topic Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts? in Personal Finance

USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 13:25:22 GMT

So apparently I signed up for USAA when I was enlisted in 2005. Totally forgot all about this. Anyone have any great experiences with them? Any products you’d recommend? I had a preselected offer as soon as I logged in for the Amex rewards.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Remedios — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 13:46:41 GMT

@Anonymous are you talking about their CC or something else?

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:01:16 GMT

Insight on any of their products and services - positive or negative is kindly appreciated.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Remedios — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:07:54 GMT

Ok. I asked your thread be moved for better exposure.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:10:15 GMT

Thank you!

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Cherekas — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:36:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So apparently I signed up for USAA when I was enlisted in 2005. Totally forgot all about this. Anyone have any great experiences with them? Any products you’d recommend? I had a preselected offer as soon as I logged in for the Amex rewards.

I've been with them for about 3 years now and I have 2 credit cards, car insurance and renters insurance with them. The rates on my insurance are very competitive compared to my area and when I did need them when I was rear ended a few years ago, they handled everything for me and although they totaled my car out they didnt low ball me on the offer. I've enjoyed my time with them and refer others.

As for my credit cards, I have the Amex rewards and Rate advantage visa and there is not a minimum limit as to when I can redeem my rewards (cash back). So this comes in handy with the 5% back on gas which I use often.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 15:26:00 GMT

I really appreciate the extensive reply. I’ve read mostly good things about them. I did app the Amex Rewards and was approved for $1500 SL. Do they grow their cards in your experience?

Also very interesting on the insurance piece. I’m shopping coverage on my Jeep that I just refinanced with Navy. Also refinanced my Optima with PenFed but that will be paid off quickly. Probably be auto shopping next year.

Mortgage shopping first. March 2020. 😊

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

bada_bing — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 16:11:03 GMT

I've been a USAA member for 30 years with house & auto insurance and an old "standard" VISA.

USAA used to be clearly better than their competition for insurance products. Now, not so much.

They are competitive, but not world beating. Same with their vaunted customer service.

If you find products they offer that meet your needs, they are still a good provider. Just be

sure to shop around. The days where it wasn't necessary to comparison shop USAA because

they were clearly and undeniably the best are over.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 17:56:34 GMT

I had car insurance at one time. I had a prequal for the Rate Advantage card with a solid APR of around 14+%. I know their rates(currently) go below 9%. I was curious what kind of score do you need to qualify for the lowest rate. That APR offer, along with a letter telling me that my premiums were increasing, prompted me to get other insurance quotes. My last 6 month insurance premium was quoted at $541.20($90.20 monthly) from USAA. Today I pay $278 for 6 months($46.33). I am saving $526.40 per year by going with another company.

I have learned not to even click around on the website. I was curious what car financing rates they offer so I was just clicking around to learn more. I was savagely getting phone calls from their financing department when I wasn't even in the market for a car. All I did was click for more info.

They do not offer an incentive to pay your insurance policy in full. It is the same price whether you pay month to month or pay for a 6 month term. I was paying monthly by just having them charge it to my Amex card. They could never get the billing correct. You would think that a 6 month policy would be 6 equal payments. It wasn't for me. I couldn't figure out why. I called the first CSR and felt good that it was resolved. All that happened was I could no longer view my policy online. The 2nd CSR certainly fixed my access problem but never fixed the billing. So I just said the heck with it. I'm on auto pay anyway so I let them charge whatever.

I'll always be a full member but this experience left me irritated. If they can't get a simple bill fixed, what would the process be like if I had to deal with a insurance claim? What about a credit card issue? No thanks. I know people who are satisfied and that have very favorable views of USAA. Glad to hear it. Due to my experience, it is unlikely I will ever get any USAA products now or in the future.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Appleman — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 22:20:48 GMT

I have been a USAA member since I was on my Dad's insurance policy as a teen. Been with them for a long time.

USAA has been a great company for my family but that does not mean I am not continuing to shop around.

From a banking perspective, they are awesome. My paycheck arrives a day early and it is easy to deposit or transfer money. I can do the mobile deposit or pull money from another institution and the money is instantly available.

I have a few credit cards with USAA and they are useful. Low-interest rates and getting a cash advance to my checking account is simple with a relatively low rate 10-11% (no fee). Every so often they have 0% balance transfers. If you pay over the minimum payment this month it credits next month and you will have no minimum due. I rarely carry a balance, but the option is nice.

I previously have their auto loan service but have had better rates with PenFed and NFCU in the past few years. Not quite as competitive as they once were. Their blank check auto loans do make shopping easy.

Finally, I am in the process of getting quotes from other insurance companies. I have auto, homeowners, and an umbrella insurance policy with USAA. Another increase this term along with advice from various financial talking heads has sent me to an insurance broker. Still waiting to hear from them.

USAA does let me pay for my insurance with a credit card monthly with no fee. My NFCU Cashback card is offering an extra 5% on top of the normal 1.5% CB on purchases over $500 in December. Saved $46 in CB for paying my bill...

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Gmood1 — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 03:59:19 GMT

I have two CCs with them as well as auto and mortgage insurance. The CCs grow nicely. You can request increases every 181 days. No complaints about the CCs at all.

The mortgage insurance which was competitive, is starting to become just average. The cost has skyrocketed for me over the last two years.
I have shopped around, only to leave things as is. USAA still beats the competition, if only by a hair.

The checking account ACH transfers are the best I've seen out of the 20 or so banks and CUs I've dealt with.
As one poster says, you can pull money from an outside account. It's available immediately. Not two days later. They allow up to $5000 a day to be pulled from other banks this way.
Same with mobile deposits. They are available for withdrawal with in minutes of snapping a picture of the check.

Their auto loans are OK. Penfed beats them in that area most of the time.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Moneyklutz — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 14:32:22 GMT

Wife and I had USAA coverage on both our house and two vehicles which we lost during the Camp Fire in Paradise Ca. on Nov 8th.

Out of my 12 co-workers that lived on the ridge, 9 of us lost our homes and it's been interesting comparing how well different companies have handled the claim process. Our adjuster (Ron) was in phone contact with us within 24 hours of the fire and after flying out from Chicago sat down with a printed copy of our policy and discussed what was covered and how much. Our claim was paid in full on every limit without any negotiating or fuss.

It was the best experience I've had with any insurance claim ever.

My co-workers used various companies, (AAA, Farmers and such). All have expressed frustration in their efforts to settle their claims. Some are still waiting for payments to be funded, some are still itemizing contents... I feel very lucky that we had USAA.

The rates we'd paid on our home and vehicles were competitive but after having gone through all this, I've learned it's not just about saving a dime anymore.

They'll be insuring our replacement home and vehicles when we find them.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

UncleB — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 18:13:32 GMT

I've been using USAA for my primary banking since 2012, and I have nothing but good things to say. It's a genuinely 'free' account... they even give you paper checks for free. Free ATM withdrawals (with foreign fee reimbursement up to $15/month), paycheck one day early, fast-and-free ACH push/pull... what's not to love?

I also have two of their credit cards; the "Platinum" Visa (2% dining and gas, 1% everything else) and the no longer offered Limitless (2.5% everywhere). I've found them to be very accommodating, but not quite 'mind blowing' like NFCU is for many people. My own credit lines are more than sufficient, and my APRs are 'meh' but I don't carry a balance so that's not a problem. (They are similar to Chase, in that they usually won't adjust your APR later and CLI requests are a HP.) A credit card can be linked to your checking for free OD protection, and the cash advance APR is the same as the purchase rate.

The only caveat I can think of for their banking is if someone regularly has cash to deposit. Since they only have a single branch in Texas that can be a pain if they are your only bank. This hasn't been a problem for me, though, since I have a secondary account at Wells Fargo for those occasional needs.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

CBartowski — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 14:34:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So apparently I signed up for USAA when I was enlisted in 2005. Totally forgot all about this. Anyone have any great experiences with them? Any products you’d recommend? I had a preselected offer as soon as I logged in for the Amex rewards.

Well, "Welcome back"?

So I've had them for quite a while and I have seen their relevance in the banking and insurance industries begin to drop quite significantly. Reading some of the posts it sounds like you also have NF and PF which for actual products, I prefer both of these over USAA. The banking interest rates at NF and PF are bounds better than USAA.

BUT given your question was about USAA, I have tried to use their financial advisor service and they seemed fairly responsive, tho I haven't actually nailed down a time with someone on the phone yet, it has been all telephone tag; which is more than I can say for PF, from whom I never received a call back.

USAA does have a 5% cash back for gas which is nice and something I've been looking into. However, USAA apaprently does not do product changes between CCs sooo if you want something else that is more suited you have to apply for each one.

I moved from their auto insurance because their rates were literally double what I was getting else where, tho I wanted to be their customer given they took care of me well in the past. But double?! I have them for my homeonwers and really haven't had any interaction one way or the other.

Lastly, I use their car rental discounts and FTD flower discounts quite regularly.

Bottom line: I use USAA as my "hub" account as I can Zelle money out instantly to my other accounts for free and external transfers to other banks, for higher interest savings or better online bill pay, are relatively quick and free. They are the only bank I have that doesn't take days upon days for external transfers and mobile deposits are available instantly. I also carry around my USAA debit card strictly for ATM access if I need it. I still have had nothing but positive customer service experiences with USAA.

Hope this adds some value.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

HappyJoey425 — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 23:19:40 GMT

I have them for my car, umbrella, and renters ins. Has always been excellent and the best rate I could find, especially for the high coverages I carry for car.

I have the Amex with the 5% gas, 2% grocery 1% all else. 12k line.

Visa Rewards-low interest rate of 8.9% if I need to carry balance I use this if no desire to app for 0%.
8.5k line

Visa Limitless 2.5% cash back 7k line.

I am mostly satisfied with them, they are very stingy with sl at beginning...but they gradually auto increase with heavy use.

Have used them for car insurance claim...money is paid quickly and they make it as painless as possible to deal with.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 23:33:46 GMT

Wow!! 😊I greatly appreciate everyone’s informative feedback on USAA! Maybe I will look into using them as a hub as some have suggested. I have Wells Fargo, BB&T and of course Navy. Being able to quickly send money is huge for me!

Thank you so much for your insights! Happy New Year everyone! 😊

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 18:40:08 GMT

I set up my USAA account last night (finally) after dragging my feet on it for a while.

Quick question, though: When setting up a Checking & Savings account, does USAA do a hard pull on your credit?

Thanks.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

HappyJoey425 — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 18:48:03 GMT

Good Day Atmos,

I cannot recall that they do, but I set it up at 18, and am 28 now. I dont believe so. Best of luck, and even if they did, the relationship is quite excellent.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 23:33:43 GMT

I've had them 30+ years.

They aren't the company they used to be as you've read in other posts.

I have my auto and homeowners insurance with them.

They practice optimizing their insureds in states where it is not illegal and I find that frustrating

They will sometimes price match

I've had lots and lots of car loans (you can get them to match a competitive quote with a little effort)

A mortgage at one time they sold off to someone else like GMAC or Ditech

I have an investment account there that I keep saying I am going to move to ML, but never do.

The realtor deal is actually quite good when buying or selling a home

The car buying service can be good if you get a good dealer.

I use them for my hub like others, they have the best banking interface and ACH system I have ever used.

I wish I could find something better, but I'm a believer in the devil you know, so I stick with USAA.

Re: USAA Products & Services - thoughts?

CAS2019 — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 16:05:01 GMT

I have auto insurance and had renters insurance with them. Don’t have any other products (I’m gardening), but I have had a very positive experience with them. I highly recommend!