PenFed Personal Loans Review, May 2025

PenFed, short for Pentagon Federal Credit Union, is the second-largest federal credit union in the United States. It provides over 2.9 million members with various credit products and financial services, including personal loans.

PenFed’s personal loan rates are competitive. The credit union offers a relatively low maximum APR, limited fees, and loans ranging from $600 to $50,000. However, qualifying may be difficult if your credit isn’t good or better. Find out whether PenFed personal loans (and credit union membership) offer the right solution for you.

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Who are PenFed personal loans best for?

PenFed personal loans are best for borrowers with good or better credit who prefer to do business with a credit union. 

Best for those who want a credit union loan

If you’ve been thinking of joining a credit union and getting a personal loan, PenFed can help you tick both boxes. Membership is open to all U.S. citizens. You can submit an application for a Regular Share account or Premium Online Savings account and deposit $5. From there, you’ll be able to apply for the credit union’s personal loans and other offerings. 

Great for small loans 

Personal loans of less than $1,000 are rare among online lenders and banks, but PenFed offers loans starting at $600. If you need a small personal loan and don’t want to borrow more than you need, PenFed could provide a solution.

Pros and cons 

PenFed’s personal loans have many benefits but also a few drawbacks. Here are the main factors to consider:

Pros

• Low APRs: The APR range starts at a respectable 8.99% and maxes out at 17.99%, which is much lower than the 36% maximum set by some competitors. 
• No origination fees: You won’t have to pay an origination fee to take out the loan, which means you’ll receive the full loan amount. 
• Wide loan range: Loans of $600 to $50,000 can fund a wide range of personal expenses. 
• Offers joint personal loans: You can apply with a co-borrower who will have equal access to the loan and share responsibility for repayment. 

Cons

• No same-day funding: PenFed doesn’t offer the same-day loan funding provided by some competitors. 
• Unclear eligibility requirements: PenFed doesn’t share its eligibility requirements, which makes it harder to know if it’s a fit. 
• Membership requirement: You’ll need to complete the extra step of becoming a member and opening an account with a $5 deposit to be eligible for a personal loan.
• Newer members might not get the best rates: According to PenFed’s disclosures, the length of your membership is included in the evaluation of your creditworthiness that helps determine your APR.  

How to qualify for a PenFed personal loan

To verify your identity, PenFed may request documentation such as a government-issued photo ID, a copy of your Social Security card, or a copy of your latest utility bill.

Unfortunately, PenFed doesn’t publicly share its lending criteria, including minimum credit score and income requirements. While that can make it harder to assess if the lender is a good fit, you can quickly see if you prequalify on PenFed’s website using the “Check Your Rate” button. The credit union asks you a few questions and performs a soft credit pull to gauge not only if you’re likely to qualify, but also the rates you can likely get.

Your credit score and financial history

Although a minimum credit score isn’t disclosed, PenFed requires a full credit report inquiry if you apply for a loan. The resulting hard credit pull could lower your credit score by up to 10 points for up to one year.  

Your income and employment

PenFed doesn’t disclose a minimum income requirement, but may request recent pay stubs, retirement statements, bank statements, or tax returns.

PenFed personal loan purposes

PenFed requires you to select the purpose of your loan during the application process from the following options: 

• Debit/credit card consolidation
• Home improvements
• Life and events
• Medical and dental
• Tax loan
• Transportation

The lineup of allowed uses is pretty versatile, especially since the “life and events” option can cover many other purposes. In comparison, some other lenders limit loan use to a small number of purposes, such as debt consolidation or credit card refinancing. 

PenFed personal loan fees and penalties

Like many credit unions, PenFed keeps its fees to a minimum. 

Loan origination fees

Personal loan origination fees are fees lenders charge for processing loans. They can range from 0% to 12% of the total loan amount and are typically deducted from the loan upfront. You then pay back the full loan amount throughout your loan term. One advantage of choosing a PenFed loan is that the credit union doesn’t charge origination fees. You’ll get your full loan amount and won’t have to worry about that extra cost.  

Early repayment penalties

Like most lenders nowadays, PenFed doesn’t charge prepayment penalties for paying off a personal loan ahead of schedule. You can pay off a PenFed personal loan anytime during your loan term, saving money on interest, without being penalized. 

Other fees

If your payment is more than five days late, PenFed charges a $29 late fee. Additionally, there’s a $30 fee for returned loan payments and a $15 fee for check stop payments. 

How PenFed compares to other lenders 

To help you understand how PenFed’s personal loans stack up in the market, here’s how they compare to the offerings from two similar credit unions: Alliant Credit Union and Navy Federal Credit Union. 

The offerings from these three credit unions are pretty similar—the APR ranges are almost identical, all require membership before you can get a loan, and none come with origination fees. However, PenFed’s maximum loan amount is much lower than the other two, topping out at $50,000, rather than $100,000 or $150,000. 

PenFed’s funding time is also slightly slower. It offers funds as soon as the next day, while the other two typically offer same-day funding. Further, Navy Federal Credit Union offers loan terms of up to 15 years, three times the max terms of the other two lenders. 

However, availability is worth noting. Membership with PenFed and Alliant is open to all U.S. citizens, although Alliant requires you to wait 30 days before getting a loan. On the other hand, Navy Federal Credit Union requires members to have a qualifying affiliation with the military.

See how PenFed compares to more lenders: Best Personal Loans

How to contact PenFed

PenFed offers a few different ways to get in touch, including: 

Phone

You can call the help center to speak with a representative from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, Monday through Saturday. The U.S. toll-free number is 1-800-247-5626. You can go online and schedule an appointment with a PenFed representative at the next available time slot. 

Online chat

You can reach a representative through live chat seven days per week from 8  a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. 

Mail

Send general mail to:

• Box 1432, Alexandria, VA 22313-2032
• Box 247009, Omaha, NE 68124-7009

If you prefer to look for answers on your own, you can use the search bar on the “Contact Us” page to query PenFed’s knowledge center database. 

About PenFed personal loans

PenFed was founded in 1935 and serves almost 3 million members worldwide. It offers a range of banking and loan products and financial services to existing and new members, and is federally insured by the NCUA. 

Unlike many other credit unions, PenFed’s membership is open to all U.S. citizens over the age of 18. 

Rating PenFed personal loans

Credible evaluates personal loan lenders based on factors such as customer experience, minimum fixed rate, maximum loan amount, funding time, loan terms, and fees. Credible’s team of experts gathered information from each lender’s website, customer service department, in-house resources, and via email support. Each data point was verified to make sure it was accurate at the time of publication.

Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our personal loans lender rating methodology.