topic Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised? in Credit Cards

USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

CreditScoreBlueprint — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:13:21 GMT

I was approved for an NFCU card 8 months ago with an $8,000 limit at 8.99% (1% above their lowest offered). My score at the time was around 730, with 5% utilization and 2 hard inquiries.

Two days ago I was approved for a credit limit increase to $12,500 on the NFCU card.

So I figured today would be a good time to apply for a USAA card. They advertise their lowest rate on the card I applied for as being 6.9%. My score today is 740, with 24% utlization and 3 hard inquiries. So my score is higher than it was when applying for the NFCU card, although I do have a higher utlization.

I was approved for the USAA card with an $11,000 credit limit, BUT at 10.99% APR. That's 4% over their lowest advertised APR with a score of 740. Now I'm wondering what the heck it takes to get their lowest offer, and also wondering if USAA is as good as NFCU. Their advertised rates say that they are, but the real world rates prove otherwise, at least in my situation.

Anyone else have a similar experience? Should I try calling them and asking for a lower APR? I didn't see any backdoor numbers listed in the sticky post, but I guess I could always try their general support number.

Or maybe my 24% utlization is killing the APR, and I need to wait for that to go down before asking for a lower APR?

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

namvet — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:25:58 GMT

@JABacchetta wrote:
I was approved for an NFCU card 8 months ago with an $8,000 limit at 8.99% (1% above their lowest offered). My score at the time was around 730, with 5% utilization and 2 hard inquiries.

Two days ago I was approved for a credit limit increase to $12,500 on the NFCU card.

So I figured today would be a good time to apply for a USAA card. They advertise their lowest rate on the card I applied for as being 6.9%. My score today is 740, with 24% utlization and 3 hard inquiries. So my score is higher than it was when applying for the NFCU card, although I do have a higher utlization.

I was approved for the USAA card with an $11,000 credit limit, BUT at 10.99% APR. That's 4% over their lowest advertised APR with a score of 740. Now I'm wondering what the heck it takes to get their lowest offer, and also wondering if USAA is as good as NFCU. Their advertised rates say that they are, but the real world rates prove otherwise, at least in my situation.

Anyone else have a similar experience? Should I try calling them and asking for a lower APR? I didn't see any backdoor numbers listed in the sticky post, but I guess I could always try their general support number.

Or maybe my 24% utlization is killing the APR, and I need to wait for that to go down before asking for a lower APR?

My guess would be to get your util down to under 10%. That and maybe a 760 score should do it.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

pizzadude — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:26:13 GMT

NFCU very likely would have approved your CC application with a much lower score. I seriously doubt that USAA would do the same, Navy is much more forgiving of past credit issues than almost any other creditor.

If you didn't receive the best terms from USAA then they should be sending you a letter explaining why. Unless you have negatives on your report, I'm guessing it was your utilization.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

learnin113 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:33:14 GMT

USAA is no pushover.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:39:14 GMT

They advertise the lowest APR, but the disclosure you sign when you app clearly gives the range of APRs you'd get depending on certain factors.

Probably the utilization is what got you a few points higher.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:29:26 GMT

I heard full members get the best rates, but if you have NFCU, I guess you are. Dunno!

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

CreditScoreBlueprint — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:06:00 GMT

I called and talked to a rep today. Not sure how accurate her informaton was, but she told me that "after the economy went downhill, we hardly ever give an APR lower than 9.9% anymore, so your 10.9% is actually really good."

@FrugalRican - I'm aware that APRs vary... that's a given. I was just hoping that since USAA is compared so often to NFCU, that their APR offer would be closer to my NFCU card, especially since they advertise their lowest rate as lower than NFCU's by a full 1%. I got 8.99% with NFCU and my credit score was lower then.

So now I'm trying to figure out if it's worth staying with USAA for a year while I develop a relationship with them and lower my credit utilization, or if I should just grab another NFCU card (which I'm quite confident would be at 7.99% by next year). If USAA's advertised 6.9% is truly achievable, I'd stay of course. But really the only thing stopping me from having a score in the 800 range is another two years added to my average account age, and a few thousand dollars off my balances. I have a hard time believing I'd then go from 10.99% to 6.99%, but I could be wrong.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Ron1 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:18:49 GMT

Congrats on your approval!!! You got a good rate. I have seen people getting as high as 23.99% from USAA (he's a partial member).

Ron.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:19:31 GMT

USAA has definitely been giving out higher rates than before. I have four cards with them, and the oldest is at 11%. The next two are at 15.9%, and the last card I got, the "Rate-Advantage" MC, is at 16.9%. And that was assigned when my credit is better than it has been in a long time.

I think 16.9% is high, and every time I talk to them, I mention how ironic it is that the "Rate-Advantage" card has such a high rate. But as Ron stated, I have heard plenty of stories of 23.99% cards from USAA.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

IOBA — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:44:14 GMT

JABacchetta - Do you plan to carry a balance on your cc? If not, then don't worry about the interest rate.

USAA is VERY conservative when giving credit. VERY Conservative.

IMO, stick with them, use their card every few months for something small. Build a relationship with them. Right now, from what you have said, there is nothing that makes you stand out in a crowd as a wonderful credit risk. In time, that could change.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Gray — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:32:54 GMT

My USAA World MasterCard has a CL of $30K and an APR of 6%. My wife has the same. We opened our cards in 1993. FICO about 800.

We're not full members (through my father) but have auto/life/property insurance and banking.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:08:35 GMT

It's not higher than advertised, it's exactly as advertised. Your credit profile did not allow you to get the perfect APR... why are you blaming USAA? 10.99% really isn't that bad of an APR, anyhow. Especially considering 24% util.

I got an APR of 11.9% with an EQ FICO of 748 and much less util then you. What's the issue?

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:46:29 GMT

@Gray wrote:
My USAA World MasterCard has a CL of $30K and an APR of 6%. My wife has the same. We opened our cards in 1993. FICO about 800.

We're not full members (through my father) but have auto/life/property insurance and banking.

I don't think non-full member are eligible for insurance products.. you sure you aren't full members?

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

LS2982 — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:06:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Gray wrote:
My USAA World MasterCard has a CL of $30K and an APR of 6%. My wife has the same. We opened our cards in 1993. FICO about 800.

We're not full members (through my father) but have auto/life/property insurance and banking.

I don't think non-full member are eligible for insurance products.. you sure you aren't full members?

This is true, you have to be a full member to get auto insurance from them.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Gray — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:52:43 GMT

My father was an officer, and thus a full member of USAA. From Wikipedia: "Adult children of USAA members and U.S. military junior enlisted personnel make up a group known at USAA as "associate members" insured through a subsidiary called USAA-Casualty Insurance Company (USAA-CIC). USAA-CIC is not an insurance exchange but rather a Delaware Insurance Corporation. This is a subtle nuance but is important concerning the return of profits. Associate members sometimes receive policy dividends instead of distributions of profits, since they are not members of the insurance exchange." This is not commonly understood by most people.

Re: USAA - Higher rates than advertised?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:04:53 GMT

@Gray wrote:
My father was an officer, and thus a full member of USAA. From Wikipedia: "Adult children of USAA members and U.S. military junior enlisted personnel make up a group known at USAA as "associate members" insured through a subsidiary called USAA-Casualty Insurance Company (USAA-CIC). USAA-CIC is not an insurance exchange but rather a Delaware Insurance Corporation. This is a subtle nuance but is important concerning the return of profits. Associate members sometimes receive policy dividends instead of distributions of profits, since they are not members of the insurance exchange." This is not commonly understood by most people.

Excellent info, thanks!

I guess there are at least three tiers of USAA membership... full, associate, and whatever I am :-)