Technical issues bound to await those who delay applying for PenFed’s $500 bundle offer

If you received a promotional code for PenFed’s $500 offer, it’s best to not wait until the last minute to apply. No, this isn’t a sales pitch for PenFed. It’s a warning that the opening of your account/s may be delayed due to technical issues on the credit union’s site. 

When clicking the links to open the required checking or savings accounts, you may be greeted with an “Access Denied” error that will prevent you from accessing the application. 

Access Denied
You don’t have permission to access “http://home.penfed.org/s/checking” on this server.
Reference #

Access Denied
You don’t have permission to access “http://home.penfed.org/s/premium-savings” on this server.
Reference #

PenFed chat reps are quick to provide a pre-typed suggestion, so quick that one might think that it’s just a go-to answer for any technical issue. That suspicion is compounded by the fact that the error message appears to point to a coding-related issue, and PenFed’s suggestion is the good ‘ol, eyeroll-inducing “clear your browser cache.”

If PenFed’s recommendation doesn’t work, you can try their alternative solution and submit your application via a fill-in form available to download at https://www.penfed.org/forms. PenFed warns that electronic signatures aren’t accepted for their fill-in forms. This is odd, considering that the normal online application that I was ultimately able to submit, doesn’t require a signature. Nonetheless, the good news is that you won’t have to snail mail, scan, hand deliver, or fax your form. You can simply take a picture of the completed and hand-signed form and upload it to https://penfed.org/upload.

If that’s a hassle, you can upload a screenshot of the error and wait 24-48 hours for PenFed to look into the issue. Be forewarned, though, that this error message invoked déjà vu of similar issues that I encountered with PenFed just a few short years ago. From what I can recall, it involved attempting to set up an online transfer, and PenFed’s technical team was never able to resolve the issue. When trying to unravel the mystery surrounding today’s “Access Denied” message, I discovered that others are encountering the same transfer issues that I was faced with years ago. I was also plagued by the “Access Denied” error message multiple times today when attempting to complete different actions on PenFed’s site. So, it doesn’t look like much has changed with PenFed. All of this to say that PenFed likely still won’t have a resolution for you if you upload a screenshot of the error.

According to PenFed, the account must be opened online through the normal application or via the fill-in form. So, having a rep complete your application on the phone is not an option. If you live near a PenFed, you could call a local branch and attempt to complete your application on the phone with them or in the branch.

The good news is that you may not need to take those measures, as the issue appears to be intermittent. After clearing my cache didn’t work the first few times, I was ultimately able to open the checking account, but then encountered the error again when attempting to open the savings account. It was the one time that I was annoyed that I wasn’t asked during an application if I wanted to open another account. It would have saved me the hassle of trying to get the savings account application to function. In the end, through a combination of clearing my cache and restarting my browser multiple times, I was able to sign up for both accounts.