PenFed Credit Union CD Rates, Checking, Savings, Money Market, and IRA Accounts

Account Type

Account Name

Compare Rates from Similar Accounts

0.05%

Savings

PenFed Credit Union Regular Savings

1.85%

Synchrony Bank High Yield Savings

on Synchrony Bank’s secure website

2.45%

CD Rates

PenFed Credit Union 12 Month Money Market Certificate

2.50%

CIT Bank 1-Year Term CD

on CIT Bank’s secure website

2.70%

CD Rates

PenFed Credit Union 3 Year Money Market Certificate

2.55%

Ally Bank High Yield 3 Year CD

on Ally Bank’s secure website

3.00%

CD Rates

PenFed Credit Union 5 Year Money Market Certificate

3.00%

Barclays 60 Month Online CD

on Barclays’s secure website

PenFed CD Rates

PenFed’s Coverdell Education Savings Certificates

PenFed Checking Account

PenFed Money Market Savings Account

PenFed Savings Account

PenFed IRA CD Accounts

PenFed IRA Savings account

PenFed IRA Premier Account

Overall review of PenFed’s banking products

High rates, great dividend payment, and renewal flexibility make this a great choice.[Chart-PenFedMoneyMarketCertificates]Term

APY

6 months

2.00%

12 months

2.45%

15 months

2.50%

18 months

2.50%

2 years

2.60%

3 years

2.70%

4 years

2.76%

5 years

3.00%

7 years

3.10%

One of the nice things about PenFed’s CDs is that they are very flexible in terms of how your dividends are paid out and what happens to the CD upon maturity.You can choose to have dividends reinvested into your CD or paid out each month by direct deposit into another PenFed Credit Union account, or mailed to you as a check. Of course, it’s always best to leave the dividends to pile up in your CD. If you choose to have dividends paid out, your APY may be lower than the stated rate.When you set up your CD, you’ll choose what happens at maturity. You can choose from three options: Renew the CD for the same term, deposit the funds into another PenFed account, or have a check mailed to you. There is no grace period for you to choose what happens after it matures as with most banks; rather, you choose upfront. However, you can change your mind at any time.The only down side of this CD is that you cannot make a partial withdrawal. If you need to withdraw the cash early, you can only remove the full amount. If you do need to withdraw the money, you can also only do so after giving written notice.

To get a PenFed Money Market Certificate, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your CD with a minimum deposit of at least $1,000.

PenFed Credit Union will mail you a signature form to complete your account application, but you can still open new accounts online before completing this final check mark.

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PenFed offers very competitive rates on their CDs. Each of their CDs carry a higher-than-average interest rate. These high rates, combined with flexibility on how you earn dividend payments and how the CD is renewed, make this a great choice for people looking for a well-rounded CD option from a credit union.

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Lower minimum deposit requirements make this account more accessible for parents.[Chart-PenFedsCoverdellEducationSavingsCertificates]Term

APY

1 year

2.35%

2 year

2.50%

3 year

2.60%

4 year

2.65%

5 year

2.90%

7 year

3.00%

PenFed’s Coverdell Education Savings Certificates are a great tool to save for college. These CDs have a lower (i.e., more accessible) minimum account opening requirement than their regular Money Market CDs—just $500. You can contribute up to the maximum yearly amount set by the IRS—currently $2,000 for 2018—to this Coverdell account.

When you set up your account you can choose what happens when the CD matures: either renew the CD for a similar term, or deposit it into a new Coverdell Education Share account. Unlike PenFed’s regular CDs, you do have the option to make a partial withdrawal during the term of the CD if needed, provided that it doesn’t drop the amount in your CD below $500 (if that happens, the entire CD will be closed and deposited into a Coverdell Education Share account). If you do make a partial withdrawal, that amount will also be subject to the early withdrawal penalties described above.

To get a PenFed Coverdell Education Savings Certificate, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your Coverdell account with a minimum deposit of at least $500.

Once your application is complete, or if you’re already a member, you can open any new financial product directly in your online account. PenFed Credit Union will mail you a signature form. However, you can still open new accounts before completing this final check mark.

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Great interest rates, but make sure you can meet the requirements to waive the monthly fee.[Chart-PenFedCheckingAccount]APY

Account Balance

0.20%

Up to $19,999.99

0.50%

$20,000 - $50,000

Unfortunately, this checking account does charge a monthly fee, but if you have a job with a direct deposit paycheck or at least a little bit of cash, it’s not a hard fee to skirt around.

What we really like about this account is that it charges zero ATM fees, except for any surcharge fees an out-of-network ATM owner would charge (but that’s out of PenFed’s control). If you’re looking for a high-interest-earning checking account and use the ATM a lot to get cash, this would be a great checking account for you.

To get a PenFed Checking Account, you’ll need to be a member. Simply complete the application, deposit a Share savings account with at least $5 and join either the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee (if you don’t qualify based on your employment).

Once your application is complete, or if you’re already a member, you can open any new financial product directly in your online account. They will mail you a signature form, however you can still open new accounts before completing this final check mark.

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We really love PenFed’s checking account for several reasons. It has a great interest rate, especially considering that many banks still don’t pay anything at all. PenFed Credit Union also does not charge any ATM fees with this account (although again, the other bank’s owner may charge you a surcharge fee), making this a cheaper option for folks who frequently use cash.

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PenFed offers very low rates for this account, even with a high balance amount—you can do much better elsewhere.[Chart-PenFedMoneyMarketSavingsAccount]APY

Account Balance

0.05%

Up to $9,999.99

0.10%

$10,000 - $99,999.99

0.15%

Over $100,000

PenFed’s money market account is designed to earn higher rates than their regular savings account, and that’s exactly what this account does — but only if you bring at least $10,000 of cash to the table to earn the second-tier or third-tier interest rates.

Although this account doesn’t have a monthly account maintenance fee, there are other fees to watch out for. You don’t typically use ATMs with a money market account as with a checking account, but if you do need to use an ATM, you’ll pay a $1.50 fee to make a withdrawal, even at an in-network PenFed ATM.

A better way to get your cash out of this account is with an account transfer (just don’t make over six in one month to avoid the excessive transaction fee), or with the free checks that they offer with this account.

To get a PenFed Money Market savings account, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your Money Market savings account with a minimum deposit of at least $25.

They will mail you a signature form to complete your account application, however you can still open new accounts online before completing this final check mark.

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As far as interest rates go, PenFed’s money market account is very low. In fact, you can earn even higher interest rates by keeping your money in PenFed’s checking account, which is strange.

Furthermore, we find it odd that they charge you to make an ATM withdrawal from this account — even from their own ATMs. At least they offer free checks, but that won’t help you much if you need cold, hard cash pronto.

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An overall lackluster savings account that offers a low rate and charges for ATM withdrawals.[Chart-PenFedSavingsAccount]APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.05%

$5

This is the basic account that you need to become a PenFed member and open any other account. It’s designed as a free savings account and does pay a small amount of interest, but don’t expect much more from it than that.

Furthermore, if you ever need to take out cash from this account, you’ll pay a $1.50 per ATM withdrawal, even if you use a PenFed ATM. And unlike with their money market checking account, you don’t get free checks with this account. That means the only way you can make a free transaction into or out of this account is either online or by visiting a branch in-person.

To get a PenFed savings account, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your savings account with a minimum deposit of at least $5.

The credit union will mail you a signature form to complete your account application, however you can still open new accounts online before completing this final check mark.

NCUA Insured

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Furthermore, we don’t like the fact that you need to pay to use an ATM with this account, even for in-network PenFed ATMs. Most banks at least let you use their own in-network ATMs for free, so the fact that you need to pay to do so with this account seems silly.

However, even though all members are required to open this account when establishing their membership with PenFed, it doesn’t mean you have to use it. It’s perfectly fine to let it sit idle with the $5 minimum deposit since there are no monthly account maintenance fees. We instead view this account as a pesky requirement for working with the credit union if you’d like to use one of their other financial products.

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No fees on partial withdrawals for those ages 59 ½ and over make this a great account choice for mature consumers.[Chart-PenFedIRACDAccounts]Term

APY

1 year

2.35%

2 years

2.50%

3 years

2.60%

4 years

2.65%

5 years

2.90%

7 years

3.00%

At first glance, PenFed’s IRA CDs look pretty run-of-the-mill. The minimum opening deposit is fairly high, especially if you’re a young saver just looking to start out. In fact, IRA CDs are fairly conservative investments anyway, and the people who can get the most benefits from them are mature folks nearing — or already at — retirement.

But what makes these IRA CDs really stand out as better options for more mature savers is that you can make partial early withdrawals from your CD completely penalty-free, assuming that you’re 59 ½ and over. If you need to take out the cash in retirement early, rest assured it won’t cost you anything to withdraw, as long as you leave at least $1,000 in the CD for it to stay open.

To get a PenFed IRA CD, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your IRA CD with a minimum deposit of at least $1,000.

They will mail you a signature form to complete your account application, however you can still open new accounts online before completing this final check mark.

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The thing that stands out the most with PenFed’s IRA CDs is that people who are over age 59 ½ can make partial withdrawals from these CDs without paying any early withdrawal penalties (assuming they keep at least a $1,000 balance in the CD to keep it open). This is a really unique feature, and it’s why we would recommend PenFed’s IRA CDs to older adults looking to keep their options flexible.

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Low interest rates make this an OK place to store your retirement funds, but not to grow them.[Chart-PenFedIRASavingsAccount]APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.05%

$25

Remember how everyone is required to open up a PenFed savings account and fund it with at least $5 if they want to become a member? This account is the IRA version of that. Specifically, if you want to open up an IRA product — such as one of PenFed’s IRA CDs — you’ll need to open up one of these accounts as well.

This will be the default account that your IRA CD money is deposited into if you elect not to have the IRA CD auto-renew when it matures. It’s a great place to store your money in the short term until you withdraw it for retirement or move it to another IRA investment, however, it’s not a great place to grow your money due to the lackluster interest rate.

To get a PenFed IRA savings account, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your IRA savings account with a minimum deposit of at least $25.

They will mail you a signature form to complete your account application, however you can still open new accounts online before completing this final check mark.

NCUA Insured

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The exact same account as PenFed’s regular IRA Savings account, just with a higher minimum balance requirement.[Chart-PenFedIRAPremierAccount]APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.05%

$10,000

If you have at least $10,000 to keep in your retirement savings account, you can choose to open PenFed’s Premier IRA Savings account. There is no real benefit of using this account over PenFed’s regular IRA Savings account, because the exact interest rates are currently being offered for both accounts.

Typically, the more money you bring to the table, the higher the interest rate you can earn (as with PenFed’s Money Market Savings account), however that is not the case with this account. That could change in the future, however, if the credit union does decide to increase their interest rates for this account. But right now, we can’t really see any reason why you’d specifically choose this account over their regular IRA Savings account.

To get a PenFed IRA Premier account, you’ll need to be a member of the credit union. Joining is easy and only takes a few minutes. You may be eligible for membership based on your employer (such as the military) or by joining the Voices For America’s Troops or National Military Family Association for a one-time $17 fee.

As a part of the application process you’ll need to deposit at least $5 into a Share savings account. Once this is done, you can open up your IRA Premier account with a minimum deposit of at least $10,000.

The credit union will mail you a signature form to complete your account application, however you can still open new accounts online before completing this final check mark.

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When it comes to bank accounts, PenFed really shines in some areas and offers somewhat lackluster products in others. Specifically, we really like the high rates offered on their checking accounts and CD products, which are currently running near the top of the pack. The added advantage for people who are over age 59 ½ to withdraw money from the IRA CDs without paying a penalty as long as they keep at least $1,000 in the CD is also a great option.

However, other products — such as their savings and money market accounts — fall a bit short. We find it odd that they charge ATM fees for some of their accounts, even if you use a bona fide PenFed network ATM. Furthermore, each of PenFed’s savings accounts offers such low rates that we can’t really recommend them as a place to grow your money.

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