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PenFed Gold Visa® Card review
With strong credit, you may receive an APR as low as 15.49% variable for this no-annual-fee card.
- Get this card if you want the opportunity for a low ongoing APR on purchases, balance transfers and cash advances.
- Pick something else if you want rewards or an intro purchase APR.
- Apply with a good to excellent credit score of 670 or higher.
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How to apply for the PenFed Gold Visa® Card
To apply for the PenFed Gold Visa® Card, you must be at least 18 years old and a member of the Pentagon Federal Credit Union.
- Learn more about how to apply for PenFed Gold Visa® Card.
- Log in with your credentials if you’re a PenFed member. If you’re not, select Apply Now.
- Complete the application with details like your name, address, annual income and Social Security number.
- Review and submit your application.
How long will it take to get my PenFed Gold Visa® Card?
Because conditional credit card approval is automated on the website, you may get a decision on your application within a few minutes. If there are issues with your application, it may take a few days to a few weeks to hear back.
After you’re approved, you typically receive your card within 7 to 10 business days.
Am I eligible for PenFed membership?
The Pentagon Federal Credit Union primarily offers its services to military-affiliated individuals. But even without military affiliation, anyone can become a member and apply for the PenFed cards.
In the past, you could become a PenFed member with a one-time $17 donation to either the Voices for America’s Troops or the National Military Family Association. This requirement is no longer active.
PenFed Gold Visa® Card benefits
- Annual fee: None. A $0 annual fee makes it easier to keep this card long term. It’s an especially good perk combined with a promo APR on balance transfers and a potentially low purchase APR.
- Signup bonus: statement credit. When you spend on purchases in the first days of your account opening, you earn a statement credit. This is a slightly smaller signup bonus than other no-annual-fee cards, though it comes pretty close to the top players. For example, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards offers a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you spend at least $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of your account opening.
- Promo APR: 0% on balance transfers for 15 months. Receive a 0% promo APR on balance transfers for 15 months — after that, you’ll have an ongoing balance transfer APR of 17.99% fixed. Keep in mind that you’ll still have to pay a 3% fee for transfers, even during the promo period. If you choose to make a balance transfer, you’ll start accruing interest on both purchases and transfers right away. This is a solid promo APR period, though you’ll find longer ones with products like the Citi Simplicity® Card and Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card. Still, many cards with market-leading promo APRs don’t offer signup bonuses or a potentially low ongoing APR like the PenFed Gold Visa® Card doesInformation about this card has been collected independently by Finder.. You can transfer a balance when you open your credit card, or request one later. To make a balance transfer, you’ll need the account number of your existing balance.
- Potentially low interest rate. Depending on your credit, you may qualify for an ongoing APR as low as 15.49% variable on all balances.
- No foreign transaction fees. You won’t incur fees when you use your card abroad or on foreign websites. Typically, providers charge a 3% fee each time you use your card for an international transaction. It doesn’t sound like much, but it can add up over a trip spanning several days. Since the PenFed Gold Visa® Card comes with no foreign transaction fees, it can be a great choice for vacations or business trips.
- Normal APR for cash advances, and no cash advance fees. With most cards, your cash advance APR will be higher than your purchase and balance transfer APR. With the PenFed Gold Visa® Card, you may have the same ongoing APR for all balances — including cash advances. You also won’t pay fees on cash advances, which is uncommon. Unlike with purchases, your PenFed Gold Visa® Card cash advances don’t come with grace periods on interest. PenFed will begin charging interest from each cash advance transaction date.
PenFed Gold Visa® Card drawbacks
- Penalty APR. If you don’t make your minimum payment within 60 days after the due date, PenFed may apply a penalty APR of 17.99% variable to all your balances. This rate will apply until you make three consecutive monthly payments on or before the due dates.
- Penalty fees. Late and returned payments come with fees of up to $28.
Compare low interest rate credit cards
For a better idea of how the PenFed Gold Visa® Card stacks up against other low interest rate cards, select up to four cards and choose Compare.
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PenFed Gold Visa® Card reviews and complaints
Pentagon Federal Credit Union is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, but it earns an overall A+ rating from the agency as of August 2021. Some customers complain of difficulty reversing penalty fees, obtaining statement credit and having loan amounts honored.
The credit union currently holds a 4.5 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot as of August 2021.
Bottom line
Perhaps the best reason to get the PenFed Gold Visa® Card is its ongoing APR — as low as 15.49% variable on purchases. It’s a solid card in other respects, too, offering a $0 annual fee, a signup bonus and an intro APR on balance transfers.
Before you apply, make sure to compare your options and find the credit card that best suits your needs.
Review by
Kevin Joey Chen
kevin.chen@findercrew.comKevin Joey Chen was a credit cards, banking and investments writer for Finder. His work and analysis have appeared on CNN, U.S. News & World Report, Business.com, Lifehacker and CreditCards.com.
Expert review
The PenFed Gold Visa® Card is a low APR credit card offering from PenFed. It requires no annual fee, comes with a signup bonus after you spend in your first days and offers an ongoing APR of 15.49% to 17.99% variable depending on your credit score.
Unfortunately, the card doesn’t offer a 0% intro APR on purchases. But then again, none of the PenFed credit cards do as of this writing. That’s not to take away from the card’s ongoing APR: 15.49% variable is an impressively low rate if you qualify for the low end of the card’s range. This makes the card a great option if you need to carry a balance on occasion. By comparison, the average credit card APR is around 16%.
The card comes with other helpful perks, such as a $0 annual fee and a promo APR on balance transfers, which can help you save on interest for any existing debts you need to pay off. The card also comes with a signup bonus, which is a rarity for a no annual fee, low APR credit card.
On the whole, the PenFed Gold Visa® Card is a simple but useful credit card and a solid pick if you need to carry a balance on your card from time to time.
