Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) was established in 1935 and has grown to become the third largest credit union in the US. The company boasts over 2.8 million members and caters to individuals in all 50 states, with more than $36 billion of assets under management. PenFed offers a wide range of financial products, including mortgages, personal loans, HELOC, student loans, and student loan refinancing.
Headquartered in Virginia, the company holds valid regulation with the National Credit Union Administration. PenFed is also known for its competitive interest rates and attractive features, such as spousal loan refinancing.
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
PenFed Credit Union provides personal loans for a wide range of different purposes. These are loans that bring with them minimal fees, which is ideal. There is a good range of term lengths and loan amounts you can get, as well as competitive rates.
LOAN AMOUNT
$600 - $50,000
LOAN REPAYMENT TERM
6 months to 6 years
MIN CREDIT SCORE
620
APR FIXED RATE
7.74% - 17.99%
APR VARIABLE RATE
7.74% - 17.99%
FUNDING TIME
1-2 days
ORIGINATION FEE
None
PREPAYMENT FEE
None
OTHER FEES
N/a
SOFT CREDIT PULL
Yes
LENDER TYPE
Direct
Pros & Cons
Personal Loans Types
Loan Purpose
PenFed Credit Union does not really have a hard and fast rule about minimum credit scores people need to have to get a personal loan. However, it is usually advised that you have a score of at least 620 to proceed. PenFed Credit Union caters to loan requests worth as little as $600 and can go all the way up to $50,000.
There is an ideal range of term lengths, starting at 6 months and going up to 6 years. There are no origination or prepayment fees you need to pay, but late fees are in place.
Loan detaill
To start off, you can check to see what sort of rates you might be entitled to with a PenFed Credit Union personal loan. This can be done by filling out the pre-qualification form on the PenFed Credit Union website.
You need to enter basic info such as your credit score, loan purpose, and desired loan amount. You will then be showcased a range of loan offers from PenFed Credit Union. If you are happy to proceed with one of these loans, you then submit a more thorough application. Process.
This sees you providing additional info and verifying it by supplying certain types of documents. The approval process is generally quite speedy. Once approved, it can take just 1-2 business days to receive your borrowed money.
Available in all states
If you are in the market for a new or used car, then PenFed Credit Union can help you out with the financing. It provides you with a great amount of flexibility when you are shopping around looking for the best deal. You can often get better rates through PenFed Credit Union than if you were financing the car through a dealership.
LOAN AMOUNT
$500 - $150,000
LOAN REPAYMENT TERM
36-84 months
APR FIXED RATE
5.39% - 7.04%
APR VARIABLE RATE
5.39% - 2.04%
FUNDING TIME
1 days
ORIGINATION FEE
None
PREPAYMENT FEE
None
OTHER FEES
N/a
MAX VEHICLE AGE
years
SOFT CREDIT PULL
Yes
LENDER TYPE
Direct
Pros & Cons
Auto Loans Types
Vehicle Types
REFINANCE AMOUNT
$500
REFINANCE APR FIXED RATE
Min 5.3%
REFINANCE APR VARIABLE RATE
5.3% - 7.0%
PenFed Credit Union will cater to purchases or new or used cars, as well as refinancing existing auto loans. There are certain loan terms that will change depending on if you are buying a new or used car.
The better APRs will be available for new car purchases. The available term lengths generally range between 3 and 7 years. There are no prepayment penalties or origination fees that need to be paid, but late fees will be charged if you miss payments.
Buying service
Getting an auto loan from PenFed Credit Union is generally straightforward. There is a form on the PenFed Credit Union website that you can fill out to see what rates you can expect if getting a car loan. A soft credit check is done at this point, so your credit score won’t be impacted.
Typical info required at this point includes credit score, the value of the loan, and some details about the vehicle. Once you submit this form, you will be presented with some potential loan options. If you like a given offering, then you can go ahead and submit an official application.
A hard credit check is necessary at this point. You also need to provide additional info about the vehicle and yourself. Certain documentation might need to be supplied, such as a government-issued ID. Once your application gets approved, funding can arrive in just a day or two.
Available in all states
PenFed gives its prospective borrowers the funds they need to make higher education happen. Offering a range of financial support options, including undergraduate loans, graduate loans, and no essay scholarships, PenFed student loans cater to college graduates in all 50 states. The company can cover up to 100% of the cost of your undergraduate, professional, masters, or doctoral degree.
With award-winning non-co-signed and co-signed loans for college students, you can also see your rate without impacting your credit with PenFed. Find out more about PenFed student loans in the table below.
LOAN AMOUNT
$7 - $500
APR FIXED RATE
7.74% - 9.93%
MIN CREDIT SCORE
670
LOAN REPAYMENT TERM
5, 8, 12, or 15-year terms
FUNDING TIME
10 days
ORIGINATION FEE
None
PREPAYMENT FEE
None
OTHER FEES
None
SOFT CREDIT PULL
Yes
LENDER TYPE
Direct
Pros & Cons
Student Loans Type
REFINANCE AMOUNT
$7,500 - $500,000
REFINANCE FIXED APR
7.74% - 9.93%
Pros & Cons
Loan Terms
PenFed’s loan terms are stated clearly. The APRs offered are competitive in the marketplace. Key figures are:
People who have private education or Parent Plus loans will be able to apply for PenFed loans. Married couples can also refinance two of their loans into a single one. This new loan will be at a rate that covers the higher credit score of the two people, as well as joint income. Therefore, you can get the most optimal interest rate on your loan.
Repayment Terms
PenFed offers four different loan terms. You can take out a PenFed loan over 5, 8, 12, or 15 years. These options are pretty low compared to other loan providers, who may offer repayment terms of up to 25 years. Also, this could lead to higher monthly repayments compared with other providers.
PenFed does not offer any formal deferment or forbearance options. If you come into hardship, such as a job loss, your interest will continue accumulating. If you have used a co-signer for your loan, it will be the co-signers’ responsibility to ensure these amounts are paid.
The PenFed site has a dedicated section for student loans. From here, you can choose to either apply for an in-school student loan or a student loan refinancing. We opted to refinance our student loan, at which stage we arrived at the following home screen.
Perks of refinancing with Penfed
After clicking through ‘Find My Rate’, PenFed prompted us to enter our personal details, including name, address, phone number, SSN, and the amount we wanted to borrow. On completing this basic information, we had to complete a test to assess our loan eligibility.
Following our completion of this simple application screen, there are five further stages to assess eligibility for student loan refinancing. The first step asked us to reconfirm personal data, with the second reconfirming our phone details and contact preferences. The third step was to verify our housing and occupation status. The fourth step was to enter the details of all existing loans that were in place. The final stage of the process was to sign an Election, Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Application and Solicitation Disclosure.
The application process took 15 minutes in total. After submitting our information, we were sent for a credit check, which returned an instant result. Our credit check returned successfully, and we PenFed invited us to open a PenFed membership. There were no fees associated with opening the account, but we needed to deposit a minimum of $5. After this, a range of loan products became available to us.
After selecting the rate we wanted for our refinancing, we were invited to review the loan to ensure it was what we wanted. Overall, the process was very smooth and efficient.
To start the loan process, you will have to provide personal information to set up an account and perform a credit check. This is all done online, with the following details being required:
Available in all states
There is a good range of different savings and checking accounts that you can access through PenFed Credit Union. Competitive APYs are offered, with monthly fees usually non-existent or easily avoided. The minimum required deposits are quite low and you will be able to get access to some good cashback rewards.
APY SAVINGS
Max 2%
APY CHECKINGS
0.15% - 0.35%
ATM NETWORK
85,000+
OTHER FEES
Yes
Pros & Cons
Account Type
DEPOSIT AMOUNT
min $25
APY
0.15% to 0.35%
DEPOSIT AMOUNT
min $5
APY
Max 2%
MIN BALANCE
$5
Pros & Cons
| Account | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years |
| Access America | 0.15%-0.35% | 0.15%-0.35% | 0.15%-0.35% |
| Premium Online Savings | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Money Market Certificates | 4.25% | 4.05% | 3.90% |
| Regular Savings | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.05% |
| Money Market Savings | 0.05%-0.15% | 0.05%-0.15% | 0.05%-0.15% |
Cashback on purchases with certain cards
The Free Checking account does not carry any monthly fee and no minimum account balance requirements are in place. The minimum required opening deposit is just $25 and you will have access to over 85,000 no-fee ATMs across the US.
You can set up direct deposits that allow you to get your paycheck as many as two days early. There is a PenFed rewards card you can get that will give you 2% cash back on all purchases.
| Account Type | Key Features | Bonuses |
| Free Checking |
|
2% cashback on all purchases card available |
The Access America checking account is aimed at people who are going to have a higher account balance. There is a $10 monthly fee in place, but this can be avoided if you have direct deposits of at least $500 coming in each month or your daily balance is at least $500.
You will earn 0.15% APY on daily balances under $20,000 and 0.35% APY for balances between $20,000 and $50,000. You can set up direct deposits that allow you to get your paycheck as many as two days early.
| Account Type | Key Features | Bonuses |
| Access America | $10 monthly fee easily avoided
Starting APY of 0.15% Ability to get paycheck up to two days early |
– |
This is a typical savings account that allows you to earn an APY of up to 2%. You need to deposit just $5 when opening this account type. There is no monthly maintenance fee and you can make free transfers.
| Account Type | Key Features | Bonuses |
| Premium Online Savings |
|
– |
The money market certificates have terms between 6 months and 7 years. The minimum required deposit is $1,000 and you can decide to automatically renew at maturity if you wish. The APY for a 1-year term is 4.25%. Your returns are guaranteed and there are early withdrawal penalties in place.
| Account Type | Key Features | Bonuses |
| Money Market Certificates |
|
– |
The Regular Savings account gives you 0.05% APY on all of your balances. The minimum opening balance is just $5. Opening such an account allows you to establish your PenFed membership, giving you access to a variety of loan options. A debit card is a part of this account and free funds transfer feature.
| Account Type | Key Features | Bonuses |
| Regular Savings |
|
– |
You can get APY of 0.15% on all account balances of at least $100,000. For sums of $10,000 to $99,999, you will get a 0.10% APY and this drops to a 0.05% APY for balances lower than $10,000. There is no monthly fee and you can get free checks upon request.
| Account Type | Key Features | Bonuses |
| Money Market Savings |
|
– |
Setting up a PenFed Credit Union online banking account is usually quite easy to do. The process can be completely done online if you wish. There are basic questions asked, such as details about your home address, employment status, and so on. You can choose from the available account options.
Step 1: choose from the available account options
Once you fill out all the required info, you might need to supply some documents to verify what you said is true. Then you submit the application, with approval usually being very quick. Once you get the all-clear, you can add funds to your account as you please.
Available in all states
PenFed is a member of the National Credit Union Administration. As such, the company must comply with strict customer protection rules, ensuring that your private data is treated securely. This, coupled with the strong reputation that PenFed has built up over 80 years of trading, should leave customers satisfied that their data is safe. Rigorous security protocols are in place to ensure that all personal information is managed correctly.
You can reach PenFed customer support via multiple channels, including phone, email, and over social media. Standard working hours are Monday to Friday, so you may have a delayed response if you contact customer support over the weekend. You can find details of how to contact PenFed in the table below.
Ultimately, alongside the company’s reputability and decades of experience, PenFed Credit Union is one of the US’ top loan lenders in the industry. With a great range of financial products and services, the company also boasts a solid reputation, top-tier security, and reasonably low-interest rates. Similarly, interest rates have recently risen in line with the market as a whole.
This website is an informative comparison site that aims to offer its users find helpful information regarding the products and offers that will suit their needs. We are able to maintain a free, high-quality service by receiving advertising fees from the brands and service providers we review on this website (though we may also assess brands we are not engaged with).
These advertising fees, combined with our criteria and methodology, such as the conversion rates, our team of reviewers’ findings and subjective experience, and product popularity, impact the placement and position of the brands within the comparison table. In the event that we assign ratings or scoring, they are based on the standing in the comparison table or according to the other formula in the event detailed explicitly by us. See our How we Rate page and Terms of Use for information.
The reviews, ratings, and scoring are provided “as is” without guarantees or warranties regarding the information contained on our website, which shall not be considered as endorsement. We do our best to keep the information up-to-date. However, an offer’s terms might change at any time. We do not compare or include all service providers, brands, and offers available in the market.
This website is an informative comparison site that aims to offer its users find helpful information regarding the products and offers that will be suitable for their needs. We are able to maintain a free, high-quality service by receiving advertising fees from the brands and service providers we review on this website (though we may also review brands we are not engaged with). These advertising fees, combined with our criteria and methodology, such as the conversion rates, our team of reviewer's finding and subjective experience and product popularity, impact the placement and position of the brands within the comparison table. In the event rating or scoring are assigned by us, they are based on the position in the comparison table, or according to other formula in the event specifically detailed by us. See our How we Rate page and Terms of Use for information. The reviews, rating and scoring are provided “as-is” without guaranties or warranties regarding the information contained in our website, which shall not be considered as endorsement. We make the best efforts to keep the information up-to-date, however, an offer’s terms might change at any time. We do not compare or include all service providers, brands and offers available in the market.
8.0
8.0
8.0
8.0
