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January 2024 by D Wright
Two stars is absolutely too nice. I just read another former members review and now I get my experience must be common practice. I called and requested for my new automatic loan payment to be setup for the 15th of every month. Was not informed at the time the request would be reviewed after the payment was supposedly setup so I was surprised to get a past due notice via email. I called the bank and was told the case was reviewed and rejected and "no" they don't inform you when that happens. WT#! Thankfully, I was still in the grace period so no late fees but if I weren't scrolling my email there would have been. I still couldn't get the requested date and would have to call back the exact date of my billing cycle and it still may not be approved. I was approved for the 14th but that's not my paydate.. This is not even my first loan with this bank but I'll do my best to make it my last..
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December 2023 by The Automaton
I can see why people are giving this place bad ratings. I recently received a credit card from them with a 0% interest balance transfer offer for a year. I did the balance transfer and made a few purchases using the card. A month later, I was charged interest even when I paid the purchases balance. I contacted them to inquire about this and to my disbelief, this is what they said: "Once I make a purchase on the card after a balance transfer, it voids the 0% balance transfer offer and I must pay interest on the whole balance until fully paid off. This is stated in the fine print of the card agreement." Does anyone really read the long fine print terms and conditions of the credit card? I have done many many balance transfers before and all of them have always separated the purchases and balance transfers and actually honored their 0% promotional offers. Clearly, they are using the loophole in the law to screw over vulnerable customers to lock them into paying high interest. Although they may be doing this legally, this is clearly unethical behavior akin to fraud. I cant believe this kind of fraudulent behavior is happening in the USA while we blame other countries for having rampant fraud. PenFed stands for Pentagon Federal. They actually have their name resonate themselves as if they are patriots when they are actually making this country look bad. Its truly a shame. They may have made a few dollars in interest off of me and other vulnerable consumers but I really believe that they will not last long in this business. I pulled all my money out and closed my account for fear of having my money trapped there in the future when there can be a run on their money. Also, can u believe the generic auto-generated responses for their Response from Owner comment? Its really pathetic. This place does not even compare to Wells Fargo. Even Wells Fargo does not engage in these kinds of practices. Truly shortsighted. Good luck to them.
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December 2023 by Markus Garza
It saddens me to write this review of a place I had such a positive experience with in the past. However, things are changing, and so is PenFed.First of all I have been with PenFed ever since West Point FCU merged with them over 20 years ago. PenFed's weakness is that it does not have a physical location that I can visit to make deposits. However, in the past, their mobile check deposit system has been adequate, being that they would honor the same day deposits of an amount of up to $5,000 daily. The last 5 deposits have been held for 5 business days, at least one of the deposits was held for "9" business days for no reason, and it was a check from the county government. Also, my bank account changes back and forth with available funds, as they will say I have X amount of dollars in the account available, then the next day I have a much smaller amount of funds available even if no new deposits have been made. I called every time to get an answer, and all I was told is "they are able to hold checks for up to 5 business days." Then I told them about the 9 business day hold and I was basically told...that's how it's going to be and you have no say in the matter. I understand if I was a new account for them, however, I'm not. I've never deposited a bad check, but I'm being treated like I have.Maybe PenFed is okay for the small banking needs of an individual who doesn't need access to their money, but I'd still be wary of them holding onto checks past 5 business days. It worked for me with my personal banking in the past when my finances were simple and PenFed honored same day deposits, however, they've changed. Now that I own a business, and have family and kids that have high expenses, requiring high cash flow, PenFed is even too risky to keep for my personal banking, as they'll hold on to your deposits longer than I ever agreed to, and way too long for a modern bank. I'm curious if other people are experiencing the same things lately and if they're doing this across the board. If they do this with me, I'd imagine they are doing it with everyone.So much for treating a 20+ year customer with dignity and respect. It's better to start somewhere new than to be treated like this.
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October 2023 by Kile King
Honestly never should have refinanced with them..... Initially it was supposed to lower my interest by around 2%, after everything was done and the hard inquiry was added to my credit, I ended up with around .5% lower interest... Which alright fine, it is what it is, but now I can't even make a payment because the app won't let me link my bank account, no option to even use my debit card, but yet when I call they can supposedly link my account over the phone for autopay? If they can link my account over the phone for autopay why can that not link the same account for me to use to manually make a payment?
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October 2023 by David Johnson
This institution is the Pinnacle of predatory lending and collection. They have a take no prisoners attitude with their customers regardless of circumstance. Be smart and choose a customer oriented financial institution such as JPMorgan Chase. They are exemplary but PenFed Credit Union is a farce and a joke.
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September 2023 by Steve Ochs
When I needed a credit card to pay some other accounts, PenFed helped me. But their customer service and online Website is the worst I have ever encountered. Terrible. Web site tells you about 3% of what you want to know and customer service is about the same. I am closing my account but thanking them for the original help with getting some cash/credit card to pay a couple of things.
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September 2023 by Cullen L
I recently refinanced my auto loan and PenFed was my new lien holder. With the given situation I have, I was told by a lady that a grace period was going to be fine with my payments and boy did she lie through her teeth. Every month now, I will have a late fee due to my income payment schedule. This is some shady business and until I speak with someone of authority here, I will never advocate for any soul to ever use this bank or their services. Fix your shady dealings PenFed, bad business looks terrible on you.
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September 2023 by Mustafa
Steve was extremely helpful and professional. I have been working with PenFed for 3 years now and my overall experience is good.
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August 2023 by Amanda Schuller
Pretty terrible. Feel like I’m trapped in a bad relationship!!! I have banked with them for years and they will take 30% of my interest from my 5 year CD if I cancel it one month early!! Won’t ever use them for anything and agree with the person who said they are like Wells Fargo. Luckily I already moved most of my money elsewhere but this is like a bank not a credit union. I’ve reported them to NCUA before but it did no good. Must be in their pockets. They previously wouldn’t let me transfer money out without waiting 5 days between each transfer at ridiculously low limits. Glad there are so many choices and hope they go under. Their rating is pretty accurate! Surprised they even hit 2 stars. Forcing people to continue their banking relationship by threatening to take a huge amount of their interest after you have made money off them for years is a terrible way to do business!!!
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August 2023 by Jesse McKeever
Absolutely horrible bank and experience. This bank is not to be trusted. They say credit union, which is suppose to be more friendly than the big banks, but they are the same as a Wells Fargo or Bank of America.I set my loan up of automatic payments to come out on the 1st (and above the minimum payment) and this institution "believed" that payment was for the month before and not the month of....ridiculous...only the power company is set up this way. Further more, they let me get charged for late payments from Dec 2021 until July 2023 without a courtesy call to check if this was right. After noticing this, on my own, multiple levels in this bank refused to work with me or even acknowledge the thievery. Yes thievery. I would not recommend this bank to anyone. $460 in late fees that should not have taken place was stolen from me and the absolute mistreatment of members is completely unacceptable. Run away fast from this bank. I immediately searched and found the money to pay off the loan so this undercover predatory bank would not get another payment out of me. I cannot speak harshly enough at how they conduct business with veterans.
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August 2023 by Samuel Herring
I am active duty military and have been stationed overseas for the past 5 years. I opened up 3 accounts in December 2022 and still have not gotten access to my accounts and it is currently August 17, 2023. My money has been locked by the fraud department and even though I give them proper documents as requested, no one has been able to help me gain access to my accounts online or by phone. Well, today I have flown into the U.S. I will be walking in to a local branch. Let's see if they give me the runaround when I show up in person to access my money. This has been by far the worst experience I've ever had with a bank or Credit Union. This should be criminal.
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August 2023 by Marcia Luna
I truly appreciate their customer service. Whoever I spoke to this morning and help me with my loan was patient and kind and cheerful! We need more people like that in this industry.
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June 2023 by abdi
Horrible experience. I have dealt with so many banks and I was never treated the way PenFed did. They requested documents I sent everything even a selfie me holding my drivers license and social security card electric bill and my phone bill. The guy requested a blank page that was missing from my phone bill why why why and calling after 8 hrs to follow up my documents. I was told to wait 48 hrs for them to review a blank document. All I need is to pay my card and close my account but I can’t do that because my account is on hold.
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June 2023 by Cecelia White
Came to the PenFed in Dallas, Tx to get money and there was only one teller! Took forever and then the teller ran out of money and had to wait for them to get money from the back. This is very BAD customer service!
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June 2023 by AleS S
Where do I even start!! Opened a savings account with PenFed and when it came time that I have an emergency and need to pull money out I was told I was unable to because there’s a “block” but couldn’t tell me why or who placed that block on my account. After several calls they said they need one thing and by the next call they need another thing cause the first requested item isn’t good enough. They kept giving me the runaround, I told them to close my account and now they need fraud departments permission too, and surprise! They need something else!! I’ve never gotten upset with anyone in customer service, but I broke. I’ve been more than flexible and patient for the past two weeks providing all documentation needed, provided handwritten letters like they asked, ID and such but still can’t access the money on my account, until fraud department “reviews” all documentation, I keep getting 24-48 hour timelines every time I call, there is never a real response or update. So, on top of what’s going on in life, now I have to worry about my money on this account. This is by far the worst banking experience EVER!! Do better, PenFed!!Updating in response to PenFed’s reply, so Monday when I called asking for an update I was also told a supervisor would reach out and I told the rep to escalate the issue. No reply, so PenFed, don’t bother posting a reply just to look good. All talk, no action.
