Pentagon Federal Credit Union Reviews

My experience with Pentagon Federal has been souring and this month it got so bad I am filing a complaint as they have single handedly made me late on rent for the very first time despite numerous safeguards I had in place. Customer service is atrocious. I use to use Navy Federal Credit Union as my primary bank (I’ve been with them more than 35 years), but increased my deposits to Pen Fed (not sure, maybe 25 years) as I began using it as a primary back. Big mistake. For the longest time it was fine. Paychecks were immediately available after deposit. And Deposits from my Parents (Retired USMC Brig Gen), were also immediately available, but apparently no more. I drove to the branch on June 5th to try and do something I did with NFCU with just a couple button clicks from my phone. It was pouring rain! And I made it just in time. But I had terrible treatment this time. They would not even do a wire transfer for $2000 despite $12,000 in the bank and over $7000 available,

Dealing with PenFed at the end of my home buying experience was horrible. They were late, they still missed the closing on the rescheduled date, they cost me time and money based on saying we would close the day of the rescheduling. When I tried to contact my loan processor at the time closing was scheduled they didn’t answer the phone and didn’t answer my realtor’s emails prior to closing because the attorneys office said they were still missing documents from PenFed. It was a very disappointing experience with PenFed and maybe they get it right sometimes but do you really want to take a chance on things going right for your home loan? They offered nothing to make things right.

I made the mistake of "locking in" what appeared to be a great mortgage rate with PenFed. They dragged their feet for weeks in underwriting, only to pull the rug from under me in the last week, conveniently after rates had climbed almost 2% higher from my locked in rate. Their reason for denying funding the mortgage? "We don't offer manual underwriting". My income was well in excess of qualifying for this FHA loan. Don't waste your time with Penfed.

PENFED was originally a great CU to get a loan from, but their banking is a complete DEI joke, the most inept IT managers I've ever experienced, complete idiots, they make changes to the app and don't test android...1/2 the population use android... wow. This has happened multiple times I'm so done with them. They are FULLY DEI DUMBED DOWN. Every transaction takes days, delayed in status updates, creating extra fees, just trust me avoid these idiots.

If you value your time and effort and are averse to incompetence and having the rug pulled out from under you last minute, DO NOT deal with this company. We inquired about a HELOC through their website and promptly got a call from one of their loan officers. We were asked several questions, during which we disclosed that we were applying for the HELOC to partially finance our landscaping project for our newly constructed house. We clearly conveyed that we had already made the deposit to the contractor and the contractor had commenced work and that time was of the essence since we wanted to make sure we had sufficient funds to cover the upcoming milestone payments.

This is the worst credit union. They are very nice taking your money. Not so easy getting your money out. They make it very difficult. So if your cd expires on let’s say 12/8. They do not make your funds available that day. They have a big gimmick. They say your funds are available at midnight which is really 12/9. So basically they keep your money interest free for a day. If you go to wire your money out they hold your wire for up to a day. So they are basically holding your money interest free for 2 days.Then they tell you they have additional security measures. They are not contacting me. This is just a stall tactic. No other institution does this. They are ripping people off. I would never deal with them again.

I received a message from PenFed saying that my online payment failed because I provided an incorrect bank account number -- but it is the same bank account I have been using for years. Nothing had changed. I talked with PenFed representatives several times, and each time they made ridiculous recommendations -- like I should erase all my personal information from my PenFed account and then enter the same information again. But nothing solved the problem.

In general the app is riddled with errors. As a developer it is frustrating to use. Logging in generates sales force error. Authentication errors every third time. It takes typically three days of attempts to pay a bill until the app or website works. It says no internet connection but I can log in elsewhere fine. Bad for customers!!!

Resolved problem.

I have been a PenFed customer for 20+ years. The last few months I have had a very difficult time logging into PenFed and paying the balance due on two PenFed credit cards. Now, after doing all the requested IT approaches--clearing cache, cookies and using different browsers--I still have zero access to my account. I get a big Salesforce authentication error after completing the password log in and then completing the second factor verification. Even after it says I am authenticated, the page starts to open up as if it is going to my account, but each and every time I get the next page, which generates a big "Salesforce" logo saying there is an authentication error.

I chose to go with PEN FED mortgage because they were offering the best interest rates at the time. The initial conversation with the loan officer was great and it all started to go downhill when my application was sent over to the loan processor. First of all, it was impossible to reach my loan processor. After bugging the credit union in its entirety I was finally able to get ahold of the loan processor. She said that my offer letter was the only thing that was getting in the way of granting the loan. She stated that the underwriters were very skeptical of the at-will employment concept. I told her that it was very common in the state I live in and told her that there was no way to remove the at-will statement on the offer letter.

I’ve been with them over a year. My initial credit limit was $5k. Over a year later I called for a credit line increase and I’m declined. I have perfect payment history with them and a high credit score. I have Amex accounts with $25k plus credit lines. I paid my account off and closed it same day. Plus their app/web performance is horrible! Sluggish and constant error messages. I’d bank at a place that doesn’t seem like it’s still stuck in the 90’s.

Being with PenFed a little over a year and I have had fake overdraft fees that required me calling to correct. They have rude customer service that talk over you and never get to your issues without wanting to transfer you. Upon changing my direct deposit all of the sudden overdraft fees coming in, I would consider this as the worst credit union ever.

Don't trust this bank, they do not protect your money. I lost my iPhone and Wallet and within hours notified them, provided police report and proof of new iPhone purchase and they still denied my claim with no reason as to why. I am shocked every other financial institution assisted me and was able to credit me back my stolen unauthorized fraudulent activity except PenFed. I would think twice before opening account with PenFed as they do not protect your money.

PenFed now requires 2-factor ID to login to your accounts. PHONE is the only option for verification. No phone access, no account access. We were given NO OPTION to select an email verification. If using desktop, IPAD or tablet, you need 2 devices just to log on to your account. Obviously these arrogant IT nerds do not travel often to areas with no or limited or costly phone access. Plus I am concerned there must be a significant security issue with this institution because none of my other online banks have this mandatory phone requirement to get a login code. After many years and with sizeable deposits, I will be diversifying.

I have the Penfed Platinum Visa for over 12 years. At the beginning, I was getting True 5% on Gas and 3% on grocery. Then things changed. While they continue to give the same cashback, when you try to claim your rewards they will deduct 5880 points for a $50 Visa. Which is 880 points or $8.80 extra. It's is way less than 5% or 3% redemption. This is deceiving business practice. You can still get some store gift card on sale, $50 card for around 5000. Buyer be aware.

Transferred money out of my local credit union to PenFed. Money came right out of my credit union but PenFed decided they want to hold the money for several days bouncing the check. Do not recommend using them, poor customer service.

I highly recommend NOT using this CU. I recently used PenFed CU for CDs and found that they are by far the worst (member unfriendly, staff incompetent, slow, and have the most exorbitant fees/penalties) credit union with which I've done business. And I have done business with several local and online financial institutions over many years. To close my CDs it took a ridiculous number of contacts (phone and email). I was given the wrong information more than once, my requests were not completed or not completed timely and several of the customer service people I communicated with were short and not at all helpful. It took close to a month to get my money! Again, I highly recommend NOT using this CU.

I have a been a member of this bank for 20 years but with all the updates and people on board with not experience or care has caused major problems for me. The new bill pay system has caused me to have to make payments myself that I otherwise wouldn't have to. They know it's not working properly and have not allowed the members to not speak with the bill pay department directly. This is terrible coming from the 2nd largest credit union. I mean the representative get on the phone and try to talk to you like you are a dumb and that you are the problem when it's PenFed. I am very disappointed in them..very! :-(

Literally PENFED is messing up my credit score! The payment method is outdated, the application is horrible and 70% of my payment get kicked back for "insufficient funds" no matter how much money I have in the account. It makes no sense and it takes a whole week for the payment to process? No more payment options? I don't have this issue with my other vehicles! They need to update the payment method and let the customer pay at the spot with their debit card AT LEAST! The late fee is extravagant and it should be like that if you have the funds. When you call, nobody knows what is going on, there is no use when they "leave a note" in the system. AND STILL WAITING for my debit card in the mail AFTER 8 MONTHS!

I never write reviews, good or bad but here goes. I did an early withdrawal on 2 CDs in November knowing and paying the early withdrawal penalties - no problem. For the next month I tried to set up an external account online to transfer my money to another institution. To set up a new account you log in and go to Link External Account. Once there you are presented with 2 options: Immediate Verification and Manual Verification. Using Immediate verification I enter all my financial institution info, respond to their validation text and then get this message: "Unable to Complete Request. We had a problem gathering the account details from your other Financial Institution. To register your account, either use the Manual Verification option, or you may attempt Instant Verification again later."

The level of dysfunction of the online banking website is becoming intolerable. Functions like links to external accounts for transfers, and the online payment function for loans…inc my mortgage…just “disappear”. Customer service is a joke, want to make it look like problem is with my “device” though same problems with multi devices and OS. After literally decades with PFCU and some pretty sizeable savings accounts, I am exploring alternate online services.

PFCU has been my go-to bank for many years. However, recent "updates" to the website have made it slow and cumbersome requiring multiple clicks to do anything. Getting to your credit card charges takes multiple tries and is very slow to pull up info. I've been trying to change something online to no avail. So I called them, only for them to tell me they needed a "verbal" passcode that I assume at some point provided them (?). The first person I spoke with said it would be a couple of hours for the request to delete was "processed", when I called back later the second person said 3 hours and then when I called back again a third person said 24-48 hours. (??)

The customer service rep just told me their IT department doesn’t work weekends and can’t fix their app (won’t deposit checks) until Monday when the staff come to work. What kind of organization has a major functional issue and doesn’t have it fixed before three days have passed???? Not one that I can count on, that’s for sure.

Penfed is the worst checking account, transactions are slow, just deposited a check that will take 5 days for availability. The absolute slowest bank or credit union mobile check deposit there is, come on it's 2022.

For 40 years PenFed was my “go to” lender. After negotiating a loan & term online, drove 60 miles to pick up check & they had changed the interest rate & electronically “forged” my signature on forms.

Penfed Credit Union allows customers to initiate a Non-Fraud Card Dispute process on a credit card transaction. However, they do not take any action and the dispute is always closed in favor of the merchant. They say that they can only handle fraudulent transactions. I have never seen this behavior from a credit card company. Also, they miscalculate the statement balance and keep tacking interest charges and finance fees. I email their customer service ahead of time indicating the statement balance calculated by me based on the transactions for the previous statement cycle. I do not get any kind of confirmation. After I pay the balance, they add interest charges and finance fees.

I would caution anyone from ever using PenFed Credit Union for their Mortgage. Our initial call with the Loan Officer went great and they locked us in for 45 or 60 days at a rate lower than market value which appeared phenomenal. We put an offer in on a condo and PenFed claimed they may even be able to close in 25 days but guaranteed 30 days, which was great! Then the trouble began:

If I could give it no stars I would. Beware of their conditions! They take forever to close an account. It's been over two weeks and I still can't get my money. I have two cds with them and I need the money so I have to close two of them. They dont tell you that if you have to break it before the term, that you lose all interest and if it's over 365 days, you get charged not only all the dividends and interest you made but the amount that you would have made for the term of the cd money market so now it's eating into your principal! I had money transferred from another bank into their savings account and then opened a cd money market with it. Now I can't get my money back for 60 days until money has been transferred into an account with them for at least 60 days. I am fed up. Who does that. Beware!!! Everytime I call or send an email, I am told to wait another 10 business days. I am just warning all of you out there, do not put your money in Penfed!

I have been with PenFed for about 3-4 years, I always accounts in good standing, banking and savings, and I never missed any payments. All of a sudden I keep getting late charges from PenFed for payments that I ALWAYS made on time. The past few months every time I've made a payment I get a system error, but then eventually I get it to go through. Then when I go back the next month to make a payment on my credit card, the payment I made is gone, and I'm charged crazy fees, which equate to 4 x what my payment was. I'm curious to know how many other people have experienced the same thing for several months now. I can only imagine how much all of those fees add up to.

- In person was not very customer service like. Rude employee who assisted me in applying for an auto loan for used vehicle. - Today 20220505 I spoke with an employee on the phone about several questions with my pre-approval loan and she was rude as well. Not to mention that when I was asking about which APR I would select and what my payments would be for the used auto loan, she informed me that my loan was a new auto loan, and that my rates would be different.

As a Pentagon Federal customer for the better part of 20 years, it is startling that people that are obviously barely employable have access to financial information. The hoops and the nonsense and the button pushing and the waiting on hold is insane. It took me 45 minutes to get connected to a 'mortgage officer' and once I gave him all the information I never heard from him again. I emailed, I called, I emailed, I called.

They made a mistake when reversing a fraud charge at the same time they were converting from one accounting system to a new one. They put the charge back on my account and 6 months later I still cannot get anyone to actually fix it or that knows what happened to actually call me back. Their customer service reps are very low functioning and seem completely untrained. Always several transfers to someone else that I then have to re-verify with. They are a nightmare to deal with.

After over a year of trying to close my autistic younger brother's account so we could deposit the money in a court-ordered trust fund, they finally sent the check, to the wrong address! This sojourn started over a year ago when my mother died and her estate went into probate. After supplying PenFed with the court order placing myself and my brother as co-guardians and co-conservators of my autistic brother's estate, plus all relevant information, they continued to drag their feet on liquidating the account month after month. Finally, they mailed the check on April 2nd of this year to the wrong address after they had been supplied the correct address well over a dozen times as well as it being recorded on the court order! As the title sums it up, the level of incompetence is unprecedented. If you open an account with these people, be aware that you may not be able to close it without playing musical chairs for the better part of a year.

My experience with these PenFed employees was terrible. Angela **, Megan **and Brandi ** don't know what they're doing. Angela is a Mortgage Processor, Megan is a Digital Mortgage Loan Officer, and Brandi Balch is a Director of Mortgage Operations. Unfortunately I had to do their job. We were supposed to close on 03/11/2022, but since Angela doesn't know what she was doing, she submitted my documents late to the VA. Obviously, VA has its own rules. I had to contact the VA loan department to get information that the lender was unable to obtain for some reason. Then I had to email them the information the VA gave me. Also, they do not verify the documents you send them. Why am I saying this, because when I contacted the VA, the officer told me that the Closing Disclosure was unreadable. PenFed has a good rate, but these mediocre employees raise your blood pressure. Buyers should be aware of these mediocre employees.

Pen Fed Loan Officer had me pay for an appraisal for $580 then told me my debt to income ratio would not permit loan approval. I clearly explained my income reduction due to COVID impacts on my employer out the gate because I didn’t want to waste time. After charging my credit card $580, the loan officer then told me underwriting wouldn’t approve the refi and that I should not have been required to get an appraisal because they knew my debts and income long before and had analyzed it. They stole my money, wasted my time and lied. I will NEVER spend money with them again although I’ve been a member for 30 years. I withdrew all my money and deposited it in another institution. PenFed is a fraud, the loan officer is incompetent and they’re both thieves. I hope everyone takes their business elsewhere. PenFed is criminal.

I've had an account for over 20 years, and what I've found is that their app always has problems and $250 dollar checks take an entire week to clear. I don't know how anything takes a week to process in this day and age.

PenFed uses the acronym "credit union" when in fact they do not help anyone lower income! I have perfect credit and was looking to refinance my home with over 200k in equity. I have been receiving emails almost every other day from Penfed asking me to refinance with theme, they will even offer $500 at closing and no closing costs to try and bait you in. So I finally gave in and applied, most of my income is rental income which my loan processor told me I should not include on my application? I knew that was a mistake, but I went ahead and of course was eventually denied by the underwriting department because of excessive debts relating to income without any further communication from Penfed. SAVE YOURSELF the aggravation and apply for a HELOC or look elsewhere other than PENFED!

Pentagon Credit Union redesigned their website and now it is not user friendly. It is difficult to make a payment on a home equity loan. If you click on make additional principal payment it removes the standard payment for principal and interest making your account delinquent. It looks like you must make the interest and principal payment, then log out and log in again to make an additional principal payment. I am not happy with their website.

I have over 25 years of investing experience and secured over 40 loans from 20 banks other than PenFed. I have never witnessed such incompetence, never experienced such a lack of basic communication and never received such abysmal treatment as I did with this company. The following are some warning highlights based on my personal experience. Failure to head them MAY cause severe financial upheaval as well as destroy your ability to buy your dream-home...