Penfed Checking account questions

Anonymous · ‎10-01-2017

I recently opened a Penfed access america checking account to take advantage of 2% cash back on my penfed power cash rewards .

I opened it on 25th september and 3 days later i transferred 500$ from paypal. The funds were available immediately on 28th as both current balance and available balance. The transaction codes as 'Paypal Transfer'.

I have thought of leaving the 500$ in the checking account always to avoid the 10$ monthly fee but there is also another option of monthly direct deposit of 500$. The thing is i get a pay check ,i dont get a direct deposit . My employer changed this last year from direct deposit to checks. So i was wondering what counts as direct deposit for penfed?

I researched online and have found no data points on this . What i would like to know is if one does not have a payroll direct deposit does paypal, capital one 360, or amex serve transfer count as direct deposits to waive the 10 monthly fee?

I understand ACH pull limit is 50$ a day , But what is the ACH push limit?. Is there any intial hold for new checking customers on the ACH pushes from other banks?

If paypal transfer was counted as ACH then they allowed the full 500$ to be available immediately even though i am new checking account customer (but my penfed membership and savings account are 8 months old). At this point i am not even sure how they are coding PAYPAL transaction, it does not say ACH or DD , just says 'paypal transfer'. I heard they allow access to payroll direct deposit amount immediately without any holds. That was the same with paypal transfer.

How do they code real DD ?

Any data point regarding my inquiries is appreciated . Thanks!

Glen_M · ‎10-01-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
I recently opened a Penfed access america checking account to take advantage of 2% cash back on my penfed power cash rewards . ...
I have thought of leaving the 500$ in the checking account always to avoid the 10$ monthly fee but there is also another option of monthly direct deposit of 500$. ...

I understand ACH pull limit is 50$ a day , But what is the ACH push limit?. Is there any intial hold for new checking customers on the ACH pushes from other banks? ...

$10 monthly fee? I earn dividends on the $100 I have sitting in my checking account with PenFed, and my statment tells me I'm getting 2% cashback. I'm pretty sure the account just needs to exist for the 2% upgrade (for non-servicemembers), no particular amount necessary. I do maintain $1k in my savings though.

You can push as much as you'd like. Though I suspect you might get some delays or funny "are you a drug-smuggler or money launderer" type quesitions if you're talking more than $9k in a short time. PenFed is just annoyingly slow at recognizing that the transfer occurred. My bank will say it's done and over with in 2-3 days now that I've gone through the process a few times and established that receiving account, and PenFed will take 7-10 days to acknowlege that anything happened. Maybe it's different after the 6-month training wheels, IDK.

Anonymous · ‎10-01-2017

@Glen_M wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I recently opened a Penfed access america checking account to take advantage of 2% cash back on my penfed power cash rewards . ...
I have thought of leaving the 500$ in the checking account always to avoid the 10$ monthly fee but there is also another option of monthly direct deposit of 500$. ...

I understand ACH pull limit is 50$ a day , But what is the ACH push limit?. Is there any intial hold for new checking customers on the ACH pushes from other banks? ...
$10 monthly fee? I earn dividends on the $100 I have sitting in my checking account with PenFed, and my statment tells me I'm getting 2% cashback. I'm pretty sure the account just needs to exist for the 2% upgrade (for non-servicemembers), no particular amount necessary. I do maintain $1k in my savings though.

You can push as much as you'd like. Though I suspect you might get some delays or funny "are you a drug-smuggler or money launderer" type quesitions if you're talking more than $9k in a short time. PenFed is just annoyingly slow at recognizing that the transfer occurred. My bank will say it's done and over with in 2-3 days now that I've gone through the process a few times and established that receiving account, and PenFed will take 7-10 days to acknowlege that anything happened. Maybe it's different after the 6-month training wheels, IDK.

It says so on their fee schedule.

DaveInAZ · ‎10-02-2017

Yeah, it's a $10/mo. fee unless you have $500 balance or $500/mo. in direct deposits. I asked how long you have to set the DDs up when I opened my Access account in May and was told 3 months, so maybe Glen_M hasn't hit that yet? As for ACH push deposits I transferred in $1500 and then $1000 in Sept. with no problem, was in available balance the day they hit the account. I'm still in the 6 month new member period.

Wow DeepKc, your employer switched from DD to check? My local county govt. employer will only pay by DD.

Anonymous · ‎10-02-2017

I wish mine was DD too .

Btw i was just thinking , my husband also has power cash rewards CC as well , so if i make this Access america checking account a joint account with him , perhaps we both earn 2% on our two seperate power cash rewards cards?

I just sent a message to Penfed to let me know the process of adding a joint owner. I am like ' why didnt i think of this before?' !!

Coming back to the DD questions , how does the real dd transaction code? Any data point on paypal transfer or capital one 360 being trated as DD transactions?

Anonymous · ‎10-02-2017

Penfed's checking offering is so bad that I had it for three weeks and one direct deposit before I got rid of it. If you can't even post debit transactions as soon as the card is used, then I'm not interested in having the account. I'm not going to go out of my way to keep receipts for a $2.50 purchase, nor do they have the capability to send me an instant push notification once my deb it card is used. I rely on instant "pending" purchases to balance a transaction register.

Loans on the other hand are a different story. The credit card offerings are very good (but not great), and the personal loan rates are very good. The rep said they're updating everything by April of next year, which then I may switch my DD back there and open another checking account, and open up a credit card.

As to your question, there is no push limit, only pull, which $50 is a pretty low amount to limit someone to, but since transfers are instant, I can see why they're cautious.

To be honest, the only reason why I didn't fully close out my membership and leave is because their customer service is the best I've seen in the industry.

DaveInAZ · ‎10-03-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
I wish mine was DD too .
Btw i was just thinking , my husband also has power cash rewards CC as well , so if i make this Access america checking account a joint account with him , perhaps we both earn 2% on our two seperate power cash rewards cards?

I just sent a message to Penfed to let me know the process of adding a joint owner. I am like ' why didnt i think of this before?' !!

Coming back to the DD questions , how does the real dd transaction code? Any data point on paypal transfer or capital one 360 being trated as DD transactions?

The joint account should work for both of you getting the 2% from Powercash.

As for DD/ACH deposits, Penfed doesn't show a lot of detail. I pushed in $500 from PayPal and it shows as: PAYPAL TRANSFER

My county payroll DD shows up as: Cochise County PAYROLL

I tried that Google debit card transfer and it took 2 biz days to show up, probable delayed by Penfed: GOOGLE *VISA MONEY TRANSF Visa Direct

And I pushed a $1500 ACH from my AZ CU and it just shows up as P2P with my name: DAVID ***R P2P

Anonymous · ‎10-03-2017

@DaveInAZ wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I wish mine was DD too .
Btw i was just thinking , my husband also has power cash rewards CC as well , so if i make this Access america checking account a joint account with him , perhaps we both earn 2% on our two seperate power cash rewards cards?

I just sent a message to Penfed to let me know the process of adding a joint owner. I am like ' why didnt i think of this before?' !!

Coming back to the DD questions , how does the real dd transaction code? Any data point on paypal transfer or capital one 360 being trated as DD transactions?
The joint account should work for both of you getting the 2% from Powercash.

As for DD/ACH deposits, Penfed doesn't show a lot of detail. I pushed in $500 from PayPal and it shows as: PAYPAL TRANSFER
My county payroll DD shows up as: Cochise County PAYROLL
I tried that Google debit card transfer and it took 2 biz days to show up, probable delayed by Penfed: GOOGLE *VISA MONEY TRANSF Visa Direct
And I pushed a $1500 ACH from my AZ CU and it just shows up as P2P with my name: DAVID ***R P2P

Thanks DaveInAZ . I dont think penfed considers paypal as DD .

Btw i am loving google wallet. Instant transfers for free and it gets delayed sometimes depending on banks . I often use paypal, serve & google wallet to move money between bank accounts. Very useful tools

SomewhereIn505 · ‎10-03-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Penfed's checking offering is so bad that I had it for three weeks and one direct deposit before I got rid of it. If you can't even post debit transactions as soon as the card is used, then I'm not interested in having the account. I'm not going to go out of my way to keep receipts for a $2.50 purchase, nor do they have the capability to send me an instant push notification once my deb it card is used. I rely on instant "pending" purchases to balance a transaction register.

Loans on the other hand are a different story. The credit card offerings are very good (but not great), and the personal loan rates are very good. The rep said they're updating everything by April of next year, which then I may switch my DD back there and open another checking account, and open up a credit card.

As to your question, there is no push limit, only pull, which $50 is a pretty low amount to limit someone to, but since transfers are instant, I can see why they're cautious.

To be honest, the only reason why I didn't fully close out my membership and leave is because their customer service is the best I've seen in the industry.

I called in to make sure my debit card was connected to the correct account (it was) and discovered you do not see pending posts. However the PenFed rep connected "Money Dashboard" as a tab going across the top. Hopefully this will allow me to see pending transactions coming through.

Changing bank accounts is a PITA, but think it will be worth it in the long haul. Did I mention the closes branch to me is 3.5 hour drive from me? I will figure out a way to make it work.

3/16/18 FICO9 TU-700 EQ-669 EX-716
6/26/18 FICO9 TU-750, EQ-672, EX-789