PenFed Checking

[Anonymous]

I recently got approved for a PenFed PCR, and was thinking of trying their checking account.

Based on their website, it states that the fee is waived by Monthly DD or daily balance of $500 (not a problem to plop $500 in there as a minimum).

However, it states that for interest you need to have monthly direct deposits of $500 or more. Well, that is where I'd be in a "pickle". I work for a local credit union, and I cannot move my DD to any institution other than the one I work for. Would external ACH transfers into PenFed suffice for that? Or do those of you who don't actively use the account and just have the $500 in there to avoid the fee still earn interest without any monthly activity??

[Anonymous]

You may have to check with PenFed on that. Some banks treat ACH deposits differently and I'm not sure if they would count it as qualifying.

The interest earning is fairly minimal. I have part of my check deposited to them that I use for regular bills and pick up a few cents a month for it. I'll take it, but the interest part isn't anything special.

[DaveInAZ]

The interest is only .20% if you meet the requirements, not worth bothering with it in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

True, it is minimal at best. But I figured, anything is better than nothing. I wasn't expecting a huge payday or anything, just simply interest earnings even if it's only $0.05-0.10/mo. Was just curious what others' experiences had been with the interest earning if anybody was able to earn/qualify for it without having "true" direct deposit.

[DaveInAZ]

Well, I think you really need to call & ask them.

I had my payroll direct deposit go into Access Checking May thru October, and got a whopping 10 cents interest. Their reps should be able to tell you if an ACH transfer will meet the requirement to earn interest.

I closed my Access checking and only have the required share account, it wasn't worth it to me to park $500 in checking to get 2% rewards on my PCR card, I got a PayPal 2% Cashback Mastercard and use that for my 2% on anything card. I'll probably close my PCR card next month if they don't give a pre-approved CLI, the low limit they gave me isn't worth bothering with it, and I don't give HPs just for a CLI.

I do have a nice Home Equity LOC with Penfed so I'll keep my membership, but I've moved my primary banking to DCU and a local CU, Vantage West.

BTW, I don't think it's legal for your CU employer to tell you the only way you can get paid is to have it deposited into one of their accounts, but I imagine you don't want to ruffle any feathers.

[outofcredit]

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@Anonymouswrote:

True, it is minimal at best. But I figured, anything is better than nothing. I wasn't expecting a huge payday or anything, just simply interest earnings even if it's only $0.05-0.10/mo. Was just curious what others' experiences had been with the interest earning if anybody was able to earn/qualify for it without having "true" direct deposit.

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I have never had a "true" direct deposit with Penfed for my Access checking account. Each month I initiate a ACH transfer with Penfed pulling $500 from one of my external checking accounts.  I have never been charged the $10 monthly fee and I get approximately $0.01 in interest per month. The account has been open since 06/2017. I keep it open in hopes of getting a credit card with them once my credit scores have improved. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

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@DaveInAZwrote:

BTW, I don't think it's legal for your CU employer to tell you the only way you can get paid is to have it deposited into one of their accounts, but I imagine you don't want to ruffle any feathers.

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You know, I never really asked specifically if they'd do it... I started working here before finding this forum, and I also happened to have this as my primary account at the time of being hired as well. However, when a new employee starts, they open a membership account and have their payroll go into that. To my knowledge, everybody that works here has their DD coming here as well. However, they may not have asked, similar to me, and just went with it as they probably didn't care where their funds were and figured the convenience of having immediate access to tellers for any business was worth moving things?? I'm not sure.

I've always been under the impression that we didn't have the technology/ability (for whatever reason) to DD into external accounts. Whether it be due to not wanting to pay for that service or what... It could likely just be that they do it to boost their membership/assets and keep funds in-house? Not sure, just spit-balling. I, and some others, just ACH/mobile deposit into other institutions. It kind of sucks to have to wait a few days for ACH transactions to post at the institution I want before having "true access" to payroll, but I could also have convenience of immediate access since the tellers are in my branch. I suppose there's pros/cons.

If you, or anybody else for that matter, have any insight into this... I'd love to hear it.

[Anonymous]

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@outofcreditwrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

True, it is minimal at best. But I figured, anything is better than nothing. I wasn't expecting a huge payday or anything, just simply interest earnings even if it's only $0.05-0.10/mo. Was just curious what others' experiences had been with the interest earning if anybody was able to earn/qualify for it without having "true" direct deposit.

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I have never had a "true" direct deposit with Penfed for my Access checking account. Each month I initiate a ACH transfer with Penfed pulling $500 from one of my external checking accounts.  I have never been charged the $10 monthly fee and I get approximately $0.01 in interest per month. The account has been open since 06/2017. I keep it open in hopes of getting a credit card with them once my credit scores have improved. YMMV.

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I suppose that's worth trying. If I end up getting charged the fee one month, it's not the end of the world and I could just park funds there at that time.

Do you ACH push from your other institution website?

Or do you ACH pull from PenFed website?

[Anonymous]

I always use PenFed to pull funds when moving to them. That and mobile deposits show up immediately after to use, even if it takes two days to “leave” the other bank.
And my DD shows up a day early with them.

[outofcredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@outofcreditwrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

True, it is minimal at best. But I figured, anything is better than nothing. I wasn't expecting a huge payday or anything, just simply interest earnings even if it's only $0.05-0.10/mo. Was just curious what others' experiences had been with the interest earning if anybody was able to earn/qualify for it without having "true" direct deposit.

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I have never had a "true" direct deposit with Penfed for my Access checking account. Each month I initiate a ACH transfer with Penfed pulling $500 from one of my external checking accounts.  I have never been charged the $10 monthly fee and I get approximately $0.01 in interest per month. The account has been open since 06/2017. I keep it open in hopes of getting a credit card with them once my credit scores have improved. YMMV.

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I suppose that's worth trying. If I end up getting charged the fee one month, it's not the end of the world and I could just park funds there at that time.

Do you ACH push from your other institution website?

Or do you ACH pull from PenFed website?

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I ACH pull from Penfed's website. Keep in mind that Penfed has some limitations on what you can do with their checking accounts if your membership status is less than 6 months. When I initially joined I only had the share savings accounts and didn't open the checking until my membership status was over 6 months to avoid those limitations. My ACH pulls are available immediately with no holds. I believe my daily limit is $5000.