Being in a military family, despite having to constantly worry about your loved-ones overseas, definitely has its perks. Getting access to USAA’s exclusive banking and financial services is a perk you don’t want to miss out on! It has excellent services for personal banking, the lowest rates for car and home insurance, a great internet-only experience that makes life easy, and possibly the best customer service of any financial institution in the country. Once you go USAA you’ll run away screaming from your typical brick and mortar bank.
The Best Customer Service
The thing that I like most about USAA is that they really look out for the best interest of their members and they go out of their way to show it. A couple of years ago when I couldn’t get a credit card to save my life USAA came to my aid. I was on the phone setting up my checking account and I was complaining to the rep how I was having a hard time getting a credit card despite my income. She put me on hold and within a few seconds she had someone on the phone asking me some basic financial health questions. Two minutes later I had a credit card with a $10,000 limit. I was ecstatic. Thanks to USAA I was able to generate a positive credit history and get more cards with higher limits.
It doesn’t end there. USAA has been there with me on every step in my financial journey. When I went to go look at houses in Austin, TX, USAA provided me with a pre-approval letter for a $300,000 mortgage and topped the whole thing off with their own certified Real Estate agent who drove me around town!
I’m completely heads over heels for USAA, but I’m not the only one:
a reader, Jenney says:
I’ve been a member of USAA since 1991, the year I went to college. I started out with a $500 USAA MasterCard, which my mom cosigned for me so I could have an emergency card at college.
Now, 15 years later, I still have that MasterCard. I also have two free USAA checking accounts (only use one at the moment), a USAA consumer loan, a USAA auto loan, USAA auto insurance on two cars, and a USAA Roth IRA.
After all these years, and having had so many products and services from USAA, I can honestly say, without any hesitation whatsoever, that USAA is hands-down the BEST company I have EVER done business with.
They have absolutely the best customer service there can possibly be. In over 15 years I can count only one time that USAA messed something up, and even then it wasn’t a big deal and was resolved right away. Any other minor hiccups have been resolved quickly and without hassle or frustration.
With #1 Ranking awards in each of their financial services from big names like CNNMoney, Business Week, Kiplinger and JD Powers to name a few, it’s no secret that everyone who has USAA loves it.
A Recently Rebooted USAA.com – Login
The friendly user interface design of USAA.com helps you easily access the information you need. Get access to financial health articles, tools, calculators and a plethora of information all on the main site.
Overview of Accounts, Investments, and Insurance
The Overview screen gives you a summary of all your accounts and messages. Simple tools to transfer money, invest and make payments make banking with USAA a breeze.
Paperless Correspondance Makes Life Easier with USAA
Sick of the pile of paper or just trying to save a tree, USAA electronic document service is a secure and convenient way to stay updated on all your important documents, disclosures and agreements. You can view docs in PDF even with Acrobat!
Services Provided by USAA
Checking
Free ATM Use Worldwide, Free USAA Deposit@HomeSM, Free Rewards on Debit Card Purchases with No Annual Fee, Combine Credit, Debit Rewards Points , Free Online Bill Payment Service , No Monthly Service Fee , Pay Interest, Free Checks.
Savings
4.25% APY, $25 Minimum to open, Basic account great for everyday savings.
Credit Cards
USAA Platinum Master Card and USAA American Express with great rates, no annual fees, and awards! I paid for my flight to Austin using points from my rewards program.
Loans and Mortgages
They really work with the members to find loan packages that are affordable and reasonable. I have absolutely no complaints here! According to other members it’s easy to get refinancing for your home mortgage if you qualify. Of course, if you’re buying a new home they have their MoversAdvantage service which will hook you up with the best performing Realtors in your area.
Investing Products
Unlike other investment firms, USAA doesn’t charge a sales fee for their Mutual Funds. I’ve play around with their USAAX fund until I’m ready to do some real investment. The returns have been modest, and the service is easy to use.
Web Bill Pay
The Web Billpay service is excellent. I’ve been using it now for several years and have never had a problem with it. You can set up e-billing, automatic payments, one-time payments, etc. With the exception of the monthly rent, ALL of our bills get paid online — even those going to billers who don’t offer electronic banking. USAA cuts a check to them and I have never had a check arrive late.
Auto Insurance
I’ve had insurance with USAA for a number of years now and I have no complaints. I’ve given them all kinds of issues like paying my bill late or forgetting to renew, and they were there patient and helpful as ever. The ONLY bad thing I’ve heard about the auto insurance is from people who get into accidents with other USAA members. Their payouts are always very low! Bad for them good for us. Hehe.
Home Owners/Renters Insurance
Very conveniently priced. I pay about $1/mo for renters insurance, but then again I don’t have any “high end” home furnishings other than my computers to worry about — for now at least. Again no complaints.
Not Your Traditional Brick and Mortar Bank
To the dismay of a people who find security in typical brick and mortar banks, USAA has no branches or ATMs so you can’t just walk in and deposit a check. (But if you’re one of those up and coming “new rich”, you want to save time and money so this doesn’t matter to you!) To get access to your cash offline you’ll have to use ATMs that charge fees, but USAA has an answer for this. You get 10 free ATM withdrawals per month; after that it’s $2/withdrawal. In addition, USAA refunds you up to $15/month in fees other banks charge to use their ATMs, anywhere in the world. So unless you withdraw cash using ATMs all the time, the ATM usage is practically free.
What about deposits? USAA has an answer for that too. You can mail deposits to USAA in prepaid envelopes, and they are usually cashed in 3 business days. Even better, if you need the deposits cashed right away you can send them to USAA via The UPS Store for free where they’re overnighted and in your bank account within one business day. For even faster transactions, USAA has their Deposit@Home service which allows you to scan a check and send an image for instant deposit!
How Can I Get USAA?
USAA seems like a great place to do your personal banking and more and now you want USAA! Well don’t get your horses too high yet, USAA has exclusive access for military personnel and family.
To see if you qualify for USAA find out here: Am I Eligible for USAA Financial Services
Who is Eligible?
Membership is open to:
* Children/Spouse of USAA members.
* Active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.
* National Guard and Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.
* Officer candidates in commissioning programs(Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS).
* Recently retired or separated military personnel.
* Former USAA members who had auto or property insurance.
Of course if you aren’t eligible for USAA, my second choice bank is Washington Mutual. Sign-up for a free checking out!
It’s funny that a lot of people who are eligible don’t even realize it. If you think you know someone who might be eligible for USAA send them this article so they don’t miss out!
Salute to Armed Forces Money and Life Blogs
For military matters and more check out some of these fine blogs:
Money For Military
Dimes to Dollars
Active Duty Military Money and Matters
Paradise Found
Life Lessons From a Military Wife
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Thanks for the shoutout to the site.
I like USAA because they speak military lingo. I had Allstate Insurance and I told them I was PCS’ing to Germany and they didn’t know what I was talking about. GEICO, the insurance formaly just for Government employees acted like if I was a spy and couldn’t understand why I was moving to Germany.
USAA handled it in five minutes and is the only insurance site that is automatically in the US Army Driver’s database.
Brandon J
I love USAA! I’ve written about it once or twice on my site, but never in quite so much detail.
I agree with Brandon, I used USAA for my auto insurance when I was stationed in the UK, and I still use them for insurance (and many other services!). There customer service and great features will keep me a member for life. Thanks for spreading the word about this great institution (it seems limiting to just call them a bank), and thanks for supporting the military.
@Brandon J – USAA is awesome. It’s been a long time since I lived on a military base or have had to do any “military moves” haha. Everytime I see a geico or allstate commercial I’m thinking to myself “they arent cheaper than USAA!” ha! Then I was reading remarks from people who had gotten into accidents with USAA folks and not getting any money from USAA — I was like “score!” haha. I dunno maybe I should feel bad about that… I’m torn. lol
@Patrick – Ah, yeah I had a hard time finding military blogs talking about USAA, I was surprised not to find very many. I didn’t realize you were in the Armed Forces though otherwise I would have included your site when I first posted it. Some of the blogs I found interesting were from soldiers stationed abroad — and their various opinions. I’ve been to your site a few times already I’ll have to dig up your USAA posts.
Hmm nope I couldn’t find posts relating to USAA. Care to share them?
We signed up with USAA two years ago when my wife joined the US Public Health Service. We’ve since moved all of our finances, bill paying, retirement and brokerage accounts, car insurance, and home insurance to USAA. Love it, love it, love it. Our daughters both started college this year and last and we’ve set up their accounts with USAA as well. I can transfer money in (rarely out:) of their accounts online any time I need to. I cannot say enough great things about them — they are the best financial institution I have ever used or worked with, bar none.
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Hi 1mil,
I don’t think I’ve done any posts dedicated to USAA, but I have mentioned them a few times. (every time I write about them someone from USAA checks out my site a few times a day for the next few days!). I was planning on doing a similar article to yours, but I don’t want to rip it off.
Usually I mention them in passing because I try not to write too much about my personal banking. But, I do love USAA and I have no problem letting people know.
I used to heap praises on them too…until we tried to buy a home in Florida in three weeks, and USAA refused to insure it without a sinkhole disclosure…which according to them, they could not expedite this particular document and that it takes them 4-8 weeks to do that. I think it was just a convenient way for them to drop policies in Florida without making them look like the “bad guy” up front. They ended up losing all our homeowners insurance business for the rest of our homes too in the process (thank God for Armed Forces Insurance out of Ft Leavenworth)…but I couldn’t bring myself to move my cheap car insurance. I did move out our investments and now rarely recommend the company to anyone who is not desperate for car insurance. Shame on USAA…I have been with them for well over 30 years!
Whoa lots of comments on this one! =)
@Scott – I couldn’t agree with you more. Of course from what I’ve read USAA isn’t perfect, but it’s the best all-in-one finance solution for people who have access to it. I strongly recommend it!
@Patrick – Have you noticed that USAA has been upping their marketing lately? Ads on MSNBC and CNN? That’s pretty cool, I wonder how much of their target reads those sites… That’s cool they check you out whenever you mention them, I’ll have a bet that they’ve seen this article too hehe.
@Veteran Military Wife – I’m sorry to hear that they weren’t able to accommodate you in Florida; from what I understand most insurance companies are avoiding those high-risk areas because they’ve become too much of a liability for them and are likely still recovering from the last castrophe. I mean what can you do though? It’s a business decision, and I’m certainly no customer service rep of theirs but I’m sure they weight the pros and cons of such choices. If they covered high risk areas like Florida they might not be able to offer such great services in their banking arena, which would be an even greater travesty.
USAA has also extended membership to some “unpublished” groups. How do I know, I work for the federal govenment in law enforcement and somehow am eligible to bank with them. However, I had to set up my accounts initially via the phone as the web site to this day still says I’m not eligible. So if you are federal law enforcement (I don’t know if it is all of us) but not military you still may be able to join.
USAA is a great auto insurance company. In my opinion, their rates are very reasonable, but their plans still provide great coverage. The only complaint I would have is their towing coverage. When the timing belt on my car went out about 40 miles from home, they would only pay towing to the shop nearest where my car broke down, which was 38 miles from home. I had to pay the difference, which equaled 38 miles of towing and nearly two hundred dollars. Other than that experience, I am very pleased with USAA.