USAA Bank

What Has USAA Bank Done For Their Members Lately? NOTHING !
- RickO - Monday, February 28, 2011 - 8:13 AM

 

 

When I joined USAA in 1963, it was a highly select Military Officer only organization. Over the decades this insurance company grew and grew and grew to include dozens of services including banking and membership became available to nearly anybody who is breathing.  They just opened membership to ROTC cadets and believe it or nor, to 'any person who ever was in the military and has an honorable discharge.'  Next, I anticipate 'anybody who has ever seen a John Wayne war movie'.  Oh, and of course as membership selectivity has lessoned, fraud has gone up. Now, we get to the REAL REASON members are treated like dirt. It's 'politically correct' to treat all equally. Thus, the deadbeat dads, the scammers, the con artists and, of course, legacy members of nearly half a century are all equal. Oh, brother!

 

Sadly, USAA Bank has become a bank like all other mediocre American banks. That means young, inexperienced bank officers who have little, likely no, military background or Federal service experience whatsoever. And these same cookie-cutter robot employees foster the failed banking industry  'we must grow' philosophy (pimped by their managers) that largely destroyed the entire U.S. banking industry including USAA due to greed, bad risks, bad loans and a collapsed housing market. So, who takes the brunt? Certainly nobody in banking got punished or fired. Again, who takes the brunt? Why, the loyal bank customers, who else!

 

My beef? Now using a great 'deposit by phone' capability I find checks deposited must be HELD until the bank gets the actual money from the institution on which the check is drawn, then the funds are placed in my own USAA account for use. Thus, we are back to the mid-19th Century banking mechanisms. In a word, those who have a record of integrity for decades must suffer waiting along with the deadbeats. The bank overcompensates for their industry mis-management of non-regulated loan policies of the recent past and now takes no risks or gives any latitude whatsoever to honest members. Thus, the ' politically correct' mantra prevails so as not to offend those who abuse the capabilities of rapid 21st Century banking.

 

Would I recommend USAA to anybody anymore? No! Never! I would suggest getting a hometown bank within blocks of your physical residence. Faraway bureaucratic institutions invariably lose their sense of mission and their raison d'etre. They come to view the customer as 'the enemy' and this is USAA today.

Holds Reg CC
- clstrang - Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 6:43 PM

I've worked at a bank for several years - Wells Fargo, to be exact. Wells Fargo is an extremely conservative (not in the political sense) bank in terms of funds availability. I placed holds on tons of things that my friends who worked for smaller banks would laugh at. But when I started banking with USAA, I was honestly shocked at the ridiculousness of the holds they place on checks. I deposited my paycheck, and there is a four day hold on the funds from the check, which was less than 1,000.00. I have never in my life experienced this or would have even thought about placing a hold for that long, or at all, on someone's paycheck that was that small. I understand that what they do is legal under Reg CC, but to anyone that needs funds availability in less than a 5 days or so, I would run away from USAA as fast as I could. Closing this puppy out the second this hold is released and I can write a check for the balance to my other account. Complete waste of time.

USAA Is One Of The Best Banks I've Done Business With
- Anonymous - Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - 10:13 AM

USAA is one of the best banks I've done business with.  I've used USAA for more than a decade.

Their customer service, ACH transfer service, free check-printing for life, and refund of ATM fees charged by other banks make them one of the best.

USAA offers CDs rate that are very good.

I have also used non-banking products offered by USAA such as Mutual Funds, Annuities and I'm very satisfied.

USAA Bank Cares NOTHING About It's Members Or The Military
- usaasucks - Saturday, December 24, 2011 - 9:53 AM

They have a fraud dept that does NOTHING when OBVIOUS fraud occurs, they are complete idiots. It is Christmas Eve day and ZERO notification from the bank I have used for almost 10 years that my debit card info had been compromised. Two identical charges made in CALIFORNIA at a Shell station and I live in TX but no one notifies me or tells me ANYTHING. Spoke to fraud dept just now and they basically said "too bad" and then tried to blame the fraud on me because I used my debit card locally here in TX". Really??? And I will not have access to ANY MONEY now for up to 10 days until I get another card. Merry F***** Christmas to my child when he won't have gifts.

USAA - HORRIBLE SERVICE- Orearado@Comcast.Net
- orearado - Monday, August 1, 2011 - 4:05 PM

USAA has become no better than all of the other Monster mega-banks.  They actually denied my REFI after they took the $350 application fee.  They did this the day before closing.  They termianted the loan because my wife was ill and could not sign papers. Once she recovered as was able to sign, they would not allow her to sign.  SHE HAD BEEN ILL FROM DAY ONE, THEY KNEW THIS.  Even though I have a Court order Guardianship giving me authority to sign, USAA denied the loan.  They did this the day of the scheduled closing.

 

They have grown to the point they a no better than monster mega BANK.  With the limited locations USAA offer, it is better to use a local bank.

 

Oh not to mention the Rewards programs was cancelled.

 

Why have USAA bank-? 

Great Bank...Sucky Rules
- alwalters5 - Monday, July 11, 2011 - 11:18 PM

I've had this bank for about a year now, and up until today I have had no complaints about it. My mother actually opened this account up for me when I was away at college so I have never put a check into my account before. I didn't really have to put any money into my account until I got a job. This job just directly deposited my money into my account, so I never had to worry about it.

However, last week my boyfriend wrote a check out for me and I had to figure out how to put it into my account. My mom told me that  I just have to take a picture of the check and they put the money right into your account. This, of course, is more complicated than it sounds, so I looked it up on USAA's website. There, they said that you not only had to have a USAA bank account, but you also had to be qualified for a loan. For whatever reason, I'm not qualified for one, so I can't deposit this check I have sitting around into my account. I also don't live near a USAA branch location so I can't just ask a teller to do it for me. I am really annoyed.

If USAA didn't have this silly rule and they had more branches open, it would be a great bank. Oh well, I'll just have to find another bank that will let me do simple tasks such as cashing a check.

Terrible Financial Advice, Poor Customer Service, Average Rates
- jorgey454 - Monday, April 11, 2011 - 4:12 PM

I'm 25 years old trying to open a retirement account. Not knowing any better, and trusting their advice, I opened a low-growth annuity Roth IRA. Realising my mistake after reading a few financial advice books, I tried to move it to a high-growth Roth IRA mutual fund, again with USAA. After months of un-returned calls, I finally talk to someone competent enough to give it to me straight. Turns out I'm going to have to pay 7% of the thousands of dollars I used to open the account in fines and fees. This has been one expensive, time consuming, frustrating cluster-! from start to finish.

Take your business elsewhere, their rates aren't even that good. Vanguard charges half of what USAA does, and they're getting my business as soon as USAA pulls its head out of its butt long enough to finish the paperwork.

GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!
- suzi_sonrisa - Monday, February 21, 2011 - 9:40 AM

We purchased a car and USAA financed us. I was skeptical of how it would work since they are an out of town bacnk. But they made it so easy. They were always available online and over the phone. We just had to log on and print paperwork and voila! It was seriously easier than a traditional loan process! We were so gratfeul to them we got out car insurance through them, opened a credit card with them, and now that we have a baby we are planning on opening her an account with USAA.

I know membership is inclusive, but if you can get in, go with USAA. You can even deposit a check by using your smartphone and take a picture of it! So easy!!!! Whenever you have a question or issue you can call and every rep I have ever dealt with is SUPER nice and will go out of their way to help you.

I will saty with USAA, they impress me!

After 10 Years, This Is How They Treat People?
- hooahgirl2004 - Thursday, November 24, 2011 - 1:21 AM

If you had asked me if I like my bank, I would have said yes, pointed out everything good about it and tried to get you to switch. NOT AFTER TODAY! We deposited a check at our local UPS store on Friday. A small amount, $700, no big deal, our pay checks are more than that. They only released $100. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be a problem, however we had to pay for vehicle repairs and came into hard times. We were supposed to go to Alabama for Thanksgiving but thanks to USAA customer service giving us the wrong information, our funds won't be "released" to us until Friday. Believe me, when this ordeal is done, I'll go to Navy Federal or some other bank. The representative I spoke to told me it wasn't her fault, she couldn't do anything about it (mind you, she was supposed to be a supervisor) and I would have to wait until Friday to speak to somebody about getting them released. If we had known this hold would have been this long, we would have just gone to a check cashing place instead of taking 8 days of leave only to not be able to go anywhere or do anything because of a hold. Thanks for ruining a holiday USAA!

Usaa Bank The "Do's And Donts"
- spikejoker911 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 5:47 PM

Like any bank you hafta be very careful with investing your money into a company. Especially a bank. I would recommend not getting any insurance through these guys and deffinately not not opening any credit cards. Also be sure to avoid over-draft fees. This company has higher interest then Bank of America, and thats saying a lot.

Disappointment
- benmurphy63 - Monday, October 3, 2011 - 2:50 PM

I recently made an error depositing a check via deposit@mobile and two months later they reversed the check twice. I have called 5 times and been placed on hold for over 45 minutes each time. I finally had to beg to get a supervisor's number so that I could get the solution resolved. In all they held $500 from my account for 13 days. What if I didn't have enough money to cover that amount? What would they have done if I had bounced a check?

I cannot recommend this bank to anyone that is looking for full service. If you need an event sponosored for wounded warriors or Army vs. Navy they are hard to beat but banking....not their cup of tea.

Horrible Mortgage Department
- mlomba - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - 5:00 PM

I have had USAA for many years for my insurance needs and have added pretty much everything since. Checking, savings, investments...you name it. Those departments are just incredible: great customer service, good resources and plans and hassle free data.

But the Mortgage department is atrocious, I mean all-time bad. I had a ton of problems with my loan processing and the title company had a very difficult time reaching my mortgage representative. On the day I was to close, I waited all day for a call or some sort of instruction and it never came. The title company was told the loan was held up in underwriting where it had been for a week and no one from USAA ever called me to let me know the status.

We did not close and no apology, explanation or status was received. When I complained my mortgage representative said, "Yeah blame me, everyone else does!" No one from USAA has contacted me since and when I wrote a review for their customer website, it was never posted. It is pretty much the same review I've written here.

Looks like USAA is getting too big, too fast and I am seriously considering transferring some of my financial assets away from this bank. Too bad, this was probably the best financial company I've ever dealt with.

Poor Customer Service
- Soldier - Wednesday, January 26, 2011 - 10:10 AM

This Bank advertises it is for the Military Service Members and their Families.  Understanding the Military work round the clock and family needs are a 24 hour a day seven day a week requirement around the world when you call this bank you get a computer, automated call distribution system.  Understand this bank doe provide a good online service so when you call the bank you want to talk to a human not a computer.  No instructions are provided for you to opt out of the ACD.  Generally when I call the bank I want a human not an ACD, it takes several minutes and I have experienced up to 15 minutes just to get through the ACD and then wait in cue for a bank staff member.  Imagine you are a Soldier and need to call the bank you have maybe 15 minutes to conduct your business and get back to duty because the bank is closed when you get off duty.  Explain your excuse to your leader why you have to take so much time to get your business accomplished.  I submit the bank does not focus on Military Service Members and their Families it just says it does.  I called to have a check terminated.  After about 10 minutes I was able to speak to a human.  Next, I was referred to another human and again explained my purpose.  I was told the bank could not cancel my check or place a stop payment on the check for at least 24 hours and then they could not grantee the stop payment would take effect.  I asked to speak to a supervisor and received the same message.  What good is a bank if it cannot stop payment on a check quickly and accurately?

USAA Bank--Fantastic 7 Year Deal For Big Investors
- tomlawler - Friday, July 2, 2010 - 4:03 PM

I just made a "super jumbo" CD (defined as over $175k) at USAA for a 3.79 rate/3.86 yield.  Smaller investors can still get a solid 3.55% yield.  I like that a bank will give a bonus for larger deposits.  On our $200K CD, the extra .30% means $600  more per year--not too shabby.  The application on line takes just 5 minutes as they promise, and that includes the time to link USAA to my local bank.  The transfer went smoothly.

Their phone personnel are awesome.  I had a lot of questions and they were very patient in explaining everything to me.  My only criticism is the website itelf, which is part of the reason I had to call in the first place.  The site is too congested IMO, making it difficult to find what you need.  For example, it takes about three clicks to get to the CD rates page--and the "view rates" tab is in small letters to the far right of the page.   This is only reason I couldn't give them the full 5 stars, but the rate itself more than makes up for the slight inconvenience.

Meh, Nothing Special
- bully72 - Sunday, September 18, 2011 - 12:32 AM

So I have USAA through my dad for the insurance on both home and auto. That's what you want if you can get it. We figured the bank would be super as well. We have checking and a credit card through the bank end, and, well, meh. What do you really want from an online bank? They honor checks, provide ATM cards, oh, and they rebate fees other ATMs charge. That's kinda cool, but not the real reason for staying. The real reason is that I have no desire to put up with changing accounts if I don't have to. BUT, I've never worried about FDIC taking it over, and generally never had a problem.

Decent Bank, Insurance, Etc... Horrible Mortgage Department
- devo96 - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - 12:56 PM

i've been a member of USAA for 15 years, and have had some ups and downs with them.  their banking is top of the line, their computer banking is state of the art, and their insurance rates are low with great service to back it up. 

i have about 10 years ago received a mortgage from them to buy a house.  the process was smooth and easy.  the processor was on top of the loan, and communicated with me every step of the way.

that said, i'm now in the final stages of trying to buy a house through their mortgage department.  i had a 60 day closing window, which USAA failed to meet.  i'm now 2 weeks past that.  the processor hardly speaks english and can't write a legible sentence on email.  so i'm dealing with the supervisor.  i've met all the conditions of the pre-approval, before the orginal closing date.  the package has been submitted to underwriting at least 3 times (all after the original closing date) and each time they come up with a new set hoops to jump through.

the mortgage department seems disorganized, and the processors don't really seem to know what they're doing.  they don't communicate: with each other, or with the customer.  i will not seek another loan from them.  the smaller, local banks can do a much better job than these mega-banks....

I Love USAA
- pysteph - Thursday, December 15, 2011 - 4:35 AM

I've never had an issue with them, and frankly, I'm shocked at all the difficulties people have had in the comments.  I'm in the Air Force and have been with USAA since 2006.  Their customer service is always prompt and polite, and I love that they pay dividends on everything, including car insurance and checking account (or there's interest or something - either way, you get money).  I also like the fact that you get ATM fees refunded.

I also find it amazing that everything is instant.  If I want to transfer money between accounts, I can do it on my phone and the money's there instantly.  Or if I deposit a check by sending them a picture, the funds are also in my account instantly.  Seriously, what other bank does that?  There's always some kind of hold with other banks.  USAA takes me at my word that the check is worth that much and that I'm good for it.  I have pretty much everything with them.


The only two downsides I can see is that they don't have a physical branch, so if I wanted to deposit cash, I wouldn't be able to.  I've never had to, so I'm not really worried about that.  Of course, there may actually be a way to do that, but I'm unaware of it.  The second one is that I've seen higher savings rates elsewhere.  I think also lower car insurancem but it wasn't by much, and I wouldn't trade it.