Corporate does not stack with Penfed/USAA
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Just learned this, my regional Red Cross director informed me that all blood donors and Red Cross volunteers qualify for a Penn Fed account.
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Anyone qualifies for Pen Fed with $25 contribution.
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Question about using these benefits - if I have a Costco benefit and PenFed - can I use both? And at what point do I tell the dealership about them? Should I establish a final price and then present the two discounts? Thank you!
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Everyone is eligible, some just in different ways.
Membership in one of several eligible groups allows you to join for free, and only requires a $5 deposit into a share account.
If you don’t fall into one of those categories you can contribute to an eligible charitable organization and get in that way, and then do the $5 deposit.
https://www.penfed.org/member-benefits
I joined the latter way several years ago.
This CU has been a complete disaster at every interaction, but sometimes it’s worth the effort for one of the fringe products/offers like this, which is why I haven’t already canceled my membership.
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Yeah, $25 was a few years ago when I looked at it. It goes to some fund or charity, I think.
I’m still contemplating whether a hard pull is worth the $500 rebate down the road…
Not sure why they require a hard pull for a checking account… 
I’d rather put more money in the account than do the hard pull…
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Unless you are making some huge investment in which a hard pull would take you from approve to disapprove, why not?
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I think the hard pull is either way.
I have the simple savings account that you open with $5 and I had no hard pull on any of the credit bureaus.
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I will look into this… thanks
So just got off the phone with PenFed…
While they previously used to do hard pulls , for opening savings/checking account only a “soft pull” is done now.
With that said, I went ahead and signed up and opened a savings account with only $5.00. Used my credit card to apply the $5. I’m officially a member. 
Note, if you end up requesting a loan, they will do a hard pull (obviously).
Def worth to open one up for the savings . They also have atms in every local CVS, 7/11 and Walgreens. Not that I’ll ever use them but good to know …
Good thing I looked into this further. Hope this helps others, as well.
Note:
So when the time comes, how does one apply the $500 towards a BMW lease? Do you give the dealer your membership number and they directly apply the rebate or do you have to go thru PenFed to generate some code or coupon?
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After you have been a member for 60 days, you will be able generate a certificate (in your name) through your Penfed account. You can then take that certificate to a BMW dealer.
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seems there is no way around this, I tried to call but no go
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Just in case it helps anyone else…I applied after reading your post. I called PenFed first. They also told me too that it would only be a soft pull. So I applied for the savings online with the $5. Sure enough, they did a hard pull through Experian.
I also called to ask about waiting the 60 days. Got the same rep who told me you no longer had to wait that long. Again, she was wrong.
4 reps and 2 supervisors later, still no help. I now have an acct that cost me a hard pull for nothing. Said they’d try to fix it but won’t call back. Looking to sign a lease and can’t use the incentive either. Feel free to sign up, but keep that in mind. Horrible service, as others have said.
They also messed up a bunch of the info on my app and took 3 calls to fix. Their CS reps are all poorly trained and clueless.
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Hard pull is a killer? Get over it, it’s like 5-10 points drop. Only matters if you are bordeline.
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I agree, unless your about to apply for a mortgage in the next 60 days it really isn’t a big deal. Many people think it’s like the end of the earth w/o any good reason. Oh darn you went from 812 to 804, boo hoo!
Well, when I spoke to the rep over the phone , she was very polite and explained that for opening an account that they no longer do hard pulls. At that point I told her over the phone that I’d like to open up a savings account. She took all my information over the phone (including my SSN) and ask me a few generic questions that they usually do whenever you open a bank account etc . About 10 min later, she gave me my account number and I was open to register my account online and via the app. She took a credit card payment over the phone for $5 to make the initial deposit.
Look I get it, it’s annoying to have a hard pull especially when not asking for any type of credit but these guys are right , unless you’re applying for a mortgage it’s really not going to matter .
I’ve been anal too with my credit but there’s a reason guys like me and you have credit scores over 800 — we actively monitor our credit…
Like the other member said, wait 60 days and you should be able to generate a certificate/coupon to apply towards a new car.
Everything PenFed touches turns to garbage. They’re a horrendous credit union.
Inquiries don’t matter. My Experian FICO 8 is 847 at the moment, with 5 inquires.
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