topic Re: USAA in Credit Cards

USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 21:50:47 GMT

I found out today that I've been a member of USAA since 1987. Don't laugh. I didn't know until now. At any rate, I've been thinking of trying to join anyway and was hoping that I'd qualify for a personal loan and a credit card. My EQ FICO 08 is currently at 683 and current overall utilization is 9.8%. I have a BT to one of my cards not showing yet and it will be the only one showing a balance, but that will show 57% if I wait for Discover and Barclays to update to zero. Should I wait on that?

Wondering if I apply today for one of thier cards would I have a chance of a decent approval? I looked on creditpulls database and couldn't really decide since most of it was showing people that previously had a secured card or were just reporting their cli's.

No experience with USAA so I'm hoping someone will be able to fill me in.

*****What I have showing on EQ is: I have two small, paid 5 year old medical collections, a small unpaid Fed Tax Lien and 7 year old lates on an installment account.

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 21:54:40 GMT

Define "decent" approval? Seriously, there are so many factors involved, current CLs on your other cards, income, etc. Another issue to consider, if you apply for two cards almost simultaneously, it's likely to be a single triple pull for both apps.

I applied for RA M/C & Rewards Visa within minutes, both were approved with $6K SLs, one triple pull. CLs doubled after 6 months

Good Luck and don't forget to post your results

LOL, of course those lates & derogs you added will skew everything, who knows

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Define "decent" approval? Seriously, there are so many factors involved, current CLs on your other cards, income, etc. Another issue to consider, if you apply for two cards almost simultaneously, it's likely to be a single triple pull for both apps.
I applied for RA M/C & Rewards Visa within minutes, both were approved with $6K SLs, one triple pull. CLs doubled after 6 months
Good Luck and don't forget to post your results
LOL, of course those lates & derogs you added will skew everything, who knows

It may say New Contributor, but I'm not new to MyFico and am well aware of what is "involved." . My credit limits are in my signature. I have not had a problem yet with what's on EQ. TU is clean. Didn't ask to be ridiculed, just wanted information on what USAA looks for as far as approvals. I am only applying for one card.

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:27:52 GMT

You needn't be so touchy, I wasn't ridiculing you at all. "blemishes" on our CRs of any type is impossible to judge. Different lenders may weigh them differently. You're certainly entitled to apply for one only BUT, if approved, a second for the same HP seems reasonable

A year ago I was thrilled with a $3K SL. Now? If it's not 5 figures, I'm disappointed

Re: USAA

msbia — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:30:51 GMT

CoolFicoMom you have some great cards and limits! USAA tends to pull EQ if I recall correctly, and your score looks good for it. I would be a little worried about the tax lien though, but with the other cards you might be good. I started with secured and after 3 months with that (and a couple baddies) I was instant approved for an unsecured at $7k. Whatever you decide I wish you great success!

Re: USAA

elim — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:41:24 GMT

If the cards in your siggy are all reporting those limts and 50k'ish income, My guess would be 7k/14% approval to 11k at 6 month mark (for your 1st USAA card). Also, they are pretty quick with offers (auto loans and more cards).

keep us posted and good luck!

ps: i have never been dbl pulled. always a single EQ. I have a monster open 2010 tax lien.

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:08:32 GMT

@elim wrote:
If the cards in your siggy are all reporting those limts and 50k'ish income, My guess would be 7k/14% approval to 11k at 6 month mark (for your 1st USAA card). Also, they are pretty quick with offers (auto loans and more cards).

keep us posted and good luck!

ps: i have never been dbl pulled. always a single EQ. I have a monster open 2010 tax lien.

Thanks Elim. That's all I wanted to know. The tax lien isn't mine, but my husband's and it's 10+ years old and only $1600. It isn't even on TU. Income $52,000.

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:11:47 GMT

@msbia wrote:
CoolFicoMom you have some great cards and limits! USAA tends to pull EQ if I recall correctly, and your score looks good for it. I would be a little worried about the tax lien though, but with the other cards you might be good. I started with secured and after 3 months with that (and a couple baddies) I was instant approved for an unsecured at $7k. Whatever you decide I wish you great success!

My dh has the same tax lien, among other things. Trying to clean his reports, but he was offered a secured card with USAA. I'll let you know what I decide and thank you!. I'm still always a chicken when applying for anything. lol

Re: USAA

msbia — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:23:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@msbia wrote:
CoolFicoMom you have some great cards and limits! USAA tends to pull EQ if I recall correctly, and your score looks good for it. I would be a little worried about the tax lien though, but with the other cards you might be good. I started with secured and after 3 months with that (and a couple baddies) I was instant approved for an unsecured at $7k. Whatever you decide I wish you great success!
My dh has the same tax lien, among other things. Trying to clean his reports, but he was offered a secured card with USAA. I'll let you know what I decide and thank you!. I'm still always a chicken when applying for anything. lol

CFM, I just remembered something! I had a state tax lien reporting when I was approved for my card too. I think what helped me was being a full member with the secured and checking/savings/insurance. You should be ok though! I'm pulling for you.

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:43:46 GMT

@msbia wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@msbia wrote:
CoolFicoMom you have some great cards and limits! USAA tends to pull EQ if I recall correctly, and your score looks good for it. I would be a little worried about the tax lien though, but with the other cards you might be good. I started with secured and after 3 months with that (and a couple baddies) I was instant approved for an unsecured at $7k. Whatever you decide I wish you great success!
My dh has the same tax lien, among other things. Trying to clean his reports, but he was offered a secured card with USAA. I'll let you know what I decide and thank you!. I'm still always a chicken when applying for anything. lol
CFM, I just remembered something! I had a state tax lien reporting when I was approved for my card too. I think what helped me was being a full member with the secured and checking/savings/insurance. You should be ok though! I'm pulling for you.

I definitely want to get an auto insurance quote from USAA. What I'm paying now is ridiculous.

Can I ask, what exactly is a Full Member? I'm not sure what I am. lol

Re: USAA

msbia — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:10:13 GMT

Yes ma'am. I was in the military so I'm a veteran. I don't know if that gives privilege or not but I've never been turned down for anything from them. I've read some people can get checking/savings but not credit cards because they're not full members. I'd think dependents, spouse, etc would also be full. I could be wrong lol.

Re: USAA

elim — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:16:00 GMT

I was never in the military but am a full member. Not sure how you find out. Maybe call them up. Very helpful there.

Re: USAA

msbia — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:19:54 GMT

I'm with Elim....they are the best IMO. I just got approved for another auto loan with them two weeks ago at a great rate. I have a personal loan, two CC, life insurance, investment account, two car loans, checking and savings.

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:41:21 GMT

@msbia wrote:
I'm with Elim....they are the best IMO. I just got approved for another auto loan with them two weeks ago at a great rate. I have a personal loan, two CC, life insurance, investment account, two car loans, checking and savings.

I now have a checking account with them.

My husband was an Army brat. lol We've apparently been members since 1987 right after we got married. My FIL is retired Army. My dh has checking and a credit card with USAA. Maybe we ARE full members. I don't really know what the difference is.

Re: USAA

msbia — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 01:10:44 GMT

I wouldn't worry about it. Be brave and app lol. I've never had them double pull me. I had a secured card and three unsecured at the same time, and I just started with the secured in January 2014, first unsecured April 2014 second May 2014, and third June 2014. I closed the secured and the third card in February 2015. My remaining two cards are at $22k and 18k, they started at $7k and $4.5k. Always a HP for credit limit increases but if you have two cards they will only pull once for both if you do it back to back. Again, good luck!

Re: USAA

UncleB — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 04:23:30 GMT

To the OP, while nothing is ever guaranteed, I think you have a pretty good chance. I got my USAA Visa card a little over a year ago with little history and two old charge-offs. My score was around 670-ish if I remember correctly.

As for being a 'full' member, there was a time when anybody could get a deposit account, but insurance products were reserved for "full members" who were eligible due to military service, or from 'inheriting' their membership from parents who were "full members". It gets a little tricky since for insurance purposes there are even two different levels of "full members", with vets getting better insurance rates than someone who 'inherited' their membership. It's thought by some that vets get better rates on loans, credit cards, etc. than those who inherit their membership, but I've never seen anything about that in writing.

"Full membership" isn't required to get a credit card, but now that only members can get deposit accounts most newer folks are "full members". Their membership is more restrictive than NFCU in a few ways, since it can only be inherited directly from a parent or spouse (not a sibling, grandparent, etc.) but they do allow any vet to be a member later in life, which is actually more generous than NFCU.

Edited to add: For my credit card, they did a single HP on Equifax. Hope this helps!

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 04:17:30 GMT

Please keep us updated. Thanks!

Re: USAA

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 04:32:22 GMT

USAA is a great company. One thing that I like about them is that they don't outsource their customer service reps! They also have great insurance policies, and if you need to make a claim for whatever reason, they are OUTSTANDING. I use them for my checkings and direct deposit- my pay is normally deposited 1-2 days earlier than expected. I also have 4 cars insured under them, and my homeowners insurance. I also love their mobile app. You can deposit checks from your phone which is very convenient. Also, they refund any ATM fees if you get charged any.

Re: USAA

UncleB — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 05:26:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
USAA is a great company. One thing that I like about them is that they don't outsource their customer service reps! They also have great insurance policies, and if you need to make a claim for whatever reason, they are OUTSTANDING. I use them for my checkings and direct deposit- my pay is normally deposited 1-2 days earlier than expected. I also have 4 cars insured under them, and my homeowners insurance. I also love their mobile app. You can deposit checks from your phone which is very convenient. Also, they refund any ATM fees if you get charged any.

+1 to all of the above!

Re: USAA

takeshi74 — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:32:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wondering if I apply today for one of thier cards would I have a chance of a decent approval? I looked on creditpulls database and couldn't really decide since most of it was showing people that previously had a secured card or were just reporting their cli's.

No experience with USAA so I'm hoping someone will be able to fill me in.

*****What I have showing on EQ is: I have two small, paid 5 year old medical collections, a small unpaid Fed Tax Lien and 7 year old lates on an installment account.

No idea but with any creditor you'd be in better shape without the derogs. Have you investigated caefully in the Rebuilding subofrum to see what you can do about them?

@Anonymous wrote:
Didn't ask to be ridiculed, just wanted information on what USAA looks for as far as approvals. I am only applying for one card.

jcef1955 wasn't ridiculing you. Decent is always highly subjective. For example, with my limits $5K is a toy limit. However, someone building/rebuilding may see it as a good limit. Always be very specific when using highly subjective words like decent, good, bad, worth, worthless, better, best, etc.

Each of us is only going to have own own anecdotal evidence and that evidence can't be used to determine trends like USAA's underwriting criteria. Aggregated data like the Crdit Pulls Database is your best bet despite its limitations.

I found USAA to be excellent. They gave me the highest limits and lowest APR's when I had a BK reporting. Back in 2008 they were the only creditor that didn't balance chase and slash limits while jacking rates. All of my info may be outdated though. My BK fell off years ago and it was my last derog. Around the same time I finally got my revolving utilization in check so my current experience with USAA won't be relevant to you. With clean reports they're not longer anywhere near my highest limits.