Worst customer service representatives I have ever encountered. I was just paying every month by my phone when all of a sudden they needed to verify me and my number . I wasn't using the card just making payments... They had the most obscure security questions..... And now they put it in collections I was calling FROM THE SAME PHONE they have better customer service at Walmart read more

Terrible customer service. I contacted PainFedup CU with a simple request and it was so hard to get help. They lost my business. read more

Made an appointment to execute a wire. Pentagon Federal called at the appointed time. Went through the verification process with license and live photo twice, but the Pentagon Federal credit Union system did not like the photographs and the rep could not explain what the issue was. Then went through twice two sets of random public record questions which were answered correctly, but the system that they use show that the answers were incorrect. The wire was for a major transaction Pentagon Federal credit Union equals Major fail.! read more

On October 20, a valid $25 transaction from my NYC OMNY transit card was flagged as a fraud and declined. I posted the following penfed review: I have been using my NYC transit card for about a year. It auto loads $25 from my penfed credit card account when more funds are needed. The last auto reload was rejected by penfed and I was sent a Fraud Alert email. Not only could penfed not tell me why it was rejected but could not tell me it would not happen again and in fact every time. I asked the supervisor if he considered this good service and he answered 'yes'. If you don't have enough aggravation in your life do business with penfed. The same thing happened on November 21 and was again told that penfed could not tell me it would not happen again. read more

Absolute disaster and completely incompetent. The aforementioned duplicate of my equity line that was supposedly fixed 3 years ago delayed the closing of my house sale by 5 days and almost caused the buyers to back out. They refused to make any concessions or even admit they had made a mistake. I have sent messages to their Board of Directors and audit committee and have still received no response two months later. They also accidentally sent another members account information to my title company which they refuse to own up to. They are incompetent and liars. If you value your money and your privacy, DO NOT USE THEM. read more

My husband and I applied for a HELOC loan in March 2025 and in August 2025 we were not finished yet with the process. We have had HELOC loans with other banks (Bank of America and Santandar) and are very familiar with the process and what it entails. Our entire experience with Penfed HELOC department was dreadful, time consuming, no sense of urgency, no follow up unless I reached out to check on the status and fees were charged bogusly and I did more work on behalf of my application than the bank people that were paid to do their job. We have had auto loans and 4 credit cards with Penfed and never experienced such dislike. Hence the reason for applying for the HELOC loan with Penfed. But no more, we will be closing all of our accounts with Penfed and I would never recommend to anyone using them for this process! They are incapable of using common sense or being trust worthy! One star is too good for them!!!! read more

They false advertise on their website. Their rates are intentionally misleading on their website. They won't give you those rates in reality even if your credit scores are over 780. Other credit unions will easily beat them. read more

Penfed is hands down the worst company I've ever had the most unpleasant experience with having as my lender. Literally had to jump through hoops even to make a payment. Due to them not taking the payments until 10+ DAYS later; we had for the first time fallen short on time frame for payment even though we called when it was due by the date of our obligations. Instead of working with us the company gaslighted us because we didn't do auto pay. We have the right to refuse it without having issues with said company. Glad to be out from under this company and will avoid it in the future and will share my experience with my fellow peers. read more

PenFed used to be a great Credit Union. I've used them to take care of home loans and car loans before. They had great rates and service that cared. Over the past few years, however, that service and quality have dropped horribly. I applied for a car loan and it took nearly a month to fund due to misinformation provided (and admitted by their VPs) to me. Further, by the time it was finally funded, I had already paid off the car I was refinancing myself - as it was taking too long and cost me hundreds in interest. Customer service agents were occasionally belligerent and outright rude. This is not the Credit Union I joined in 2009. If I didn't have a great rate on my mortgage with them, I would have refinanced just to be done with PenFed. Find another Credit Union. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Note to Anne K. the Business Manager at PenFed who replied below - I just emailed you. My concerns were shared at the highest level and the response was not as one might expect. Just the same, not sure how you could even make it right. read more

I have a student loan account with PenFed. I was never late with my payments. I made extra payments trying to payoff my loan. then, the COVID hit. I contact penfed. The rep told me that I dont have to make payment for a very long time sine I was way ahead of my payments. After few months, check back and found out there was late fee charged every single month. I contacted Penfed and made argument about what i was told. They told me they can't waved any late fees. In addition, their website never show that min payment due and the amount. I even show the rep on their website. She has no explanations and told me that there is nothing they can do. Terrible bank!!! feels like being scammed by them. Never go with them. I also compared their rates on car loans or mortgage. Can't compare to other banks. will never do business again. be very careful about this bank!!! read more

There're a horrible bank. They cut your credit limit for no reason & say it's in the cardholder agreement. I've never been late on any payments & even paid my card off. They cut 2/3 of my credit limit & when I called they didn't care. What a joke of a bank. read more

If I could give them a half of star I would the S$@IT I went thru toped up a savings account with these people they sent me thru all types of hoops to get a account with them just to tell me no because there a discrepancy with my address I lost my SS Card had me file for a new one then it takes 3-5days to get approve for a bank account andI bank with close to 10 other banks with over $250,000 in all my accounts and I got to fill out a application to open a account with them that's why they have law suits and no bank offices around F$#k Pen Fed LOL bank someone where else likeNavy Federal good interest rates read more

My name is Veronique S. VanderSchel. I am a military veteran's widow of 29 years, and my husband served our country for 24 years. My husband's death was covered in the local news for a few days, and the treatment I received from Pentagon Federal Credit Union after his death should never happen to another military family or to any human being who has lost a loved one. Help me help others. I'm praying that you will share my experience below to protect the families of military veterans when they can no longer protect their families after they have gone and to protect unsuspecting families that are not military as well from Pentagon Federal Credit Union. On September 21, 2023, Pentagon Federal Credit Union Supervisor, Lindsey, called me, a grieving widow of a military veteran of 24 years. She interrogated and badgered me about a vehicle that Lindsey knew law enforcement had in their custody due to a traumatic incident involving the death of my husband on September 6, 2023. My late husband's body had not made it to the coroner's office in our state when she called and verbally attacked me on our home telephone. She showed no compassion for my loss, and her only concern was how much blood was in the car and if I wanted to keep it. We had been members of Pentagon Federal Credit Union for 29 years, and I was a joint account holder with survivorship rights. Pentagon Federal Credit Union does not record their supervisors' calls, so they can treat people however they want. That is my takeaway from that traumatizing experience on September 21, 2023, that still hurts and haunts me to this day. On December 27, 2023, I called in to pay on a Pentagon Federal Credit Union credit card that was in my name and my husband's name prior to his death, which had finally been transferred solely into my name, for $127.00. I listened to the recording and informed the representative that I was agreeing to pay for the credit card, which was finally in my name. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union representative informed me that my deceased husband had a credit card solely in his name with a balance of over $3000.00. I responded to the representative that I did not want to pay on my husband's credit card until I reviewed the statements for it. The representative mumbled something. The next day, I logged onto Pentagon Federal Credit Union's website to discover that the representative had cleared and closed out both my checking and savings accounts that were only in my name, to pay off the credit card that was solely in my deceased husband's name, without my consent/permission. The representative left me with $5.00 in my member account, two days after Christmas and four days before New Year's Day, for five months. Prior to this call, the accounts that were zeroed out were solely in my name at the time the representative cleared them to pay on a credit card that was not in my name. On January 30 or 31, 2024, I was informed that Pentagon Federal Credit Union was going to repossess the vehicle my deceased husband had purchased for our anniversary. This was in spite of the vehicle being up to date on payments and insured. This was the same vehicle that Lindsey had traumatized me about on September 21, 2023. Coincidentally, this occurred the day of or the day after I informed law enforcement that the judge had provided me with a court order for them to release the vehicle to me. Now, I have to pay Pentagon Federal Credit Union for a vehicle that is not in my possession, which they repossessed, when they could have released it to me and I could have continued making the payments as I had been doing. If I don't pay them now, I will have to sell the property my late husband, the honorably discharged veteran of 24 years, bought for our future, which is in probate, to pay Pentagon Federal Credit Union for the vehicle. They had a copy of the death certificate and a letter of testamentary on file prior to repossessing the vehicle. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, and it appears to be the sin that drives Pentagon Federal Credit Union in my experience with them after my husband's traumatic and untimely death. Military families deserve better as well as any human being. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will help me in protecting others against Pentagon Federal Credit Union. Sincerely, Veronique S. VanderSchel read more

Overall customer service was very poor over 1 year time frame. Aug 2024 I contact member services to advise I would be travelling to Southeast Asia for two months and would like to use my debit card. I asked that a note be put in my file to avoid any issues. Upon trying to use the card account and card is frozen. I received no notification whatsoever of this action. No text, no email no phone call. It was only when I received a notice from my HOA that my payment was declined did I realize my account had been frozen. The entire experience with the fraud department was a complete headache getting my account reestablised. May 2025 I am returning to Southeast Asia and I contact member services to request a large withdrawal. I reserved a specific day, time and branch for the transaction and was told the reservation was successful. I arrive at the branch early for my reservation, waited over an hour only to be told the reservation could not be found and I could not withdraw the money. July 2025 had been using my debit card to transfer funds with western union and remitly app for 2 months. Once again after trying a transfer I find out my card is blocked and I have to go thru the whole process of verifying my identity once again. In a span of less than a year I have had 3 issues where access to my money was unavailable. If you want these types of headaches by all means bank with this company. I will be terminating my membership when I return to the states. read more

Signed up to get a loan from PenFed where I agreed to a certain amount with a 0.25% discount. However after they finalized the loan my monthly payment went up. I don't like being lied too. They offered the amount and I signed for it but then switch it. That's bad business. Won't recommend this bank to anyone nor do more business with them. To top it off previous phone calls with this bank were negative as their staff is just rude, inconsiderate, and shows no empathy. read more

UPDATE: after Anne K. at Pen Fed responded to my review, they put us in touch with someone to manage our case. The case was resolved in a manner that exceeded our expectations! Thank you so much, Anne! My sister and I are disappointed at the response we have received from PenFed due to my deceased sister's loan. My surviving sister co-signed on the loan but was not notified when my deceased sister was late on payments three consecutive times. We have asked several times for an explanation but have only received "that isn't our policy". We have asked to set up an appointment to discuss some form of forgiveness (not the entire amount) but have been directed to an 800 number and options that are not in good faith. I would like to hear back about setting up an appointment with a real life and local representative. read more

Trying to pay my car loan. Been trying for days and have now gotten the late fee added. The website is inaccurate, and the phone line is the worst I've experienced. Every time it says it is going to transfer you to a real person, it just puts you back at the beginning of the main menu. Extremely frustrated by this company and will NEVER use them for a loan again. read more

Sucks. Wish I would of really looked for reviews. The ones you see with high ratings are real can't be unless they were paid to lie. I refinanced my truck. Went with the lowest rate. Ha took 3 weeks to link my account so I could pay my note. Only to get an email saying the payment failed. So I waited figuring there was an issue. 2 days later I logged in to try again. I got sent a confirmation yeah bill paid. Nope not that simple they took 2 payments claimed they never sent the email saying the first payment failed. Funny why did it take 3 days for one to clear and 1 for the second. Good luck getting anyone on the phone finally got someone on chat to be told they can only issue the payment back to a savings that they set up the same time as the refinance. That would take 5 days then I would be able to take that from there back to my bank. Yeah bc that's why started the whole problem. They don't give a crap how bad they screw you. read more

PenFed Credit Union - The email they have no record of. - Banks & Credit Unions Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Used to be a fan, but not any longer! Their customer service ranks ZERO. It's impossible to speak to anyone through any of their published "customer service" numbers. If you do, through sheer luck, manage to get through, you're still put on hold for a very long time. Response time through leaving a message or using the Contact Us form online is about 72 hours. Time to close accounts and switch to a company that actually provides customer service!!! read more

Cut my limit from 20k+ to only 5k for no reason. No explanation, only found out when transactions started to decline. Have had this card for over a decade with the same limit, no missed payments. So now my credit gets to take a major utilization hit for nothing. Card has never been close to being maxed out. Take your business elsewhere. read more

Wasted over a week of my time applying for a loan before denying me with no notice. Was approved same day at my bank. Will never ever use this joke of a bank for anything again. read more

I've been a member of Pentagon Federal Credit Union since 1981. I have my IRA in a CD in this place. You MUST have a cellphone to do business with them. Not every one has a cellphone for whatever reason. I have close to $80,000.00 is this place and I'm done after applying for a $12,000 signature loan to buy a used car which I planned to pay off after the first of the year. They refused to give me the loan. I ended up with a GOLD card, something I didn't want and they pulled my credit 4X and they were calling me a liar about my income. YES, my income is different now and that is because my husband died! *duh* I was told by their "Wealth Management" that I could not draw out of my IRA CD w/o a penalty. That is NOT true as I am close to 70 years old. This same person told me the treasury bonds I have are no good which was also a lie. I wrote to Anne K. and I believe she helped me out with this big unnecessary mess as I have done nothing wrong. I closed out the VISA GOLD card and also the Platinum VISA Rewards card I had. I do not need all of these VISA cards and the Platinum Reward VISA card is very deceptive. It works in SOME gas stations but not all of them so it is hit and miss. No great loss. Other credit cards like American Express and Discover have some good offers as rewards for their card use luckily so I am using them instead. I am old and on a fixed income which is not uncommon in America today. Not everyone is bringing in $25.00+ an hr. Some are bringing in $50.00/day which is a very real reality in America these days. read more

These incompetents blocked my account just for adding an external Synchrony Bank account and making a second money transfer of $13,000. The sad thing is that their supposed security system is not secure at all since it allowed me to link both accounts and then to make a first money transfer of $30,000. If that transaction had been fraudulent, then I would have lost all that money. I've been on the phone with these individuals four times, and they still refuse to unblock my Premium Online Savings Account. Not only do their policies go far beyond the norm when it comes to security (and believe me, I appreciate security), but their customer service representatives will make your head spin as each representative has a different answer, asks for a new thing, gives you incorrect information, or simply doesn't have a clue about anything. I have never, ever, seen such hamstringing of clients. They are the worst company, and when all is complete, they will be removed from my portfolio. As the President of a condo HOA, I was planning on investing our reserve account (more than $400,000) with PENFED. Not anymore! read more

Horrible bank, worst bank, i've ever dealt with. Insurance paid off my car that was totaled. They then overdrafted my account, which was their fault. I paid them back the money they put, but then they considered it a write off and my credit score dropped a 144 points. Do not use this bank. They are horrible people and do not Care for citizens. read more

Update: Another month has passed and my account has been fully closed. Through this entire process I have not received one bit of formal information expressing why my account was terminated, that is was being terminated, how to receive my fund, or anything. Extremely poor customer service as my local branch closed I have to sit on the phone from a Japan time zone at 1am. I was told to send an email to get assistance and never received a response. I'll stick with Navy Federal, I regret giving Penfed a chance. read more

I have been a member for years now. In January I was in a hit and run with the vehicle and was deemed as totaled. my insurance and gap insurance payed them which left me 4,000 left. I am social security and after losing that vehicle it has been hard to pay them the full amount. I have called them to try and work out a payment plan but they wont allow me to do that, it would be different if I stopped paying them completely which I have for a few months because I have been trying to figure out a way to pay them their full amount but I haven't had any luck with that. Why wont they accept the fact that I am trying to pay them something. They make it very hard for people to work out anything especially when they don't have the vehicle anymore due to someone elses reckless driving, I didn't tell that person to hit me and keep going I didn't want that and never wanted that. I don't want to continue to not pay them I want to pay them off but pay them what I am able to pay them until I finish. They don't accept social security as a hardship but will accept it as a payment option when refinancing?...which makes no sense. They is on my credit report as if I have not tried to work out something in the past with them they just will not accept it, my calls is on record and there is proof that I have tried to work out something with them but they just refuse. They was good in the beginning but now they is absolutely horrible and will not work with you. read more

Worst credit card in the planet!! Please beware!!! I had originally a checking account for some years, when they stopped doing business with sister branches and i could no longer get money without fees i closed the checking!! Then i had an original credit line 5k it was increased twice over few years to 10k available balance. However once i completely paid down the balance and they couldn't steal interest anymore they dropped it to 700$!!!! My credit has been exponentially better paid off mortgage couple cars in last two years. Never had one late payment 30, 60, or 90days in the last ten years!!!!! Stay away unless you like donating interest!!! read more

do not waist your time with this company. I missed out on a vehicle because their process takes too long. Over a week with poor communication. Their website is outdated and it does not accept uploads that they request. The customer service operator does not have the proper information to assist with issues and calls are dropped with no call back. After all I went through they would not accept a lease agreement, Insurance, Financial Statements or tax form as proof of residence. Only utility bills and vehicle registration are accepted. trying to get an auto loan and living as a roommate. This company is impossible to work with and will only waste your time. read more

On April 19th, 2023, I applied for a credit card with PenFed and I was approved. I completed the additional paper work needed along with making a deposit to meet all the requirements. Today is May 22nd, 2023 and I have NOT received my credit card. After numerous calls on: April 28th May 3rd May 10th May 19th May 22nd PenFed can't seem to get me a credit card. This has been the WORST 1st time experience with a credit union. At this point, I can NOT recommend doing business with this credit union. This is not a good way to start a banking relationship. I think I will need to take my business elsewhere at this point. Again, I can NOT recommend doing business with PenFed. read more

I was pre-approved to refinance my car, but then they declined my application, leaving a hard inquiry on my credit report for nothing. This is one of the worst credit unions; stay away. read more

I go PenFed's Branch in Kingstown area, VA. I give 5 Stars not only to this my PenFed Branch, but also for my online experiences with the PenFed organization. Prior to my retirement I lived in many countries, e.g. Bangladesh and Indonesia (4 and 4.5 years respectively) and have traveled to over 2 dozen countries for TDY from Afghanistan to Ghana from Nepal to Botswana and always had fast and professional interactions with PenFed. Also, now that I'm retired I am so please to have a PenFed's brick and mortar branch near me. read more

I have been a member here over 10+ years and had no issues until this huge red flag that happened on my birthday week. After my direct deposit came in transactions from a trader company came in and took my entire deposited check and still tried to run. No alert, text, call, nothing. Opened a fraud case, 24-48 for report to be viewed and another 5-7 to be re-credited? So as I go days before Christmas without my funds this is my hell. I've already opened another account with a bank that has fraud controls because this here was a complete piss off point. Thanks PenFed for the previous years but no longer. read more

Applied online for an auto loan. Terrible customer service. Forbes had them listed as having great rates but if they don't respond to applications then what good is that. read more

Harold Ray, Maine, not same as Harold in Flushing - When trying to call PennFed it is almost impossible to talk to a real live person. I attempted to pay my bill using their web page. First I had a problem with my password which I attempted to reset on their web page with no success. When I tried to call them all I got was a menu that did not fit my problem and did not have a option to talk to a agent. Using a different prompt I finally got to a agent after a long wait. I explained I was a old man (they asked for my birth date showing I am 96) and what he wanted me to do I had already tried and it was all too confusing and I would pay my bill by mail. I do not know why the agent did not give me the option of my giving him my banking information so as to pay my bill over the phone. My other credit card companies have a dedicated phone number to use to pay their invoices Why doesn't PennFed due the same? read more

The CD rates at Pen Fed are no longer competitive. Yes, I understand that institutions might be struggling to offer high rates but it's their customer service that truly has become an issue of late. I had an experience this morning with someone on the phone and was so surprised with her complete lack of patience. She ended the call before I could get a helpful response. They were supposed to apply an adjustment for credit card points that were not properly credited but they only fixed one date and not the points from the other date that was also done incorrectly. Additionally, the customer service representatives have made multiple promises to make a return phone call to me regarding the credit card problem but never called me back. These services are available from so many other sources and until they start to make some noticeable changes to their products and practices, I see no reason to continue to have my accounts there. read more

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. read more

The quality service at PENFED has sure went down... Looking into HELOC options and after they pulled my credit they told me they can't do the appraisal via desktop appraisal or a drive by appraisal for my property. They said the only solution is to pay $700 upfront and get my own appraisal. Keep in mind I've went through the HELOC process with them in the past and they were able to pull an appraisal on this property no problem without charging any fees. It would have been nice if you told me this before you ran my credit. When I asked for clarification the email response was due to the large volume at this time representatives will try to respond to you weekly... It's been 2 weeks and nothing back from them. read more

Terrible Experience and Would Think Twice about Using them. My terrible experience was due to not closing on time and the loss of time and money based on the loan processor telling me the day before (which happened to be the original scheduled closing day) that we would close on 5/31/2024. Based on the word of my loan processor I setup utilities, made appointment, took the day off, and planned to move some things in over the weekend. This loan has been in the works for about five month. There is little excuse for not closing on the rescheduled day. Why take a chance on what is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in lif, to only e let dow. The loan officer wouldn't even answer his phone or emails around the scheduled time. I was just left in limbo. read more

The worst bank ever,stay away from it .Ipurchased a cd from them and it is been a week past the maturity date and i still haven't received my money back . People there do not know what they are doing, they say they are not responsible for the ck ,who is responsible then ??They blame the mail and now i do not know what i am going to do , The cd is for 10.000.00.Mybe i should call the president , it looks like nobody cares. read more

I've been banking at various institutions for over 50 years. Penfed is the worst I've encountered. We bank mostly through Chase, but wanted a local back-up checking account in the event that Chase has another computer glitch and we couldn't access our money for a day or two. So we go in with $2,000 cash to do a simple account set-up, and then we got stone-walled. Penfed- unlike any bank I've ever dealt with- actually ran a credit check before denying us a checking account! Our credit score is 650- not great, but certainly acceptable to open a checking account with CASH! Nope! No checking account allowed. I'm guessing they want to push loans and want higher credit scores to make them. So, they don't want our money, so screw 'em. We went to another local credit union the next day and set up our account in 40 minutes. Penfed is shady, and with all the other negative reviews, I'd highly suggest using another bank if you cae about your money! read more