PenFed Personal Loan Review
- Membership required: .
- Fast funding: It’s possible to get your money within one to two business days after closing on your loan agreement.
- Lets you apply for a personal loan with someone else: If you want to qualify for lower rates or don’t have the best credit, PenFed allows joint personal loans. This means both borrowers on the loan will take responsibility for paying off the debt.
- Best for small loans and no fees: PenFed lets you borrow less than many similar lenders, and it doesn’t charge origination or early payment fees.
pros and cons
Before moving forward with a personal loan, be sure to carefully consider the following benefits and drawbacks.
Pros
- No origination fees
- Offers funding within one to two business days
- APRs capped at
Cons
- No autopay discounts available
- Doesn’t publicize credit requirements for qualifying for a loan
- Loans are exclusive to members
PenFed allows members and non-members alike to prequalify for a personal loan, which won’t affect your credit score. But you’ll need to become a member (open a PenFed account and deposit $5) and submit a hard credit pull to officially apply and get a loan.
Funding is fast with this lender — just one to two business days with direct deposit or Automated Clearing House (ACH). PenFed doesn’t publish details on how to qualify for its loan, such as a minimum credit score.
requirements
PenFed doesn’t offer much insight as to its personal loan requirements; however, it does shed some light on its membership criteria.
| Minimum credit score | Not specified |
| Required documents |
|
| PenFed membership | Must open a PenFed savings account with a minimum $5 deposit |
If ’s loan options won’t work for your borrowing needs, consider other personal loan lenders that may help you meet your financial goals and can offer you the best-fitting rates, terms and amounts.
How to get a personal loan with
PenFed’s application is fairly straightforward, with the added step of becoming a member of the credit union. Here’s what you may come across during the process.
Prequalify for a loan
PenFed lets you prequalify for a loan and see your potential rates, terms and amounts without any impact to your credit score.
At this stage of the process, it’s a good idea to check if you prequalify with multiple lenders and compare offerings.
Become a PenFed member
After shopping around, if you decide to proceed with a PenFed loan, you’ll need to become a member. Unlike some credit unions, PenFed has extremely flexible membership criteria: You’ll only need to provide your personal information and open a PenFed savings account with a $5 minimum deposit.
Verify your information
Like all trustworthy lenders, PenFed will require that you verify the information you provide when applying for a loan. Specifically, PenFed may want to confirm your income and identity to prevent fraud and make sure you can repay the loan.
PenFed may ask for recent pay stubs, bank or retirement statements and tax returns. You may also have to provide a copy of a government-issued ID, utility bill and/or your Social Security card.
Sign your loan agreement
During the final stages of your loan application, PenFed will run a hard credit pull, allowing the credit union to check your credit history. This can cause your credit score to drop, but only by a few points.
Finally, you’ll need to sign your personal loan agreement. Be sure to read the fine print so you understand all of the terms of your loan. Once you’ve closed on your loan, PenFed can deposit your funds within one to two business days.
If PenFed denies your application, it may be time to instead focus on improving your odds of getting approved for a loan. This can include taking steps to improve your credit scores and making sure that all of the information that shows up on your credit reports is accurate.
How compares to other personal loan companies
Even if you believe PenFed offers what you’re looking for in a personal loan, it never hurts to shop around and compare other lenders. Here’s how PenFed stacks up against similar personal loan lenders.
| LightStream | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| LendingTree’s rating | 3.1/5 | 3.7/5 | 3.9/5 |
| Minimum credit score | |||
| APRs | (with autopay) | 7.99% – 24.99% | |
| Loan amount | $2,500 – $40,000 | ||
| Repayment term | months | months | 36 to 84 months |
| Origination fee | |||
| Funding timeline | Receive funds within 1 to 2 business days | Receive same-day funding | Receive funds as soon as the next business day |
| Bottom line | [ offers lower rates, but you may find larger loans and longer terms elsewhere. | personal loans have the longest loan terms, but you’ll have to meet the lender’s strict loan criteria to qualify. | Like PenFed, you’ll need strong credit to qualify for a LightStream personal loan. However, LightStream does offer longer loan terms. |
How we rated
We evaluate personal loan lenders on more than just interest rates. Our goal is to show how accessible, affordable, transparent and supportive each lender really is.
Our categories
Every lender is scored out of 5 stars, with 5 stars being the highest rating. LendingTree loan experts determine this score using dozens of underlying data points across four weighted categories covering the full borrowing journey.
We assess how easy it is for people to qualify and apply. This includes state availability, soft-credit prequalification, membership requirements, funding speed and whether borrowers with less-than-excellent credit can get a loan.
We evaluate how affordable the loans are based on minimum and maximum APRs, loan fees and rate discounts. Lenders with unclear or potentially predatory costs receive lower scores.
We consider repayment term flexibility, loan amount ranges and whether options like secured loans, joint loans or direct-to-creditor payments are offered — plus whether the lender clearly communicates these options.
We evaluate borrower experience after funding: customer service access, hardship or forbearance programs, payment flexibility and digital tools like mobile apps or credit monitoring.
Our process
We gather data directly from lenders through their websites, disclosures and direct communication with company representatives. Our editorial team verifies and updates information regularly. We value transparency and award less favorable scores when lenders obscure or omit details.
In some cases, our editors may apply a small adjustment (no more than 4% of the overall score) to account for factors not captured by the methodology. This could include J.D. Power customer satisfaction surveys, recent regulatory actions or features that stand out in ways our rubric doesn’t measure directly.
Our editorial team applies the same scoring model and standards to every lender. Lenders cannot pay to influence our ratings.
Frequently asked questions
PenFed doesn’t publish its minimum credit score to qualify for a loan.
You can borrow between $600 to $50,000 from PenFed. These loan limits may make it a good option for consumers looking for a small personal loan.
During the application process, PenFed may request proof of income in order to demonstrate that you can afford the loan. To verify your income, you can provide recent pay stubs, bank or retirement statements and tax returns.
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