BG Secures Class Certification in “Pay-to-Pay” Case Against PenFed Credit Union

Bailey & Glasser, LLP has successfully secured class certification in Boczek v. Pentagon Federal Credit Union, a West Virginia lawsuit challenging Pentagon Federal Credit Union’s (“PenFed”) alleged illegal “pay-to-pay” fees charged to borrowers making loan payments online or by phone.

On November 4, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia certified a class that includes all West Virginia residents with a loan or line of credit from PenFed who made a payment over the phone or online and were charged a $5 fee. U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh found that the class met all necessary requirements for certification, including numerosity, typicality, predominance, and superiority, holding that “the common questions of law and fact presented in this case outweigh the claimed dissimilarities among class members that could require individualized inquiries.”

Partner Patricia Kipnis, leader of the firm’s Consumer Litigation Practice Group, argued the motion for class certification on behalf of Jason Boczek and the class borrowers. The Bailey Glasser litigation team also includes partner James Kauffman, partner Jonathan Marshall, the firm’s Contingency Practice Area Leader and TCPA & Employment Practice Group Leader, and lawyer Denali Hedrick, along with co-counsel Jason Causey of Katz Kantor Stonestreet & Buckner PLLC.

The lawsuit, filed in 2023, alleges that PenFed violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act by unlawfully profiting from “pay-to-pay” fees that far exceed the actual cost of processing such payments, which is about 30 cents per transaction. The lawsuit contends that PenFed’s $5 fee constitutes an “unfair and unconscionable” practice under state law, which prohibits lenders and debt collectors from using such fees as profit centers. Earlier in the litigation, Judge Kleeh rejected PenFed’s argument that the fees are preempted by federal law.

This is one of many “pay-to-pay” cases being successfully litigated by the team around the country. Learn more about Bailey Glasser’s Convenience Fee/Pay-to-Pay practice here.

Read the Law360 article for more information on the PenFed case. The full court opinion may be viewed below.