USAA bank?

[lessel]

Does anyone bank with them? We’ve had auto and homeowners insurance policies with them for years. Our new mortgage is with Fidelity and we were planning to move our primary Bank of America account over to them, but then the mortgage part of Fidelity merged with some other company, so I’m less inclined to believe they’re not going to sell our mortgage to another bank. Plus I find the online user interface of Fidelity’s website kind of clunky—and when I do everything online, that kind of matters.

We rarely use brick and mortar banking anymore. I do online bill pay, mobile deposits when we get some kind of check, and Apple Pay—so we’re interested in something that has those features. I like BoA’s bill pay and I’ve used it for like a decade plus, so I’m just accustomed to it at this point.

I was wondering about USAA and any experiences with them? Or any other recs?

[nsl]

We've banked with USAA for 16 years and have been very happy with them. It's only been a PITA to not have access to brick and mortar branches when we've needed something like a cashier's check for closing on a home, but they have recently been experimenting with small storefronts that can do this sort of thing.

One of my favorite things about USAA is that they refund ATM fees up to a certain amount (at least $50) per month. We've only occasionally lived in areas where we have access to their ATMs, and it's saved us quite a lot of money over the years.

H does most of our online banking, but when I've logged on to do my own I've never had trouble navigating their site. It's pretty intuitive, and they have great customer service if you get stuck on something.

[Deleted]

Yes, I have used them for over 9 years. I switched from Bank of America and never looked back. I love their customer service. I have renter's, car insurance, an amex, and banking with them. I do use another bank for a high yield savings account. I have never gone over the ATM withdraw reimbursement limits. They even reimburse for overseas ATMs. I used to travel a lot when I lived overseas. I could pull out money in the airport before I left the secure area (or out in the community) and skipped losing money over the Exchange counters.
Also, I get paid on thursdays instead of fridays because they can see the deposit pending and just give me access to my money early. Same with paypal. I teach English online and get paid via paypal. I can transfer that money and it is available within 12 hours instead of 24.

[dcn]

We’ve been with them for 15 years. They are great, no complaints. Like pp said the atm fees refunded are awesome. I use the bill pay and mobile deposits regularly.

We have renters and car insurance through them as well.

[pumpkin]

I've only been banking with them for a couple of years but used them for insurance for over 20.

I've been happy thus far. I will admit though to still having my BofA account; really because I've have it since I was 16 (started at a bank that was acquired by BofA) and have a grandfathered in account without fees so for now it still exists and I've only used it for things like a cashiers check, etc.

[mainelyfoolish]

I’ve been banking with USAA for around 20 years. Mobile deposits and online bill pay are easy to use. I never worry about ATM fees because they get refunded (I typically only withdraw cash twice a month and have never gone over the reimbursement limit). They even give you free checks (which I hardly use, but hey, it saves me a few bucks every few years). If you’re buying a house, you can get a cashiers check overnighted, but I used wire transfers instead just to avoid any possible issue with a misrouted delivery.

There are only two things I cannot do with USAA bank where I live: deposit cash and get a medallion signature guarantee. I don’t often get cash given to me, so that’s not a problem. I keep a small savings account at a local bank for the one time in my life I needed a medallion signature guarantee and the rare need for a notary public.

[lessel]

Thanks ladies!

[zarapipe]

We love usaa. We refinanced with them probably 7 years ago and that mortgage was sold from what I remember. Don’t quote me bc it was a long time ago but I’m pretty sure it was. I have absolutely no complaints with usaa, we have only had great experiences.

[sadlebred]

If you do go with USAA, you may wish to have a small savings account or checking account with a local bank or credit union. I'd avoid the Big Monster Mega Banks. Find a bank or CU with one or two branches specifically in your town/county/community. That way you can do anything you need to in person on that rare occasion.

[lessel]

Jul 7, 2019 17:21:30 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

If you do go with USAA, you may wish to have a small savings account or checking account with a local bank or credit union. I'd avoid the Big Monster Mega Banks. Find a bank or CU with one or two branches specifically in your town/county/community. That way you can do anything you need to in person on that rare occasion.

Yeah. Good call. We actually have a CU acct in my hometown. I’ve had the acct since I was 14 and I’m reluctant to close it. But it’s totally a pain. There’s a CU where I work that I should just finally join.

[blondemoment123]

I love USAA. I’ve been banking with them for years and have never had an issue. We have an account at a credit union (with very little in it lol) in case we ever need a physical bank, but haven’t come across an occasion to use it yet.

[puppylove64]

We love USAA, been with them for probably 10 years. They have great customer service and I think the website, app and bill pay are all easy. We get our direct deposit a day early too. They do free online transfers while some banks want to charge fees. I do keep a local brick and mortar bank just in case for cash deposits.

[fumbalina]

The only issue I can think of is if you would have to deposit more than $10k in checks on a daily basis. This is not an issue in my life, but in theory, it could be for someone else. They are on top of fraud and will call you before freezing an account.

[lessel]

Jul 7, 2019 22:46:36 GMT -5 fumbalina said:

The only issue I can think of is if you would have to deposit more than $10k in checks on a daily basis. This is not an issue in my life, but in theory, it could be for someone else. They are on top of fraud and will call you before freezing an account.

That’s a problem I would like to have!

Good note on fraud. My DH has bad luck with card skimming or something. Our acct has been hit a few times and it’s always his card. 😒

[sadlebred]

Jul 8, 2019 5:20:44 GMT -5 lessel said:

Jul 7, 2019 22:46:36 GMT -5 fumbalina said:

The only issue I can think of is if you would have to deposit more than $10k in checks on a daily basis. This is not an issue in my life, but in theory, it could be for someone else. They are on top of fraud and will call you before freezing an account.

That’s a problem I would like to have!

Good note on fraud. My DH has bad luck with card skimming or something. Our acct has been hit a few times and it’s always his card. 😒

It's actually a banking regulation under the Bank Secrecy Act. All banks/CUs/financial institutions are subject to it:

www.mybanktracker.com/checking/faq/rules-deposit-10000-cash-check-271595

[mich1]

I have banked with them since 1986, living in 3 different states after 3 moves. They are phenomenal. When they screw up (and they've screwed up twice in 30+ years of my having an account there), they fix it fast. I do not have a local bank and have managed to work around this.

The only problem that I had with my USAA Visa was a few years ago I was traveling and I notified them that I was going to be out of the country and gave them a list of places and dates that I could possibly be using the card. The last stop of our trip was in Dubai, and that was the only time I used that card. I did use it rather prolifically at the gold souks, and as I was flying home, my phone was blowing up with fraud alert notices. I had about 13 texts from them after I landed! I went online, checked to see that all the charges I made were correct and had to call them and get a person to get them all removed as I was not about to go through 13 phone trees to verify them all!

[circa1978]

My H does. We're happy with them! The only weird thing is that people often comment on him being a veteran, which he is not. He qualifies because his dad is and (IDK maybe?) he did ROTC. He does kind of look like an over the hill drill sergeant, but still, it's super weird for him to explain after people thank him for his service.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2019 7:41:05 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Jul 8, 2019 5:20:44 GMT -5 lessel said:

That’s a problem I would like to have!

Good note on fraud. My DH has bad luck with card skimming or something. Our acct has been hit a few times and it’s always his card. 😒

It's actually a banking regulation under the Bank Secrecy Act. All banks/CUs/financial institutions are subject to it:

www.mybanktracker.com/checking/faq/rules-deposit-10000-cash-check-271595

Just FYI, I had to deposit a  check that was over the limit and went to a participating UPS store and was able to do a deposit there!

[lessel]

Jul 8, 2019 16:26:20 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Jul 8, 2019 7:41:05 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

It's actually a banking regulation under the Bank Secrecy Act. All banks/CUs/financial institutions are subject to it:

www.mybanktracker.com/checking/faq/rules-deposit-10000-cash-check-271595

Just FYI, I had to deposit a  check that was over the limit and went to a participating UPS store and was able to do a deposit there!

I opened an account yesterday. They do have something where you can request a waiver for a large mobile check deposit. I'm going to try it and see how it goes.  

FYI, their checking account has two current options:
1. classic account, with the rebated ATM fees up to a $15
2. cash back account, where you get 10 cents for every swipe of your debit card (minus ATM transactions, online bill pay, etc.).

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2019 10:57:42 GMT -5 lessel said:

Jul 8, 2019 16:26:20 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Just FYI, I had to deposit a  check that was over the limit and went to a participating UPS store and was able to do a deposit there!

I opened an account yesterday. They do have something where you can request a waiver for a large mobile check deposit. I'm going to try it and see how it goes.  

FYI, their checking account has two current options:
1. classic account, with the rebated ATM fees up to a $15
2. cash back account, where you get 10 cents for every swipe of your debit card (minus ATM transactions, online bill pay, etc.).

Very nice! I unfortunately do not have the problem of needing to get that waiver. The cash back account sounds awesome! I have a place where I can cash checks for free up to 300 bucks a day. I want to say I only go to the ATM 2 times a month. Getting cash back at the register would also solve the atm issue. 

[lessel]

The large deposit waiver wouldn’t work for me this week because the account is too new. Which makes sense. Opening an account and making a large deposit the next day looks kind of sketch. That’s fine. I basically never have a check this large (from house sale) so we just deposited it into an existing account while I continue to mull over high-yield savings options.

[dirtyred]

Fun fact:  USAA invented mobile deposit

[VillainV]

I’ve e had USAA for almost 20 years, and I really like them for banking. The mobile app is awesome, and they’re always coming up with new ways to make mobile banking easier. The customer service is awesome (like, you always talk to a real, very helpful human).

Their insurance is also pretty good, but I’ve found it to be more expensive than their competitors.

[fumbalina]

I forgot to mention that they also started an automatic saving program, where it transfers small amounts of money to your saving accounts based on your spending patterns. This is an easy pain-free way to save. I honestly have not missed the money that it took and shifted to my savings account.

[nomad100]

I love USAA. I have been with them for over 10 years and when the X and I divorced (I got my customer number and accounts after we married due to his military service), they made it very easy to separate our insurance, linked accounts, etc.   Of the account splitting stuff/setting up accounts in my own name, USAA was by far the easiest and for that they will have a customer for a long time.  

I recently had to FedEx a large check to TX since there were no UPS locations where I could do the deposit close to me or my work. Now my daily check deposit limit is $100K. Thank you one large check related transaction so I could get rid of my X. I will never deposit that much money into my account again.

MI has fucked up auto insurance so being able to bundle products (banking, CC card, HO insurance, personal property insurance, auto, etc) to get my rate down makes them more competitive than other auto insurance companies.  

ETA: fumbalina I just signed up for the auto savings transfer and the auto ATM fee savings transfer.  I had no idea USAA even had that.  Thanks!