As you may have heard me mention, I'm at a financial bloggers conference this week. One of the sponsors is Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed.) I've been a member of PenFed for more than a few years, and many of their financial products are super-awesome. What I learned this week is that PenFed membership is open to a much wider field of membership than I ever imagined.
PenFed is a credit union that is based in Alexandria, Virginia. Founded in 1935, PenFed has over 1.3 million members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, as well as on military bases in Guam, Puerto Rico and Okinawa.
While PenFed has a super-huge membership (it is the 3rd largest credit union in the US), they still retain the small group values of taking care of their membership through their service and offerings. Now, I've not always had a 100% positive experience with many organizations, but PenFed does seem to stand by their mission, as stated on their website: "So our mission isn’t simply to help our members get by. We exist to help them realize every ounce of their potential. We exist to educate, but to also encourage. We exist to usher their dreams into the land of reality." Pretty lofty, huh?
Anyway, the point of this post is to talk about PenFed membership eligibility. I used to think that it was only open to people who worked at the Pentagon, or had some sort of direct-ish affiliation. As it turns out, PenFed membership is open to a lot of different groups, including those with a military affiliation of various sorts, membership in a wide variety of groups including the American Red Cross, federal employment of various flavors, and employment with many different companies.
I look at these fabulous credit unions as a way to maximize the options available for various financial products. PenFed offers some fabulous credit card and mortgage offerings, and all their products are good. Check out what they might have for you!
