Penfed Membership: No hard pull

arunkumarmm · ‎04-13-2020

Hi Guys,

I have wanted to start a relationship with Penfed for a long time. I have got couple of pre approval mailers from them earlier but never responded to that.

Yesterday, I decided to apply for membership. When clicked join now, they asked for my phone number to pull the details from "their sources". And sure did they pull my details and pre populated some of them. After that, it did not ask me the eligibilty or for the donation to get eligible to join.

They gave me the savings account number and prompted to sign up for online account.

I signed up and opened a checking account as well. I did not apply for any credit product or OD. I thought maybe there will be a HP today but nothing yet..

Its more surprizing that they did not do a HP and no donation for membership eligibility.

Is this normal with them? I tried searching and there is a post but no further update on that

M_Smart007 · ‎04-13-2020

I think PenFed is finally changing their ways ..

I am sure tons of complaints, as they have been HP happy in the past!

Congrats on your membership.

Anonymous · ‎04-13-2020

Oh man if they aren't doing HPs anymore, I can finally open up a PenFed account. Hopefully this continues to be the case. Thanks for the info. Hopefully more DPs come in and this wasn't just a fluke!

Anonymous · ‎04-13-2020

I can second this..... just applied for membership and no hard pull or donation for me either

AllZero · ‎04-13-2020

@arunkumarmm wrote:
Hi Guys,

I have wanted to start a relationship with Penfed for a long time. I have got couple of pre approval mailers from them earlier but never responded to that.

Yesterday, I decided to apply for membership. When clicked join now, they asked for my phone number to pull the details from "their sources". And sure did they pull my details and pre populated some of them. After that, it did not ask me the eligibilty or for the donation to get eligible to join.

They gave me the savings account number and prompted to sign up for online account.

I signed up and opened a checking account as well. I did not apply for any credit product or OD. I thought maybe there will be a HP today but nothing yet..

Its more surprizing that they did not do a HP and no donation for membership eligibility.

Is this normal with them? I tried searching and there is a post but no further update on that

Congratulations on your membership!

AllZero · ‎04-13-2020

@Anonymous wrote:
I can second this..... just applied for membership and no hard pull or donation for me either

Congratulations on your membership!

mikesonthemend · ‎04-13-2020

@arunkumarmm wrote:

Its more surprizing that they did not do a HP and no donation for membership eligibility.

Is this normal with them? I tried searching and there is a post but no further update on that

My experience is the total opposite of yours. Half of my EQ inquiries are from PenFed. 2 in the first day.

Living through Darwinism is so much worse than learning about about it in school.

Anonymous · ‎04-13-2020

They have indeed removed the HP for membership! Right before you submit, it says:

I authorize PenFed to obtain a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency to verify information provided in my application or for legitimate business purpose in connection with my PenFed account. This will not impact my credit score.

If it was a HP, it would not say it will not impact your score.

I decided not to go through with the app though. I'm still not sure about a CU that charges for a checking account and besides, if I join dirty I'll be waiting years to get offers. I'll wait til my BK is gone from EQ before I join.

Anonymous · ‎04-14-2020

This is really good to know. They are on my list to join and it makes it a bit more attractive to bite the bullet of doing it online instead of a branch.

Green456 · ‎04-14-2020

@Anonymous wrote:
They have indeed removed the HP for membership! Right before you submit, it says:

I authorize PenFed to obtain a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency to verify information provided in my application or for legitimate business purpose in connection with my PenFed account. This will not impact my credit score.
If it was a HP, it would not say it will not impact your score.

I decided not to go through with the app though. I'm still not sure about a CU that charges for a checking account and besides, if I join dirty I'll be waiting years to get offers. I'll wait til my BK is gone from EQ before I join.

Not only that. They also have much lower high yield savings rates than ally or marcus. But it does make it more likely for me to try them again in the future. Hopefully by then they will improve their online banking.