Pentagon Federal Credit Union Review

Overall Rating

I joined the Pentagon Federal Credit Union when I was transferred to VA just over three months ago. I thought an institution with over 10 billion in assets and 700,000 members would have a lot to offer.
My first impression when I moved wasn't great. I was looking for the branch on AFB. I got the address online but couldn't find it just driving around. I called the member service number and all they could tell me was the address. They couldn't transfer me to the branch or give me a direct line. I had to stop a few people on the street to point me to it. Not a big deal I guess, just surprising that they couldn't help me out.
I 'opened' my account online before I moved. I opened a checking, saving, money market and credit card. For each account they sent me a letter to review and sign before the account would be officially opened. I thought that was kind of a waste. It would have been much easier for me to just open them in person. So I went to open my overdraft account in person. I asked if I they were going to send me anything in the mail to sign. They said no. but sure enough it came a week later.
Their online banking it just bad. It ' s not designed well and has minimum functionality. It looks and feels like it hasn't been updated in the last decade. You can ' t schedule a transfer between your accounts. That includes scheduling a transfer to your credit card. When you ' re viewing your account you can ' t tell which transactions occurred since your last statement. You have to go by the dates. That ' s really frustrating with the credit card. I can ' t watch what I'm spending for the month. I have to take the current balance and subtract the balance on the last statement. The system should do that for us. In addition there are no email notifications for credit card statements. This is the only bill I get in the mail. They can ' t figure out how to send me an email to tell me my statement is ready. Every other credit card I've had let you schedule payments, view activity since last statement and get electronic statements. Pretty basic features.
Quote from site "Please note: last payment amount for credit cards is rounded to the nearest dollar. For exact information, click on the account number for the account history screen." there is no reason for that.
Since I already opened all my accounts with PFCU I figured id just stay there. I really don't do a lot of banking so I could live with the lacking customer service and limited website, for now.
But then I applied for a mortgage. I did it over the weekend; they charged my $65 bucks which I thought was odd. I almost bought before I moved and my previous credit union didn't charge me. When I completed the application they said I would be getting a phone call within 48 hrs. They did pre approve me online. By Wednesday I gave them a call to see what was going on. When I finally got a call back they said they needed additional info. They asked me to repeat some of the info I provided online. No new questions. They told me they would have an answer by Friday. A week later they called to tell me I was denied, poor credit and high debt to income ratio. My credit score is over 700 and I have NO debt, other than 2 revolving credit cards with balances under $1000. The mortgage was 3.2x my annual income level and I was putting 10% down. I went to 2 other lending institutions and they both approved me for 4.5x my annual salary with 5-10% down. Neither charged me.
When PFCU wouldn't give me a better answer and refused to credit me the $65 I decided to take my money elsewhere. They didn't care at all. I'm glad I didn't close out my old credit union in MA. They only have 600 million in assets but there customer service and website functionality far surpass PFCU.
Great credit union in MA - www.jdcu.com you can even demo their online banking.