I applied for a checking account with Penfed with the anticipation of establishing a joint account with a person I bought a home with on XXXX XXXX not knowing that they were going to do an immediate hard credit pull over the phone without notifying me. I was trying to apply for a mortgage at the same time so this was disconcerting. After being bombarded with emails and paper post I decided to cancel my account almost immediately after. Someone over the phone told me it was easy to cancel and they said they put through the request immediately. I find out today XXXX XXXX that the account was never closed. The reason is because they require XXXX separate notarized documents, a copy of my social security ID, my driver 's license, and a utility bill, just to close a bank account that had {$5.00} in it. They cite the Patriot Act as the reason for doing so, but could not say why. I think this is costly, a waste of time, and extremely misleading to the consumer about the practices of this bank. I think they put these obstacles in place to trap their customers in to an account, as I 've never had difficulties cancelling an account with any institution. 
