Pentagon Federal Credit Union ("PenFed"), a DepositAccounts.com advertiser, serves more than 1.6 million members, including many in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. PenFed is one of the largest credit unions in the country and offers a range of banking products and services, in addition to credit cards and loans.
On its personal banking side, PenFed offers savings accounts including checking accounts, Money Market accounts, Certificates, Coverdell Education Savings Certificates, and IRA accounts. PenFed’s Access America Checking earns dividends and comes with free online bill payment and mobile check deposit. PenFed’s regular savings account earns dividends, which are compounded daily and credited monthly. Money Market Savings accounts are available and come with free checks, have no regular service fees, and offer tiered rates of dividends for greater account balances. DepositAccounts.com has featured PenFed’s Certificates, referred to as ‘Money Market Certificates,’ repeatedly in the past for their competitive dividend rates. IRA accounts are also available, providing a retirement savings alternative.
PenFed online banking is a secure banking platform through which members can access their accounts, transfer funds, pay bills, and view transaction history. The credit union has optimized its website for mobile banking and released a mobile app to make account management easy and convenient on the go. The credit union introduced its ACH online transfer service in the spring of 2012, making it easy for members to transfer funds into and out of these liquid accounts.
Pentagon Federal Credit Union has more than $23 billion in assets. It was originally established in 1935 and is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. The credit union serves members in each U.S. state and at military bases in Puerto Rico, Guam, and Okinawa. PenFed is federally insured by the NCUA.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Membership in PenFed is now open to all U.S. citizens/resident aliens who open a Share Savings Account with a $5 minimum deposit.
See current membership details
Related Posts
5/18 - Penfed Lifts Savings Rates To .7% APY
4/8 - PenFed Credit Union CD Rates Soar To Rate Leading Levels
4/7 - 2.50 Apy For 5Yrcd, All Others Gone Up Also
3/3 - PenFed Credit Union Has Across The Board CD Rate Increases
2/1 - PenFed Ups 18-Month and 2-Year CD Rates To Market-Leading Levels
12/16 - $150 Statement Credit When Adding Authorized User
12/8 - PenFed Raises 5-Year CD Rate Again
10/13 - PenFed Credit Union Ups Long-Term CD Rates
7/3 - PenFed Credit Union Ups All CD Rates
7/1 - 2 New CD Rates Available For Limited Time!
7/1 - 5 Year Increased To 1.00%
7/1 - PenFed Lowers CD And Savings Account Rates, 5-Year Falls To All-Time Low
6/17 - Penfed Drops Rates - Now At 1.05% APY
5/13 - Penfed Online Premium Online Savings Drops To 1.25%
5/6 - PenFed Offers $200 Bonus for New Access America Checking Account
5/5 - PenFed - $200 For Opening A New Access America Checking Account
3/17 - Penfed Drops Rates On Cds
3/12 - Rates Lowered
8/22/19 - Penfed Lowers Premium Online Savings Account
7/1/19 - Penfed Slashes CD Rates
2/1/19 - PenFed Cuts CD Rates - Another Sign of Falling Rates
2/1/19 - Penfed Lowered All Rates, Except One
1/18/19 - EXPECTED RATE RAISE IS A MIRAGE
1/1/19 - Penfed Increases Rates On 15- And 18-Month Cds
12/31/18 - Penfed 15- And 18-Month CD Rates MAY Be Increasing In January
12/28/18 - Penfed 5-Year & 7-Year Rates MAY Be Increasing In January
12/17/18 - Penfed Rates Increased
12/13/18 - Pen Fed Savings Account 2%
12/1/18 - PenFed CD Rate Increases Are Modest
11/30/18 - Pen Fed May Increase Rates In December
11/5/18 - PenFed CDs Make Small Gains
11/1/18 - Penfed Increases All CD Rates Except For 5 And 7 Year
11/1/18 - Saving Rate Change
10/3/18 - New CD Rates Offered by PenFed Credit Union
10/3/18 - Penfed Raises 5 And 7 Year CD To 3.30% APY
8/27/18 - Penfed Premium Online Savings 1.65% APY
8/7/18 - Penfed Increases Their CD Rates
6/1/18 - PenFed Credit Union Begins June With New CD Rates
3/1/18 - First Of The Month CD Rate Increases At PenFed
3/1/18 - Certificates Rates Rise At Penfed
2/2/18 - Certificate Rate Increases
2/1/18 - CD Rates Up at PenFed But There Are No Rate Leaders
12/2/17 - Slight Rate Increase On Some Money Market Certificates
12/1/17 - Two Small CD Rate Increases at PenFed
10/24/17 - Interest Rates Up On Money Market Certificates
10/18/17 - PenFed Increases Rates On All Certificates
10/2/17 - PenFed’s New Money Market Certificate Rates
9/1/17 - Small CD Rate Hikes At Penfed
4/1/17 - PenFed Ups CD Rates with Competitive Mid-Term CD Rates
3/20/17 - Penfed And Valor CU Prime Rate CDs
3/1/17 - Penfed Cuts 1-Yr, 15-Mo, 5-Yr And 7-Yr CD Rates
2/1/17 - CD Rate Cut
1/1/17 - PenFed Kicks Off New Year with Competitive Long-Term CD Rates
1/1/17 - New CD Rates--APR/APY
12/1/16 - PenFed Credit Union Raises Short-Term CD Rates - Top 1-Year Rate
11/11/16 - PenFed Credit Union Raises CD Rates
11/11/16 - CD Rate Increases
11/1/16 - New November CD Rates At Penfed - Only Small Rate Increases
10/2/16 - Penfed Ups Short-Term CD Rates - Long-Term CDs Remain Disappointing
5/3/16 - PenFed CU Raises Rate On Access America Checking
4/4/16 - Belvoir Federal Credit Union Will Be Merging Into PenFed
4/4/16 - Penfed Merging With Belvoir FCU On May 1
2/23/16 - Penfed Lowers CD Rates
1/23/16 - PenFed Credit Union Offers New Competitive 15-Month CD
1/23/16 - 15 Mo CD 1.51% APY
6/29/15 - Pentagon Share Certificate (CD) Penalty Change
5/23/15 - Pentagon Federal Lowered 1 Yr. CD Rates
5/1/15 - PenFed CU Raise Rates On 1-Year And 2-Year CDs To Competitive Levels
5/1/15 - Penfed CD Rate Increase
1/14/15 - Another Rate Drop At Pen Fed
1/1/15 - Happy New Year! Update on PenFed CD Rates
12/10/14 - PenFed's Surprising CD Rate Hike
12/1/14 - Penfed's December Certificate Rates Nosedive
11/3/14 - PenFed’s New November CD Rates
11/1/14 - PenFed Lowers Most Money Market Certificate Rates But Raises 3-year Rate
10/3/14 - PenFed CU Raises Rates On CDs With 1-Year CD Very Competitive
10/2/14 - Penfed 1 Year Money Market Certificate Rate Increase
9/20/14 - How Can Penfed CU Change My Mailing Address Behind My Back?
9/2/14 - CD Rate Hikes at PenFed, 1-Year CD Now Competitive
8/8/14 - Rate Collapse Since March 2014
7/1/14 - Penfed Real Estate Rewards Changed To Favor ARM Mortgages
6/20/14 - PenFed Savings Account And Money Market Account Rates Bottom Out
5/16/14 - Have You Noticed The Dismal Money Market Certificate Rates At PenFed?
3/7/14 - Pentagon Federal CU Fourth Quarter Growth
3/1/14 - PenFed Slashes CD Rates for March
2/7/14 - Tips for Those with PenFed CDs Maturing in February
1/30/14 - PenFed CD Rates Going Down for New CDs in February
1/29/14 - C/R Told Me Penfed Will Be Lowering Their Certificate Rates For New Money
1/22/14 - Opening a Long-Distance CD at PenFed - A Personal Story
1/21/14 - DepositAccounts’ $100 million December…and $2.5 million in Penfed CDs
1/15/14 - Update on Early Withdrawals from PenFed IRA CDs
1/1/14 - Happy New Year! PenFed Continues Its Top CD Rates
12/27/13 - Heads Up Ref 3% CD's
12/24/13 - PenFed CDs - How Much Have You Invested?
12/17/13 - Four Important Points about PenFed’s CDs and IRA CDs
12/1/13 - PenFed Comes Through With New Top CD Rates
11/21/13 - PenFed May Hike 5- and 7-Year CD Rate in December
11/14/13 - Update on PenFed’s Top CD Rates
11/5/13 - 3 Yr Cd @.2.02%
11/1/13 - PenFed Raises 3-Year and 4-Year CD Rates
11/1/13 - PenFed Money Market Certificate Rate Increase
9/30/13 - PenFed Announces a Large CD Rate Increase for October
9/29/13 - New Higher CD Rates At Penfed Starting Oct 1st
9/2/13 - Higher CD Rates at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
8/12/13 - Closing A Penfed Account
8/8/13 - Penfed Offers Chip Enabled Platinum Rewards Card
7/19/13 - New Paper Statement Fee at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
5/1/13 - PenFed May 1st CD Rate Cuts - Rates Fall 25 bps
4/1/13 - Monthly Rate Drop
3/8/13 - Penfed ATM Cards
3/5/13 - Penfed Platinum Cash Rewards Card
2/27/13 - PenFed CD Rates Will Be Falling in March
1/2/13 - PenFed Increases CD Rates Again - Top 1-, 2- & 3-Year CD Rates
12/27/12 - Will Penfed Have A January CD Special?
12/6/12 - Preventing Accounts From Being Labeled Inactive - Review of PenFed's Policy
12/3/12 - PenFed CD Rate Changes - New Top 2- and 3-Year CD Rates
11/1/12 - Big Rate Increases For Some of PenFed CDs
8/1/12 - PenFed Slashes its Long-Term CD Rates
6/18/12 - PenFed's New ACH Online Transfer Service
3/6/12 - Website Change At Pentagon Federal Credit Union
3/2/12 - CD Rates Drop at PenFed, But They Remain Competitive
3/1/12 - Pen Fed CD Rate Drop
2/12/12 - Penfed Money Market Certificate Renewals
1/2/12 - Update on PenFed's January 2012 CD Rates
12/28/11 - Rumors Of New Penfed 3.00% 10-Year CD In January
11/23/11 - New Service Fees At Pentagon Federal As Of Sept 2011
10/5/11 - PenFed's Long-Term CD Rates are Now Competitive
8/20/11 - Pen Fed Branch Offices Are Useless
7/29/11 - Penfed Contingency Plan In Case Of Government Default
5/26/11 - Penfed CD Penalty Change Alert
4/7/11 - Larger CD Early Withdrawal Penalties
3/8/11 - Update on Future PenFed 10-Year CDs
3/1/11 - PenFed Cuts CD Rates By 25 Basis Points
2/2/11 - February 2011 Maturing CD's Bonus 25 Basis Points
1/11/11 - Malware on Laptop Caused Security Breach at PenFed
1/1/11 - PenFed CD Update for January
12/30/10 - Important Note For Those Who Reserved CDs In The Penfed Watch It Grow CD Promotion
12/1/10 - PenFed Lowers CD Rates But Long-Term CD Rates Remain Competitive
11/11/10 - Why PenFed's 7-Year CD Is A Hot Deal
9/28/10 - Update on PenFed's CD Reservation Promotion - New End Date
9/20/10 - Update on PenFed's CD Reservation Promotion
9/18/10 - PenFed Cutting Costs by Eliminating a Toll-Free Number
9/1/10 - PenFed Lowers CD Rates But Some Rates Remain Competitive
8/19/10 - Select PenFed Members Can Reserve CDs with Yields from 3.50% to 5.00%
8/19/10 - New CD Rollover Promotion At Pentagon Federal Credit Union
8/2/10 - PenFed's New 7-Year CD and IRA CD Rate - Available Nationwide
7/9/10 - Penfed Offers Remote Deposit To Members With Checking Accounts
3/31/10 - CD Rates Fall at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
3/23/10 - Pentagon FCU Adds Private Student Loan Program to Education Loan Portfolio
3/3/10 - PenFed's New No-Fee Credit Card, the PenFed Promise Card
2/1/10 - Penfed Keeps Its Competitive CD Rates into February
1/24/10 - Joining PenFed When You Have a Credit Freeze
1/9/10 - Updates on Pentagon FCU's Rewards Credit Cards
1/9/10 - PenFed's New Cash Back Credit Card Feature
1/6/10 - Update on PenFed CDs and CD Rollovers
1/5/10 - Happy New Year! PenFed Raises CD Rates for January
12/2/09 - Certificate and Credit Card Deals at Pentagon Federal Credit Union - Available Nationwide
12/2/09 - Update on PenFed CDs for January - New and Rollover CDs
9/20/09 - Tips for Those With Maturing CDs at PenFed and Other Credit Unions
9/1/09 - 4.00% 7-Year CD Continues But Other CD Rates Have Fallen at Pentagon FCU
8/5/09 - PenFed's Cash Back Credit Card Back-to-School Promo
7/28/09 - Useful IRA CD Feature at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
7/1/09 - Update on Pentagon Federal Credit Union's Certificates - Update
6/2/09 - Update on Pentagon Federal Credit Union's Certificates
5/19/09 - Update on Pentagon Federal Credit Union CDs, Credit Cards and Other Products
5/10/09 - PenFed's Cash Back Credit Card Adds Another 5% Category
3/3/09 - Pentagon Federal Credit Union's March CD Rates
2/3/09 - Pentagon Federal Credit Union's February CD Rates
1/1/09 - New CD Rates at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
12/17/08 - Pentagon Federal Credit Unioin's 4.75% 3-Year CD
11/25/08 - Last Days of 5% CDs at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
11/1/08 - PenFed Extends the 5% CDs into November
11/1/08 - Last Week for 5% 36-Month CD at Pentagon Federal Credit Union
10/2/08 - 5% CDs at Pentagon Federal Credit Union - Nationally Available
8/3/08 - Update on PenFed's 6.00% CDs
5/1/08 - Higher Long Term CD Rates at Pentagon FCU
2/28/08 - New PenFed CD Rates - Down But Still Competitive - Update
2/1/08 - New PenFed CD Rates - Down But Still Competitive
2/1/08 - It's Official: 6.00% 3 to 7 Year CDs at Penfed
12/27/07 - New PenFed Certificate Rates Released
12/20/07 - PenFed's Special January CD Rates and Other Planned Promotions
10/13/07 - New High Yield CDs From Penfed? 6.00%?
10/13/07 - Friday is Last Day for PenFed's 6 Percent CDs
6/14/07 - It's Official: 6.25% CDs at Penfed
6/14/07 - Change in Policy on Pentagon FCU's IRA Certificates
2/1/07 - Penfed's CD Rates Drop More Than Expected
1/28/07 - Update on Penfed's 6.25% CDs
1/26/07 - Early Withdrawals from IRA CDs (Penfed vs. Navy FCU)
12/31/06 - Penfed's Visa Platinum Cash Rewards Credit Card
12/29/06 - Updates on Penfed and its 6.25% CDs
12/21/06 - 6.25% CDs Coming to Penfed?
9/17/06 - Joining Penfed and Purchasing a Money Market Certificate
8/31/06 - Penfed Surprise: 6.00% 3 to 5 Year CDs
4/27/06 - 6.00% 36-Month CD at Penfed CU
12/29/05 - New High-Rate Long-Term CDs
Excellent Organization
Just opened 3 CDs online - great process. Customer Service extremely helpful and accessible.
Secret Transfer Limits?!?
I bought CDs from PenFed multiple times, because they offer great rates - sometimes the best in the nation. Some of their processes are a little bit old fashioned, but that's OK. What is NOT OK is secret transfer limits. That's right; they limit transferring YOUR money out; the employees know what the limit is, but are literally not allowed to share the info with customers! I was able to figure out that the secret transfer limit was $30,000 per month, resetting on the 13th of each month. Separately, they have not-secret limits; for me, the limit was $5000 per day. Depending on the amount of your CD, it can take a LONG time to get your money out of PenFed, unless you wire the money out. I would be giving a lower rating, but a helpful employee's good attitude makes me feel that 4 stars is the right score.
Great Nationwide Credit Union
With years of banking expertise I decided to give PenFed a try. I recently joined and obtained a few of their products and have been impressed by the service so far. Customer service is not 5 out of 5 however they do go above and beyond to correct any errors and you can email their customer service team and get a quick response. My personal experience has been top notch all of my accounts function better than expected I have no holds or any issues transferring funds. I appreciate the somewhat lower rates on their loan products and the lower fees. They finally offer free checking which all credit unions should offer and they have a nationwide network available to use fee free. Overall a decent credit union if they have products that meet your needs.
Penfed Lost Its Way - Now You Get What You Pay For
Avoid Penfed. I started using them decades ago. Their technology has always been several years behind but their low fees made up for it. But that is no longer the case as the quality of service has eroded other the last five years.
The mobile app is frequently non-functional. It's almost always slow. And its features, such as depositing checks, are not as good as other apps, e.g. TD Ameritrade.
The website used to have all of your accounts on one page so you could quickly and easily move money between loans, heloc, credit card, savings, and checking. They removed heloc access from the page for no announced reason. Now that account is almost useless since it is much more inconvenient to pay off and is no longer a useful source of short term liquidity.
I've complained but the cost to do so it very high. They are extremely understaffed and the staff they have can do very little on their own. The wait times are always long (>30 min) and resolutions take a long time once the call is answered since the helper needs to consult for just about everything. Again, their tech is behind, most services call you back when a rep is available. Not penfed, they direct you to a link on their website which does not respond.
BillPay is functional, though I have had a couple of recurring payments fail for no reason (not NSF). It could have been the recipient, but no one at Penfed could help -- as usual.
The fees are low and sometimes the online savings account pays a lot on a relative basis. I plan on finding a new bank, but the cost to switch is high. Presently I am minimizing use of the bank by transferring balances to my brokerage account which has much better banking services (but no loans other than a margin account).
You should avoid this bank. Penfed does not care about its customers, at least they don't care about me. Maybe if I racked up lots of fees.
I know another customer that moved to Navy Credit Union after reaching a similar level of frustration. I wish I had that option.
Data as of Q4 2021
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 227 |
| Year Chartered | 1935 |
| Employees | 3585 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.95% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 3.14% |
| Annual Interest Income | $1.06B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $32.52B$26.74B |
| Loans | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $23.75B$18.95B |
| Deposits | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $23.09B$19.70B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $9.42B$6.63B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $251.4MM$244.7MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $290.6MM$209.5MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2021vs Q4 2020 | $0$1.5MM |
