PenChecks Trust
Reviews and Complaints

i wanna say thanks to the rep she was super helpful. i had some questions bout PenChecks Trust and she answered em all. she explained how they handle retirement plan distributions and made it easy to understand. i was worried bout the process but she assured me it would be smooth. overall, i had a good experience with PenChecks Trust and would recommend em to others.

PenChecks Trust is a great company that helped me out a lot. I had the pleasure of speaking with ***, who stayed on the line with me and provided excellent assistance. I am extremely grateful for her help and she showed a lot of patience. I am thankful for her help.

This company is terrible to deal with when someone you love dies. They make you fill out the same forms over and over again without telling you what they actually need. They ask for letters and info from the IRS or other agencies long after you've already sent in the forms. The people who work there are rude and not professional at all. I will never, ever use this company again!

i had the pleasure of speaking with "***" in the PenChecks Trust organization. im a Region Manager with the 4th largest oil company in the world and i can attest to the fact that this individual "***" went above and beyond in handling my issue. if she is representative of the quality of individuals within the *** Trust organization, this company is well above industry norms.

After about a year of dealing with my late brother's estate, I found out that PenChecks was handling an account. Not wanting to go through the hassle of dealing with company red tape again, I reached out to them and spoke to Jesus "Junior" Soto. With his assistance, I managed to send the necessary documents (which didn't suddenly change or increase) to get things started. They sent me the distribution forms, which I filled out and sent back, and now the account is all sorted out. I want to express my gratitude to Junior for his help and understanding.

I heard they had a check from Charles Schwab. I called CS and they told me it was from 16 years ago, AND it was canceled and returned to my account. The amount mentioned by Pen Checks was also less than the original check from CS. Out of curiosity, I asked what information was required to retrieve the money. They said they couldn't do anything without my LEGAL NAME, FULL SS# AND D.O.B. No institution ever asks for all that. It's a recipe for identity theft. I'm not sure what the real deal is, but it definitely seems like a Phishing gimmick to me.

I got a message from Penchecks saying I was gonna get some money. So I told this guy Pecholo S, who works for them, that I wanted to keep it on the down low. It made things a little more complicated, but Pecholo was really good at helping me out. He was professional and patient with me through the whole process. Thanks to him, I think Penchecks is awesome now.

I just got my Distribution letter from PenChecks. Usually, I get 1 letter with a code to release the Distribution for my ESOP plan. But this time, I got 2 letters with 2 different codes. So, I called PenChecks *** and talked to *** who said there were actually 2 distributions that added up to what I usually get. I managed to process one distribution, but I couldn't figure out the code for the second one and got locked out of my account. I called back *** and spoke to ***, who said I would be locked out of the site for a few hours. But she asked me to send her a picture of the code so she could help me decipher it and call me when I could access the site again. *** texted me back a few hours later and helped me understand the code so I could process the second distribution. *** professionalism, courtesy, and willingness to go the extra mile to help me were truly outstanding.

So, I don't think anyone willingly does business with this company, but employers seem to like sending them IRAs. Probably cheaper for the employer. Why? because they charge you insane amounts of fees. First, they'll charge you $100 just to take your money. Then they will charge an additional 2-3% PER MONTH to hold your money. They will then charge you anywhere between 30-100$ to transfer your money to another IRA, depending on if you want them to send you a check or to wire it or whatever. Of course, just because they charged you $30 to send you a check (the cheapest option), doesn't always mean they actually, ya know, sent you a check. So, you'll have to request a check again, at an additional 30$ fee. I started with an IRA account worth a little over 1000$. One year later, my account is worth somewhere around $500 according to tax documents. I don't actually know how much is left in the account, because their website doesn't load. I'm pretty sure I've dealt with actual scammers that have fewer associated hidden fees and surprise charges. Avoid this company at all costs, and if someone else sent them your money, God help you. Half of it is probably already gone.

I recently tried out PenChecks Trust for the first time. I needed them to handle my retirement distribution, take out federal and state taxes, and send me the remaining money. My CPA and pension advisors both recommended this company. I thought in this digital age, I would have to do one of the following: 1) Make an account with PenChecks by picking an account ID and profile, then make another new password and answer 3 security questions; 2) Wait for at least 20 minutes on the phone for a representative to answer (who might send me to 'another department' and make me wait even longer); or 3) 'Chat' with a robot assistant that usually can't give me a helpful answer and tells me to try one of the first two options. Luckily, that wasn't the case. I started by sending a simple email, then we exchanged a couple more emails, I sent sensitive information to PenChecks through encrypted communication, and they sent me the money through an ACH transfer. The service I got from *** was quick, responsive, accurate, and friendly. In short, it was really smooth and almost effortless. Overall, I'd give it an excellent rating! I had a few specific requests that made the process a bit complicated. They acknowledged and explained these requests quickly, started working on them within an hour or two of our first contact, and finished the whole process in just a couple days. Thank you *** and PenChecks.

On December 23, my guy at Charles Schwab set up a wire to go to Penchecks for a Required Minimimum Distribution (RMD). But guess what? By Jan 15, 2021, I still hadn't gotten the check. They said it was because of the holidays, but even with that, it was like 2 weeks late. I saw on the Complaint section of the ComplaintsBoard.com website that other folks were talking about how rude the staff at Penchecks is when they call for help. I didn't want to deal with that, but I finally called and talked to Jesus Junior. And let me tell you, he was super nice and actually cared about helping me. He asked for some info and found out that Penchecks had mailed the check to me on Dec 24, just ONE day after they got the wire. But get this, they sent it to my business name and the right city and state, but forgot the street address. Can you believe that? Anyway, I gotta give props to Jesus Junior for not brushing me off and actually looking into the problem. I used to run a call center, so I know it's not easy to get staff to treat callers with respect and care. My experience with customer service at Penchecks shows that Jesus Junior really knows what good customer service is all about. I'm lucky he answered my call, and Penchecks is lucky to have him on their team.

This place is trash. I was so disappointed to learn that even though my account wasn't high, they were making $3.50 per month, and I apparently haven't been earning any interest during that time. I'm confused about how I have an account then, that doesn't sound like an account. Sounds like my money sat in their business bank account while they took $3.50/month. The account is almost empty now and I have to figure out if I should just let them keep taking money since they also charge a fee to rollover. I'm sure the new place will charge a fee, and then what, I'll have to pay taxes because it's an account? My employer is somewhat guilty too, but the fact PenChecks NEVER tried reaching out is really, really disappointing. Why would they? It's in their best interest to take my $3.50. You act like you offer a service to people. My fund balance is going to be basically zero. Who did you help? Wasn't me. This is almost criminal, and if it's not, I will bring this up to local, state, and federal officials. Good thing that *** House of Rep I interned for is still a rep. Screw them then on top of that, I'm now going to see how I can create such a company. It seems like low maintenance and imagine the amount of business one could do if it didn't feel like you were being intentionally screwed. Otherwise, new laws have to be created that the plan owner must be aware of fees, otherwise these should just go to the bottom of the ocean funds instead of letting some shady company profit off it. This is really pathetic business dealings. I don't see how people would argue that it's likely better to let these funds just go into the abyss of nothingness funds because I would have several hundred dollars more that were lost to admin fees - not the market, not anything else. The plan basically went into the pockets of the company, to hold money at a fee. I was even told by the phone rep that I don't even earn interest. What's happening?! How is this legal? I'm telling you, I'm going to be calling everyone and anyone that will listen because either this should be illegal, and if we can't make that happen, I'll do anything I can to put them out of business. Trash. Complete and absolute trash. You don't deserve to be in business and I doubt I'm the only one that thinks so.

This company is a complete scam and should be shut down by the US government. The steal checks by sending unending requests for documents such as social security card and driver's license via unsecured email and fax. They charge astronomical fees to send the check US mail then claim the check was never cashed so it rolled over. Once the amount is rolled over, they charge monthly fees. The fees are compounded until the funds are completed depleted.

PenChecks sent me letters sayin they represent Amazon 401K. They asked me to log in to their site and give my SSN and other private info to access an unknown account and account amount for a check they say Vanguard sent me but I didn't cash. The letter also said I'd be charged a monthly fee if I don't "claim" this account. I called Vanguard to check, and their customer service said they don't work with PenChecks and there ain't no outstanding check. This feels like a scam. If PenChecks is a legit third party service, they should already have my info from Vanguard, and they shoulda sent me the account number, amount, check number, and other identifiable info. They definitely shouldn't be askin me for my social security number.

PenChecks Trust sent me a letter tellin me bout an uncashed check from my Retirement plan that they had been contracted to help with the money. In the letter they knew my Plan name, but didn't give the account number or retirement company. They gave a website to login and a "Secure Pin Number" to get in. They said once I login I gotta put in my name, DOB, and Social Security number to get my money. They also said they gonna charge a fee of 20% of the new check amount and they gonna keep chargin $3.75 every month till they take the money. I talked to my retirement company (Vanguard) and they said they never worked with this company and they don't work with any other companies like this, it's a scam. Don't fall for it, y'all.

I got a letter from this company and I didn't know why. They said they had money from my old job and were keeping it, but charging me every month. I didn't get any information before this and I didn't know this could happen. I called them and they said the total amount was $978.59 from a retirement payment that I didn't know about. But after their fees, I only got $885.44, which means they took $93.15 in fees from an account I didn't know existed, didn't know they were taking fees from, and didn't get any fees back when I told them about it. I'm complaining because I think the fees are too high and unfair. I didn't know about this transaction and even though I understand there are costs in business, this fee is too much and should be illegal.

Per Wells Fargo and their internal reports, PenChecks Inc. has recently encountered multiple instances where checks written by them were returned or rejected by the bank due to insufficient funds. I received this information from various representatives at Wells Fargo during several phone calls. Ace, who I spoke to around 5am on 11.26.21, Marcos from a call made around the same time, and *** from Wells Fargo escalations during a call at 10am on 11.29.21. I even reached out to someone at Paychecks, and they appeared puzzled by the situation. However, I am merely relaying the information provided to me by Wells Fargo. In fact, Wells Fargo has placed an "extended" hold on the check due to concerns about its clearance. If *** could intervene and resolve this matter, I would gladly remove this review. I am simply losing confidence in the checks issued by this organization, especially considering I have tens of thousands of dollars in a retirement account that they handle the distribution of funds from. Please assist, ***.

This company got hired by my old boss to handle pay stuff and give out tax forms like 1099-R. Some of us got this form (not everyone did) and found mistakes on it. There's 708 of us. We can't do our taxes until we get the right forms. We've called them a bunch, and our retirement person has too, but nothing happens. They don't answer when our retirement person calls. When we call, they say they'll look into it, but it might take weeks. They don't say anything about fixing the form. Also, they messed up and gave us an extra paycheck in December. They took out taxes from the disability checks (which isn't right) and took out more money than they should have based on our W4s. This company clearly doesn't know how to do their job. All 708 of us retirees want the right 1099-Rs right now.

So, I got this letter from Penchecks in July 2022, saying that my retirement money won't come from my employer anymore, but from them. I was like, "Hmm, my employer never said anything about this." But whatever, I went ahead and made a profile and expected to get my retirement benefit right away. It's supposed to be $27,503.70, you know. Before, my employer would just give me a check and I'd put it in my account. But now, Penchecks wants to do a wire transfer, and I have to pay $30 for it. So, I filled out all the info they asked for, but I still haven't received my money. I checked their website, and it says I submitted everything on August 13, 2022, but there's been no progress. I've called them multiple times, and every time they say it should be sorted by the end of the week. But then the week ends, and I call again, and they say the same thing. It's getting tiring, you know? They don't give me any exact info and keep changing the payment date. I have no clue where my money is or why they're not giving it to me. This is a big deal for me because I rely on this money every year. I really need some help with this situation.

Penchecks got my retirement funds from my old boss, which was originally in a Transamerica 401k. I asked Transamerica for a withdrawal, but it seems like PenChecks did it first and overruled my request. I waited for a check from Transamerica, but I didn't get it. They told me it was sent to PenChecks and PenChecks successfully deposited it on 7/26/22. So, on 7/29/22, I asked for a withdrawal. I did some research and found out that the withdrawal process should take 3-5 business days. But today, on 8/18/22, my withdrawal request is still stuck in the submitted stage. It hasn't moved at all. I called and talked to 4 different people, and each one gave me different information. One of them even lied and said they didn't get the funds from Transamerica. That's a total lie. I think PenChecks is purposely delaying my withdrawal to make more money from an account they shouldn't have. Many other customers have had the same problem and ended up being charged for keeping the account, which means less money for them. I demand that PenChecks immediately give me back my FULL 401K amount of $5241.65 and send it to the bank account I provided. Their company is completely dishonest, and I'm going to ask an Ombudsman to investigate their practices.

I got a tax form from Penchecks Trust about my old account. My old employer went out of business a long time ago. The amount was small, so I decided to get the money all at once. I easily found my info in the Penchecks Trust system and asked for the money through ach. After a week with no news, I called Penchecks. They said it takes *** business days plus *** hours for the ach deposit, depending on the bank. They told me to call again in a few days for an update because it was the 7th business day. I called on day 9 because their online system still had no update. I talked to someone else who first got the wrong info for another person. When she finally got my info, she said it usually takes the full 10 days. But they had everything they needed. I called the next day (near the end of the day) because there was still no update online. Now they say they're waiting for the money from the plan. But they couldn't tell me who the plan was with. So how do they ask for the money if they don't know who has it? And on the *** form, it says Penchecks Trust is the trustee/insurer, so it seems like Penchecks should have the plan/money. Every time I call, I get different and new info, and it feels like they're stalling to give me the money that isn't even theirs.