Customer ReviewsforPenFed Credit Union

The representative i spoke to was very courteous, professional & knowledgeable. She explained to me what I was trying to gather information on. I was very comfortable with her answer. Everything was excellent.

Hi there, thank you so much for taking the time to share your positive feedback! We strive to provide service excellence in every interaction, and we are very happy to hear this was demonstrated in your case.

This company is horrible. I received a letter stating I applied for a third credit card. I card to let them it was not me. They said ok and put a hold on my two cards which had zero balances. I called a few days later, and ******* explained to me they don't see any strange activities so i asked for them to release the hold and they did. There were no hard pull done to my credit report. So I was thinking everything was fine. Both of my cards showed zero balances, everytime I used them i pay them off within two days. Not too long after I received a letter from Penfed stating I was the one who was doing fraudulent stuff. When I called them they explained to me I needed to contact the police and do a report with them, email them two photo ID, and two proof of evidence that I live at my house. Until I do this they told me they put a total freeze to all of my accounts. I told them I'm not doing all of that. I talked to other reps and supervisors, and they were no help. If anything they were very rude. One supervisor agreed they would cancel my membership with Penfed if I mailed them back my two credit cards. It's been closed to two weeks, and still haven't contacted me to make sure my membership with them is closed, and they send my money back from my savings account.

Hi *****, we are sorry to hear of your situation. Our Fraud team carefully reviewed your claim that you did not submit a recent application with **. While our investigation did not support your claim, we do want to ensure the security of your account and have requested that you provide us with ID documents to restore full account access. If you have questions, please contact us at ************.

I think this company is a fraud. I went on a lot to purchase a vehicle when I left I had a bank account with Penn Fed. They also have an insurance company that puts insurance on your car without you even knowing unfortunately on 5 March my vehicle was a total loss. No fault to me, but the other insurance company was making preparations to pay Penn Fed while waiting. I got so many messages saying that I needed to get insurance on a vehicle that was towed away March 5 and claimed as a total loss. I think this company should be shut down. The whole bank is a fraud. They take a vantage of people right now I do not have a vehicle because someone else hit my car and totally lost my vehicle and Im still getting calls saying I need to insure a vehicle that is totally lost

Hi there, thanks for reaching out with your concerns. All applicants are required to join PenFed and to insure their vehicle when taking out an auto loan. We are sorry to hear of the position you are in and hope you will contact us at ************ to reach an amicable resolution to this matter.

If you want your credit rating to drop by 100 points or more try doing business with Penfed Credit Union. I held a PenFed credit card for over 2 years. I had not used their card for about 6 months because I have other cards that are more convenient. I received a warning from Experian about my credit score falling like a rock. With some investigation I found out that someone had fraudulently used the card for some TV subscription. I immediately call PenFed and after several phone calls over the next few days found out about the fraudulent charges. Not only did I have to pay the $16 for the fraudulent charges but also late charges, thinking this would resolve the problem and they would correct the late charges that were fraudulent. To my utter dismay they not only lied about correcting the problem the exacerbated it by claiming that it wasn't fraudulent charges after being told by their representatives that I that they would! I am now in the process of trying to correct it myself without any help from them. If you want your credit rating ruined, have any dealings with PenFed! They are the worst credit company that I have ever dealt with because of their dishonesty. I have many other cards and used to have an excellent credit rating until I dealt with PenFed. You've Been Warned!

Hello John. We are very sorry to hear that you had a poor experience when reporting fraudulent transactions, and thank you for your feedback. 

Troy M I recently did a pre-approval for a credit card, I got approved for 15K. I submitted my application, and got denied. The reason being they told me that since I opened account in August of 2023, they wanted to be careful. My credit score is 831. I have a DTI of 2%, with 205K in available credit. I asked to speak with a manager, and I was told that they wanted to be careful just in case I ever experience financial problems down the line. I told her that I haven't been late on a payment in over 13 years, and now you want to basically tell me that you want to deny me because they want to be careful. This was racially motivated!! I asked to close my accounts that day. Also, when I got pre-approved for the credit card, I also got approved for a car loan. I told Jane, that I would like to proceed with the car loan application, she told me that they couldn't use the credit pull, that they just got 3 DAYS earlier, they would need to pull another credit report! There is something racial going on with this credit union. My credit is in the top 5% in the country, but yet I am being told that the reason for denial is that I have TOO MUCH CREDIT available to me, why get more? Also, she mentioned that they just wanted to be careful, regardless to the fact that I have 1 inquiry, 205K in available credit, no late payments EVER! I am in the process of contacting a lawyer. They racially denied me, and I know that, there are people getting approved with credit scores in the low 700's. I spent the last 15 years of my life working on credit and paying everything on time, just to now being told that, you have too much credit, and the most recent account opened in August of LAST Year, is to recent. I would advise moving all your accounts from this credit union they are racist. I asked to speak with upper management, and was told that they couldn't provide me with a number for anyone.

Hi troy, we are sorry to hear of your experience and appreciate that you brought this to our attention. We can assure you that our lending decisions are based on established lending guidelines without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, whether any income was derived from a public assistance program, and whether any rights were exercised under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

This is definitely racial! There would have been NO reason to treat me the way that you did, unless it was. So I guess people can get denied now with bad credit and excellent credit! Funny thing is, no other financial institutions see things the way Pen Fed does...thank God! I have read numerous reviews and it seems like, this was a blessing, because you countless dissatisfied members!

My worst credit card by far (and i had more than 20). I had recurring unauthorized charges and disputed them few times, but Penfed was nat able to stop them from coming again and again. Then they suggested to change credit card number. Done. But surprise, I again see unauthorized charges pending from previous card. So.. do not waste your time. They are incompetent. Their rates are never shown, you think you get 2% cashback, but it appears to be 1.5%. Their website and iphone app are a bad joke. I closed their card even though it will hurt my credit history. Never again.

We're sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with PenFed. We value your membership and would like to speak to you regarding your experience. We hope you'll reach out to our Member Service team at ************ to discuss your experiences and how we can help.

I have been now with PFCU for over 40 years and I am disappointed for sure. PFCU used to be a service persons preferred banking company world wide that provided outstanding exceptional service because they were soldier oriented. At this point in time I have to brown beat PFCU for not being service member oriented. The main problem that I see is they are depending on the ALL Mighty Credit reports to make judgement on a persons ability to repay loans (personal or Credit) and decline if it does not meet the algorithm. Instead of taking a holistic review of the individuals ability to pay, as an example review the persons entire history of payment, has the person ever been late, is the person a liability (and don’t base that what is in the savings or checking account. Has the person ever been late? If so ok you can disqualify the person on basis of lateness. If not afford the person an increase in credit or approve personal loans. Keep in mind over 40 years ago PFCU used to correspond with the soldiers Commander if late payment or pending default. This seems to have gone away from PFCU - you should relook and reinstate the correspondence and quit declining members financial services based on a credit report that does not show the entire ability to pay. It happend to me and it irritates me because I cannot depend on the Credit union to work with me on my issues as a loyal memeber. At least USAA gives me 10 percent member bonus annually. PFCU gives me nothin but grief.

Hi Michael. We are grateful for your many years of membership, and thank you for your thoughtful feedback. We are sorry to hear about your experience with us, but appreciate that you took the time to bring this to our attention. 

PenFed will not allow me to pay my loan with my external account, even though it said it linked. I have late charges because no matter how many times I call or try online, I can’t pay the loan from my primary bank account which is not penfed. I have racked up many late fees because of this poor system service. I am requesting help with removal of late fees and please please let me pay my bill. I need the option to pay from my Capital One External account

Hi Melissa, we're so sorry to hear of the trouble. We encourage you to work with Member Services by calling ************. A representative will be happy to assist you with your payments and transfer options.

It is a Credit Union that is supposed to help and provide the best customer service, but that has not been the case. 1- the app is terrible 0-5 and did not allow me to make payments just i got the card, damaging my credit score. 2- You Guys gave me debit insurance, I called to report that I didn't want it. and still 3 months later I still have it, and obviusly you guys charge me for, I called and no one can move it. 3- I made a dispute for purchases or charges that I did not make and they dont dispute it, which seems to me an act of discrimination, I don't know if it was due to my language or my accent. but are harming me economically and psychologically. Michelle U****

Hi Michell. We are very sorry to hear of your experience and the payment error. Please contact us at ************ so we can look into this further. We value every opportunity to serve you.