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PenFed Credit Union Review: Checking, Savings and CDs

No-fee banking and high APYs, but as a credit union, you still need to become a member.

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Our verdict

PenFed is a large credit union serving all 50 states, and membership is available to anyone who opens a savings account with a small $5 deposit. PenFed offers a variety of accounts and services, including interest-bearing checking, high-APY savings, certificates of deposit, IRAs, mortgages, personal loans and more. Overall, there aren’t many cons to point out with PenFed, but if you prefer branch access, you’ll have to live in one of the few states where it has a physical presence.

Best for: Those who prefer not-for-profit institutions with high APYs.

Pros

  • High savings APYs
  • $0 monthly fee accounts available
  • Many banking and lending products
  • Easy membership requirements
  • Supports Zelle

Cons

  • $1,000 minimum deposit for CDs
  • Limited branch access

Is PenFed right for you?

PenFed is one of the largest credit unions in the US, with nearly $35 billion in assets and around 50 physical branches nationwide. It’s also known for supporting military families and serving its communities through financial literacy programs and volunteer services.

Credit unions require membership to access their products and services. Becoming a PenFed member simply requires opening a Regular Share or Premium Online Savings account with a minimum $5 deposit. Unlike many credit unions, membership isn’t restricted by where you work or reside.

The majority of PenFed’s branch locations are in California, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Virginia. If branch access is a priority for you and you’re not in one of those states, PenFed may not be the best option. However, it does serve all 50 states and has a very large ATM network of over 85,000, consisting of Allpoint and Co-op ATMs.

How PenFed stacks up

Like other credit unions, PenFed’s deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000 by the NCUA. In addition to its checking and savings accounts, PenFed also offers credit cards, certificates of deposit (CDs), IRAs, auto loans, mortgages and personal loans.

Where it shines

  • Not-for-profit: As a credit union, PenFed is a not-for-profit institution. Most credit unions pass their savings on to customers through fee-free accounts and high APYs on savings products.
  • Easy membership: Credit unions often require you to live or work near their service area to join, but PenFed only requires opening a savings account with a $5 deposit.
  • Variety of services: PenFed doesn’t just offer run-of-the-mill bank accounts; you can apply for loans, open an IRA, take out a credit card and more.
  • Free banking: PenFed offers no-fee checking and savings accounts with low opening deposit requirements.
  • Decent APYs: The credit union’s savings and CDs consistently have higher APYs than average.
  • No age requirements for child members: PenFed allows children of any age to join if their parent or legal guardian is a PenFed member and becomes a joint owner on the child’s account.
  • Supports Zelle: PenFed is one of the 2,000+ banks and credit unions that supports the money transfer service, Zelle.
  • Large ATM network: With over 85,000 ATMs in its network, you have a lot of fee-free access to your cash.

Where it falls short

  • No business accounts: PenFed doesn’t offer business banking, but neither do most credit unions.
  • CD minimum deposit: PenFed offers CDs, but there’s a $1,000 minimum deposit to open one. While this is rather typical among banks and credit unions, some top CDs don’t have any minimum deposit requirements.
  • Limited branch locations: Unless you live in one of the few states PenFed specifically serves, you’ll need to manage your accounts online.

PenFed’s checking accounts

PenFed offers two checking accounts. With either option, you’ll have access to the large 85,000-strong ATM network, mobile check deposit through the app, the money transfer service Zelle and early paycheck deposits up to two days early.

  • Free Checking: Aptly named, this checking account has no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. It requires a $25 opening deposit.
  • Access America: This account is designed for high balances. It has a $10 monthly maintenance fee that you can waive with direct deposits of at least $500 or by holding a daily balance of $500 or more. The account’s main perk is earning interest, offering 0.15% to 0.35% APY depending on your balance.

PenFed savings accounts

Just like with its checking options, PenFed offers two savings accounts to choose from. By opening one of these accounts with a $5 deposit, you can also become a PenFed member and access the rest of its products and services.

  • Premium Online Savings: Offers up to 3% APY on all balances, with no monthly fee and a small $5 opening deposit requirement. The 3% rate is significantly higher than the average savings rate of 0.42%.(1)
  • Regular Savings: A much lower APY than the Premium account, this savings account only has a 0.05% APY on all balances and requires a $5 minimum opening deposit. However, it offers an optional ATM card, which you can’t get with the Premium account.

PenFed CDs

PenFed offers high-APY CDs they call Money Market Certificates. There’s a minimum $1,000 opening deposit requirement, but rates are decent across terms, which range between six and 84 months.

TermAPYOpening deposit requirement
6 month
3%
$1,000
12 months
3.65%
$1,000
15 months
3.65%
$1,000
18 months
3.6%
$1,000
24 months
3.55%
$1,000
36 months
3.4%
$1,000
48 months
3.2%
$1,000
60 months
3.2%
$1,000
84 months
3%
$1,000

Other PenFed products

PenFed offers a variety of other products and services you’d expect from a large credit union.

  • Personal loans: PenFed’s personal loans have amounts up to $50,000 and terms up to 60 months. Typical uses for personal loans include debt consolidation, home improvement or vacations.
  • Student loans: PenFed doesn’t offer private student loans directly, but by applying on its site, you can view prequalified rates from over 15 lenders through its partner, Sparrow.
  • Auto loans: Offers vehicle financing and refinancing, as well as a car-buying service through its partner TrueCar, which matches you to a nearby dealership.
  • Credit cards: PenFed offers a variety of credit cards, many with no annual fees and cashback programs.
  • Mortgage lending: From home purchasing to home equity financing, PenFed has it.
  • IRAs: PenFed offers IRA Certificates and savings accounts.

Compare with leading bank accounts

1 - 5 of 18
Product USFSA-CHK Finder Score Fee Minimum deposit to open Annual Percentage Yield (APY) Offer
Step Black Card
Step logo
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From $0 per month
$0
4.00% on balances of $0 to $1,000,000
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$0 per month
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4.86% on balances of $0+
1.00% on balances of $0+
0.51% on balances of $0+
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$0 per month
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N/A
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$0
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$4.95 per month
(can be waived)
$25
N/A
$300 Bank of America Advantage Banking offer: See offer page for more details. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC.
loading

What is the Finder Score?

The Finder Score crunches over 300 checking accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, overdraft fees, opening deposit, customer support options, ATM network and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of checking accounts against what we consider is the best option: no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, a large ATM network of 50,000 or more, additional features outside of typical banking services, and the optional perk of earning interest. Accounts that are nearly free to maintain and use are scored the highest, while accounts with costly fees and few features are scored the lowest.

Read the full Finder Score breakdown

{"visibility":"visibilityTable","ctaLabel":"Calculate","tableCode":"savings_calculator_table","nicheCode":"USFSA","fields":[{"name":"PERIOD","value":"1","options":"","label":"Years to save","suffix":"","useSuffixAsPrefix":false,"useDropDownOption":false,"tooltip":""},{"name":"INITIAL_DEPOSIT","value":"1000","options":"","label":"Initial deposit","suffix":"$","useSuffixAsPrefix":true,"useDropDownOption":false,"tooltip":"Select Calculate to see your estimated total balance based on the current APY for each product below"}]}
1 - 6 of 25
Product USFSA Finder Score Account type Annual Percentage Yield (APY) FDIC or NCUA insured amount Minimum balance to earn interest Minimum deposit to open Offer Estimated total balance
Finder score
Traditional savings

3.80%

Up to $250,000
$0
$0
$1,038
Barclays Tiered Savings
Barclays logo
Finder score
Traditional savings
Up to

4.50%

Up to $250,000
$0
$0
Get a $200 Bonus when you deposit $25,000 or more within 30 days and maintain that balance for 120 days. Available to new bank customers.
$1,045
Finder score
Money market

4.75%

Up to $250,000
$0
$100
$1,047.50
Finder score
Cash management account

4.00%

Up to $8M FDIC insurance
$1
$1
$1,040
Uphold USD Interest Account
Uphold logo
Finder score
Savings app
Up to

4.40%

Up to $2.5 million
$1
$0
$1,044
Valley Direct High Yield Savings Account
Valley Direct logo
Finder score
Savings app

3.75%

$250,000
$0.01
$1
$1,037.50
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What is the Finder Score?

The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.

Read the full Finder Score breakdown

{"visibility":"visibilityTable","ctaLabel":"Calculate","tableCode":"savings_calculator_table","nicheCode":"USFSA","fields":[{"name":"PERIOD","value":"1","options":"","label":"Years to save","suffix":"","useSuffixAsPrefix":false,"useDropDownOption":false,"tooltip":""},{"name":"INITIAL_DEPOSIT","value":"1000","options":"","label":"Initial deposit","suffix":"$","useSuffixAsPrefix":true,"useDropDownOption":false,"tooltip":"Select Calculate to see your estimated total balance based on the current APY for each product below"}]}
1 - 6 of 10
Product USFSA Finder Score Account type Annual Percentage Yield (APY) FDIC or NCUA insured amount Minimum balance to earn interest Minimum deposit to open Offer Estimated total balance
Finder score
Money market

4.75%

Up to $250,000
$0
$100
$1,047.50
Finder score
Money market
Up to

3.65%

Up to $250,000
$1
$0
$1,036.50
Finder score
Money market

1.55%

Up to $250,000
$0
$100
$1,015.50
Great Lakes FCU MMA through Raisin
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Money market

2.40%

Up to $250,000
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$1,024
Grasshopper Innovator Business Savings
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Money market
Up to

3.55%

Up to $125 million
$0
$100
$1,035.50
American First Credit Union MMA through Raisin
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Finder score
Money market

4.40%

Up to $250,000
$0
$1
$1,044
loading

What is the Finder Score?

The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.

Read the full Finder Score breakdown

1 - 6 of 16
Product USFSA-CDS Finder Score 6-month APY 1-year APY 5-year APY Minimum deposit to open Offer
Western Alliance Bank 12 months CDs through Raisin
Raisin logo
Finder score
N/A
3.95%
N/A
$1
New customers can earn $100 with a deposit of at least $5,000 when using code NEWYEAR. See site for important details.
Finder score
N/A
N/A
N/A
$1
New customers can earn $100 with a deposit of at least $5,000 when using code NEWYEAR. See site for important details.
Alliant Credit Union CDs
Alliant Credit Union logo
Finder score
4.10%
4.25%
3.65%
$1,000
Valley Direct Online CD
Valley Direct logo
Finder score
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4.00%
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$500
SkyOne FCU 48-month callable CD through Raisin
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N/A
N/A
N/A
$1
Bask Bank CDs
Bask Bank logo
Finder score
4.45%
4.25%
N/A
$1,000
loading

What is the Finder Score?

The Finder Score analyzes hundreds of CDs from more than 100 institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate for available terms and opening deposit requirements - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

Different banks and credit unions offer CDs for various lengths of time, ranging from as short as seven days to as long as 20 years. For our ratings, we consider the term lengths that the FDIC uses in its monthly updates on national rates.

If a bank or credit union doesn’t offer a CD for a specific term used by the FDIC, we don’t penalize it: Instead, we simply don’t rate it. Each of the standard term lengths has its own APY rating based on the FDIC’s average rates.

Read the full Finder Score breakdown

Customer reviews

BBB accreditedYes
BBB ratingA+
BBB customer reviews1.19 out of 5 stars, based on 269 customer reviews
Trustpilot score4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 1,493 customer reviews
Apple App Store Score4.7 out of 5 stars, based on 10,300 customer reviews
Google Play Score4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 26,100 customer reviews
Customer reviews verified as of28 November 2024

PenFed receives pretty great customer ratings. A 4.1-star rating on Trustpilot is no easy feat for a financial institution, as many people leave reviews only after a negative experience.

Many customers mention how easy loan and refinance applications are and how they’re happy with their low and fair interest rates. Others highlight great experiences with PenFed tellers and customer support, and many military families say they feel supported by the credit union.

On Reddit, discussions about PenFed are mostly about its credit card offerings. Many Redditors point out that credit unions are known for their low interest rates on loans and better APYs on savings — but aren’t known so much for great credit card offerings, especially compared to big banks like Chase or Amex.

Other threads also talk about how PenFed’s mobile banking app is outdated compared to other institutions, but it’s common for credit unions to lag on tech. Since credit unions are not-for-profit institutions, they typically don’t invest as much in apps or their site as other big banks.

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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Holly Jennings as part of our fact-checking process.
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Written by

Editor, Banking

Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto. Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt. Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others. Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine. See full bio

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Bethany has written 455 Finder guides across topics including:
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