Pen Air Federal Credit Union is headquartered in Pensacola and is the 14th largest credit union in the state of Florida. It is also the 204th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1936 and as of December of 2019, it had grown to 320 employees and 108,156 members at 17 locations. Pen Air Federal Credit Union's CD rates are 39% higher than the national average, and it boasts an A+ health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Pen Air Federal Credit Union is open to anyone through becoming a member of the Friends of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society by making a $3 donation. Membership is open to (1) active duty or retired military; (2) federal civil service employee; (3) employees of US Environmental Protection Agency, Time Warner Cable, and over 500 Select Employer Groups. (A full list of groups can be found on the credit union's website)
See current membership details
Related Posts
5/9 - Pen Air Federal Credit Union 60-month CD APY Remains Solid
3/21 - Pen Air Federal Credit Union 60-month CD Is A Rate Leader
8/23/12 - Top 5-Year CD Rate at Pen Air Credit Union - Easy Membership
4/26/12 - Competitive CD Rates at Pen Air Credit Union - Easy Membership
5/19/08 - 3.70% 10-Month CD at a Florida / Alabama CU (Pen Air)
5/17/08 - 3.65% 6-Month CD at a Florida / Alabama CU (Pen Air).
4/28/08 - 6.00% 10-Month CD at a Florida CU (Pen Air)
Pen Air Outstanding Online/Phone Service
I'm writing to praise the customer service reps who answer the phone at PenAir. Despite some very negative comments in other places on this blog, I have had outstanding service this week while opening a 2-year CD at 1.60 APY. I was waiting for an existing CD at another bank to mature, and wanted to be ready to jump on opening the PenAir CD as soon as the money became available, to get the good rate before it might go down.
You need to do your research beforehand so you know what you want and have questions lined up. I took the precaution of beginning an online application just to see what was needed. I saw that I would need to scan my driver license, and 2 recent bills or bank statements to prove my current address, to be prepared to upload them. Aside from that, the application also looked confusing. They do have a toll-free number, so I phoned for information. Along the way the CSR said that if they change the rate it is done on Wednesdays. And they give a 15 calendar-day rate lock (including the day you open the account) to complete the funding. But your funding will go into a basic savings account where it must sit for 5 business days before it becomes available to apply it to the CD -- yes, even though it's an internal transfer from savings to CD. Then there's the delay getting the money sent out from the other bank after closing the CD. So I decided to open the CD on Tuesday, the day my other CD matured, to beat any possible rate change at PenAir, and hoped I could actually get the money to my new PenAir savings acct within a week and then wait a week for it to become "available" for the CD. CSR said they would help guide me by phone through the online application.
When I phoned on Tuesday I got a different CSR, who was just as helpful and perhaps even more knowledgeable than the previous one. CSR said forget the online application; and proceeded to ask me questions allowing CSR to fill out the form for me while we were talking; and also put me on hold and got approval from boss to extend the rate lock in case the money transfers weren't quick enough. I got a direct email address for CSR at the bank's website, and uploaded my scanned documents. Then I decided to avoid all the delays and spend the $15 to do a wire transfer for the CD principal amount plus the $25 required for the mandatory share savings acct plus the $15 incoming wire transfer fee. I sent the wire that same day and sent email to CSR to look for it and ask please open the CD as promptly as possible. Result was: I got the CD on that same Tuesday; and it showed up on my account on the PenAir website on Tuesday. Wow! CSR also emailed me an encrypted certificate with CD acct#, term, maturity date, etc.
On Wed. I sent email to CSR to choose the option to have monthly interest paid into the basic "share" savings account, and got confirmation by reply email. I had heard that there's a fee of $2.95 for any outgoing ACH transfer; looked at fee schedule and there it is. I wanted to send the monthly interest to outside bank. So I phoned PenAir and got a brand new (3rd) CSR, and discussion turned out that ACH fee is only when PenAir does the work -- outside bank can initiate ACH pull with no PenAir fee for allowing it; so I will set up recurring pull for amount safely less than the lowest expected monthly interest (like February); and go to sleep for almost 2 years.
All 3 CSRs were friendly, knowledgeable, helpful -- especially the middle one who helped me through the application process and handled the incoming wire and set up the CD, all within about 3 hours. And so, dear readers, do your homework, be prepared, and you will receive excellent service from PenAir. By the way, they actually pay for you the one dollar membership fee to join the charity that makes you eligible for credit union membership; and there's zero delay while joining. This is a very classy credit union; my privilege and pleasure to join them; looking forward to next time I have money for another CD. I have never had such swift, efficient, knowledgeable, friendly service even from a "real" brick-and-mortar bank or online bank.
Just Starting, But....
ETA: Customer service refunded all three of the $29 fees, so updated my star rating. Fees are still too high but if you can avoid them, that's fine!
old comment
=============
I opened my account yesterday, planning to rollover some IRA money to their IRA certificates. I saw that there is a $2+ charge for transfers to external institutions, so, as usual, I set them up as an external account on my main bank.
Part of the very common procedure for this is for the main bank to make two trial deposits, and then withdraw them. You then enter the amounts of the deposits, verifying to your bank that you own this external account. I've done this many times with different institutions. Today I see in my account:
Deposit of $0.29, Deposit of $0.60, withdraw 0.89c
Which is fine, except PenAir then charged $29 for a NSF withdrawal of 0.89c (even though that sum had just been added) Since I did this three times, I will lose $97 of my original $100 opening deposit!
Hiopefully, they will fix, or I will close and look elsewhere for a home for my fixed income IRA portion.
Good Service (At Least For A CD)
I recently set up a CD with this bank, and although it was a little complicated, in the end everything worked out fine.
A big plus with this CU is the fact that you have 30 days to fund your account -- which is a big deal when you have other CDs maturing at a later date. I had a couple of CDs from a different bank maturing around 3 weeks from when I applied to Pen Air, and meanwhile rates were crashing due to the Fed dropping the rate -- I just managed to get my application in while under the higher rate.
But ... it's not quite as simple as opening a regular CD. First off, funds can only be sent in by check or shared branch, not ACH (for initial membership). And I received conflicting info from several reps ... one told me to ACH my funds in when applying for the CD, which isn't even available as an option. One other told me that rates are locked only when the CD is funded. But when I got a manager type, she told me I had 30 days. Now the tricky part is to make sure you get a bank person to notate on your account the locked rate + 30 days funding.
As in my case, the CD just sort of 'fell off' after a while, way before the 30 days came up. Without the notation on my account, I'd have no proof of the higher rate nor that I had the 30 days to fund it.
I spoke to the same rep during this whole process, so it went smoothly. But at the same time I expect if I had gotten a different rep and had no notation on my acct, it wouldn't have worked so well.
Website Was Built In The Stone Age!
What a dinosaur. I'm sorry I bothered. Telephone agent was helpful.
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 1303 |
| Year Chartered | 1936 |
| Employees | 320 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.21% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 8.63% |
| Annual Interest Income | $59.6MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $1.55B$1.47B |
| Loans | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $975.7MM$911.0MM |
| Deposits | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $1.30B$1.22B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $216.3MM$190.6MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $10.0MM$11.1MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $4.2MM$6.3MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $545.00K$140.00K |
