Just received news that an annual fee of $25 will be charged unless you have a cd, checking acct, mortgage or loan with penfed. Looks like I will be getting a cd from them. I would hate to lose the 5% off of gas.
+1Looks like I will be getting a cd from them. I would hate to lose the 5% off of gas.
+1
I read on another board the minimum CD amount to qualify was $1,000 but have not verified it with Penfed.
Maybe so, but keeping $1k in a Penfed CD to continue getting a 5% cash rebate on all our gas and diesel purchases is well worth it. Factor that in and it pays far better than any other $1k CD I can find anywhere.Penfed's CD rates not that competitive right now.
Maybe so, but keeping $1k in a Penfed CD to continue getting a 5% cash rebate on all our gas and diesel purchases is well worth it. Factor that in and it pays far better than any other $1k CD I can find anywhere.
Thanks... didn't see that... for us, @less than 8000 miles/yr. not so important, but when we were at 25000 m/y, certainly a factor.No airline credits, a 5% cash rebate on all pay-at-the-pump fuel purchases, credited automatically to each monthly statement.
That 5% you think you are getting off gas is more like 4% when you factor in the rewards now cost more.Just received news that an annual fee of $25 will be charged unless you have a cd, checking acct, mortgage or loan with penfed. Looks like I will be getting a cd from them. I would hate to lose the 5% off of gas.
PFCU is still a good outfit.
I've had savings and checking accounts with them for 30 years. I buy CDs from them whenever they have good deals. I've had their cash rewards Visa ever since they first offered it, which gets auto-paid out of the savings account. That alone is remarkable, since they give me the cash rebate in the same month I rack up the charges. Nobody else does that.
Two things stand out in my mind.
First, they have been incredibly accommodating when I've needed a little extra service in relation to a mortgage or a car loan. When you connect with the right person on the phone, they can run rings around any other bank I've ever dealt with.
Second, their fraud detection service is second to none. On a few occasions when my card has been hijacked (always while on vacation), they have picked up the fraudulent usage and called me immediately.
The 5% cash discount is as stated - 5% cash discount (AKA "real money"), not devalued reward pointsThat 5% you think you are getting off gas is more like 4% when you factor in the rewards now cost more.
Plenty of better cards out there these days. 5% gas rebates? Sallie Mae Card does that, as well as at grocery stores. No fee, no rqmt to have another account. Plenty of Citibank cards do the same thing. I like PenFed, but their credit card has never been the best one.
5% gasoline category rewards are earned on the first $250 net purchases made per monthly billing cycle at eligible gas stations and service stations. 5% groceries category rewards are earned on the first $250 net purchases made per monthly billing cycle at eligible grocery stores and super markets...After that, for net monthly purchases made in each of these categories in excess of the dollar amounts specified (gasoline, groceries, and books) you will earn the base reward amount of 1%.
+1It's still a good deal, with no annual fee...but if you make buku fuel and/or grocery purchases significantly above $250/month, it would pay to look at the PenFed card, which (AFAIK) doesn't have such a monthly cap.
Note that the OP is referencing the Penfed Platinum CASH Rewards card paying a 5% cash rebate on gas purchases, not the Penfed Platinum (points) Reward card.I'm finally quitting the Penfed card. The devalued rewards was the final straw.
I'm finally quitting the Penfed card. The devalued rewards was the final straw.
I have lots of cards, but I've had 4 times in the last few years that fraud caused my card to be cancelled. And I had trouble viewing old transactions on the closed cards.
In the same time period, only one of my Chase cards was compromised. And I think that was at the website of onesimcard, which was my only recent use of it.