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Most Popular PenFed Credit Union Account

Account Type	APY	Account Name	Min	Max
CD	1.31%	1 Year Money Market Certificate	$1k	-	Details »

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Overview / Commentary

www.penfed.org

800-247-5626

7940 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22102

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 Credit Union is open to anyone through membership in Voices For America's Troops ($17 one-year membership fee) or the National Military Family Association ($17 donation). Membership is also open to the following: (1) members of the United States Military and Uniformed Services; (2) employees of the U.S. government; (3) live or work in Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Shafter, Belvoir, Virginia and other select military or U.S. government locations; (4) employees of American Red Cross, Anderson Air Force Base, and over 100 Select Employer Groups; (5) members of Marine Corps League, National Military Family Association, and over 40 military-related associations; (6) and to immediate family of those who are eligible. (Complete membership requirements are listed in the credit union's online application)
See current membership details

PenFed Ups CD Rates with Competitive Mid-Term CD Rates - 4/1/2017

Today’s rate increases at PenFed Credit Union aren’t impressive, but it’s nice to see any increases at PenFed during this time of the year.

Penfed And Valor CU Prime Rate CDs - 3/20/2017

I have received a letter from PenFed stating, in part: "Our records indicate that you have a Valor Credit Union (Valor) 84-month Prime Rate certificate. "While PenFed Credit Union does not currently offer a similar product, we will honor the Valor certificate agreement for the duration of the certificate term." I would like to thank those people who posted useful information re the merger of Valor and PenFed, and refrained from claiming that PenFed would not honor the Valor Prime Rate agreement.

Penfed Cuts 1-Yr, 15-Mo, 5-Yr And 7-Yr CD Rates - 3/1/2017

I’m afraid that PenFed lowered four of its CD rates today. This is typical for PenFed which usually offers their best CD rates in January and then lowers them in February and March. I’ve summarized the CD rate changes below: 1.26% APY 1-year CD (was 1.31%) 1.36% APY 15-mo CD (was 1.41%) 1.46% APY 2-year CD (no change) 1.61% APY 3-year CD (no change) 1.76% APY 4-year CD (no change) 2.07% APY 5-year CD (was 2.17%) 2.12% APY 7-year CD (was 2.22%) IRA CD APYs are 5 basis points lower. There is no 15-mo IRA CD.

View all posts from:

2017
2016
2015
Earlier

4/1 - PenFed Ups CD Rates with Competitive Mid-Term CD Rates
3/20 - Penfed And Valor CU Prime Rate CDs
3/1 - Penfed Cuts 1-Yr, 15-Mo, 5-Yr And 7-Yr CD Rates
2/1 - CD Rate Cut
1/1 - PenFed Kicks Off New Year with Competitive Long-Term CD Rates
1/1 - New CD Rates--APR/APY

12/1 - PenFed Credit Union Raises Short-Term CD Rates - Top 1-Year Rate
11/11 - PenFed Credit Union Raises CD Rates
11/11 - CD Rate Increases
11/1 - New November CD Rates At Penfed - Only Small Rate Increases
10/2 - Penfed Ups Short-Term CD Rates - Long-Term CDs Remain Disappointing
5/3 - PenFed CU Raises Rate On Access America Checking
4/4 - Belvoir Federal Credit Union Will Be Merging Into PenFed
4/4 - Penfed Merging With Belvoir FCU On May 1
2/23 - Penfed Lowers CD Rates
1/23 - PenFed Credit Union Offers New Competitive 15-Month CD
1/23 - 15 Mo CD 1.51% APY

6/29 - Pentagon Share Certificate (CD) Penalty Change
5/23 - Pentagon Federal Lowered 1 Yr. CD Rates
5/1 - PenFed CU Raise Rates On 1-Year And 2-Year CDs To Competitive Levels
5/1 - Penfed CD Rate Increase
1/14 - Another Rate Drop At Pen Fed
1/1 - Happy New Year! Update on PenFed CD Rates

Reviews (71)

Great Interest Rates

Posted by: derekbarber | Jul 31, 2017

I really like Penfed credit union because of the interest rates on a certificate deposit can go up to 2.15%. This will only go up to 2.15% on a 7 year CD, however if you are looking for your money to grow this is a good place to start. This is a steady guaranteed source of income and their is no risk of losing the money like it would be if you put this money into the stock market.

Also, if you only want to lock up your money for one year you will be available to get an interest rate of 1.30%. This is also a great rate and a good return on your money if you compare it to other banks. Penfed is a great overall bank in my opinion.

Comment

Great credit union!

Posted by: angelitapayne0 | Jul 22, 2017

I've been banking with PenFed for over 40 years now. I've been very happy with their products and service. They serve members around the world, so even though there usually hasn't been a branch near me, they were one of the first institutions to make it easy to bank by phone, and later by computer after the internet was invented. Their website is easy to use, although not the best, it does everything I need. You can make transfers online, and send money by ACH to other banks. Their bill pay service is one of the best. You can make deposits by mail and you can also use selected ATMs in the credit union network. Their rates are competitive, and as a credit union, they tend to provide much better customer service than most big banks. I would highly recommend it to anyone, now that membership is open to the general public.

Comment

Fairly average for online banking

Posted by: janissaunders | Aug 14, 2017

I signed up with PenFed credit union roughly 10 years ago as an alternative to USAA. I initially signed up due to the better rates for there saving account as compared to USAA at the time to get access to their other products. My one complaint with them is that there web interface seems to be a little dated. Sometimes it can be hard to transfer funds from one account to the other especially to another bank. I usually have to break down and call. When talking to a live person generally any issues are resolved pretty painlessly but it would be nice to have a better web interface. The rates on the general saving share and the money market certs are not as good as they were when I initially moved over but the customer service and experience working with military members has kept me with them.

Comment

Gone Way Downhill

Posted by: EricJ | Aug 18, 2017

I was a member here for quite a few years, used to be a good CU, but rates have made me move about 10 CDs elsewhere over time and now customer service is terrible.

Tried to log in the other day to get statement, was locked out and sent to a page saying my browser (Opera 47) was not supported. I'm a computer geek/programmer and was surprised cause Opera is maybe the most secure browser out there.

https://www.penfed.org/unsupported which doesn't mention Opera at all.

So called, busy, busy busy signal and finally got thru only to be on hold for over 15 min. so hung up.

Then sent an email about this, was told that Opera is supported (v39 and above) ... mine is v47. So I replied telling them this and after 4 days never got another reply.

Called again this morning and it wasn't hard to tell the 2 ppl I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about, asked me to send a screen shot to another email address which I will but done dealing with this CU regardless of rates.

Comment

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Health

Data as of Q1 2017

Learn why bank health matters

Health Grade Components

Overall
NCUA #	227
Year Chartered	1935
Employees	1852
Primary Regulator

Profit Margin
Return on Assets - YTD	0.77%
Return on Equity - YTD	7.84%
Annual Interest Income	$189.8MM

Assets and Liabilities
Assets	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$22.40B$19.92B
Loans	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$19.23B$17.52B
Deposits	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$17.42B$15.40B
Equity Capital	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$2.15B$1.97B
Loan Loss Allowance	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$65.2MM$48.0MM
Unbacked Noncurrent Loans	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$70.5MM$46.2MM
Real Estate Owned	Q1 2017vs Q1 2016	$5.9MM$6.7MM

Rates

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Money Market
Checking
CD
IRA

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Always verify rates and promotions with the bank or credit union. We are not PenFed Credit Union; we are a rate comparison website and cannot provide official rates or promotions.

* The APY shown varies based on the deposit amount. Expand the listing to see APYs for other deposit amounts.

PenFed Credit Union Savings Account Rates

APY	MIN	MAX	ACCOUNT NAME
0.05%	-	$2,500	Regular Savings
0.05%	$25	-	IRA Savings Account
0.05%	$10k	-	IRA Premier Account

PenFed Credit Union Money Market Rates

APY	MIN	MAX	ACCOUNT NAME	VIEW DETAILS
0.15%^*	$100k^*	-	Money Market Savings Account
OTHER TIERS: 0.05% → Up to $10k \| 0.10% → $10k - $100k

PenFed Credit Union Checking Account Rates

APY	MIN	MAX	ACCOUNT NAME	VIEW DETAILS
0.50%^*	$20k^*	$50k	Access America Checking
OTHER TIERS: 0.20% → Up to $20k

PenFed Credit Union CD Rates

APY	MIN	MAX	ACCOUNT NAME
2.17%	$1k	-	7 Year Money Market Certificate
2.12%	$1k	-	5 Year Money Market Certificate
1.81%	$1k	-	4 Year Money Market Certificate
1.76%	$1k	-	3 Year Money Market Certificate
1.51%	$1k	-	2 Year Money Market Certificate
1.41%	$1k	-	15 Month Money Market Certificate
1.31%	$1k	-	1 Year Money Market Certificate
0.85%	$1k	-	6 Month Money Market Certificate

PenFed Credit Union IRA Rates

APY	MIN	MAX	ACCOUNT NAME
2.12%	$1k	-	7 Year IRA
2.12%	$1k	-	7 Year CESA
2.07%	$1k	-	5 Year IRA
2.07%	$1k	-	5 Year CESA
1.77%	$1k	-	4 Year IRA
1.77%	$1k	-	4 Year CESA
1.71%	$1k	-	3 Year IRA
1.71%	$1k	-	3 Year CESA
1.46%	$1k	-	2 Year IRA
1.46%	$1k	-	2 Year CESA
1.26%	$1k	-	1 Year IRA
1.26%	$1k	-	1 Year CESA

Locations

PenFed Credit Union has 51 locations. Click to view all PenFed Credit Union locations.