly more conservative and I can't really blame them if I'm objective about the credit seeking behavior on this forum.  

The vast majority of people find a CU and then stick with them for their product needs, and remember average is like 4 credit cards which most of us, aren't.  Penfed isn't a bad CU, at all, for that consumer.  For us with 16+ revolvers, maybe not.  

I'm pretty sure I could get a credit card with Penfed but I'd probably have to explain a bit... but ultimately their credit cards just don't really fit my needs and as such I don't.  Really calling it what it is, I actively use 3 credit cards, which means my other 13 accounts are basically superfluous: heaven forbid lenders don't want to be #14 in that deck. 

That said, I know I could get a mortgage or auto loan from them and they play well there, and that's why I keep them around and quite possibly the same reason they haven't killed my PLOC which I've only used once in 4 years.