PenFed is one bad CU, and they just screwed me with the last remaining product I had with them. I know most here already stopped using them due to their abysmal rates and draconian EWP, but I still had an almost-never-used emergency credit card with them: their "Promise" card. The APR was (and still is, for one more month) 13.24%, as that card's ONLY "perk" was an ultra low APR (no points, no cash back, nothing else). It was a basic, low-rate card. PenFed discontinued it in 2020 for new customers but those of us who had it were grandfathered in (and I recently received my new card from them).
Today I received a letter from them saying no more grandfathering, the APR will go up from 13.24% to match their other card offerings at 17.99%. Talk about a jump. Not because of ME, but because they're taking away the only "perk" of the old card (a low APR). Now customers with this perkless card will have the same APY as PenFed's other cards with perks -- only without the perks for us. So, I wanted to just shift from the discontinued Promise card (that members still will contine to have) to one of their Cash-Back cards, since the APR will be the same now. But PenFed won't allow that. I'd have to do a COMPLETELY NEW APPLICATION that will affect my credit score. No way.
I have a card at another CU (15.99% WITH cash back), and there, a few years back, they let me effortlessly shift from one of their MasterCard offerings to another without treating it as a new application (keeping everything like the credit limit the same, they just shifted it to the other card type). PenFed WILL NOT DO THIS. And looking at other places, NavyFed has a basic card at 11.24% and 14.9% for their cash-back cards -- vs. PenFed's jump from 13.24 to 17.99% for a perkless card.
I only used my PenFed card every few years when I had to (after getting letters saying I had to use it if I didn't want it to be closed) as it's a backup/emergency-only card, so PenFed's change won't affect me now, unless an emergency happens and I need to actually use the card.
But this is the last nail in the coffin for me and PenFed, for I'm stuck with a crappy card with no perks yet the same higher apr as cards with perks. So yes, I will continue to keep it in a drawer and never use it unless I have to, but my PenFed membership will now truly be a Zombie membership. With their draconian EWP I'll never get another PenFed CD, nor will I ever use their credit card, unless it's a dire, dire emergency. I can't close my membership because doing so (w/a CC) will affect my credit score, so PenFed will now forever be nothing but a Zommmmbieeee account.
