topic Re: Need USAA help in Credit Cards

Need USAA help

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:33:26 GMT

Does anyone know what I can do? I have a USAA membership that I have had for years. IN years past we had checking and savings but had closed them. Now, we went to open new ones and they said we no longer qualified for any prdocucts because the one year time from release from the service has past. They said the only was to maintain your access to their products was to have those accounts at the time the so-called eligibility deadline passed.

Has anyone had this happen to them and is there any way to get them to allow us those products. We still have our member numbers and they are active but we can not have any products or services.

Do they really actually verify whether or not you are still in the service, guard or reserve?

Please advise.

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:44:01 GMT

Yes- they verify - Sorry

I am a vet and am in the same boat with NFCU-

My account was closed for too long and I am no longer eligible-

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:01:06 GMT

Ok, here's some of my knowledge as was relayed to me by a membership rep. and may not be all inclusive.

At one time USAA was only for Officers and dependents. So, being that my dad was an Officer, I can always be a member- especially as he signed us up w/ them when we were young. (Of course, rules always change- so long term future may not be guarenteed).

My husband had his degree/ but went MP to pay off the loans and gather experience. He got out after only four years to become a civilian police officer. When he married me, by that time they took enlisted too- and so he could join. However, his number is much longer than my number- the shorter the number the earlier one joined/dad joined. Peace to the female officers, etc.

So here is the deal - but call them up for more info- if, like my husband and I split up- God forbid!!- He is almost past the deadline where he could re-join. However, since my father is a member, and I am his daughter, (and previously had a member number) I have rejoined.

Now- they are promoting lifetime membership- that entails of purchasing a suite of products w/ them-ones that will mean you will will pay on the for a long, long time- and then you can become a "lifetime" member. From the top of my head it includes long term insurance policies- but I could be wrong.

Just call them up- they are super-duper friendly.

Disclaimer- feel free to post anything that I might have gotten wrong.

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:04:12 GMT

netpanther wrote:
Ok, here's some of my knowledge as was relayed to me by a membership rep. and may not be all inclusive.

At one time USAA was only for Officers and dependents. So, being that my dad was an Officer, I can always be a member- especially as he signed us up w/ them when we were young. (Of course, rules always change- so long term future may not be guarenteed).

My husband had his degree/ but went MP to pay off the loans and gather experience. He got out after only four years to become a civilian police officer. When he married me, by that time they took enlisted too- and so he could join. However, his number is much longer than my number- the shorter the number the earlier one joined/dad joined. Peace to the female officers, etc.

So here is the deal - but call them up for more info- if, like my husband and I split up- God forbid!!- He is almost past the deadline where he could re-join. However, since my father is a member, and I am his daughter, (and previously had a member number) I have rejoined.

Now- they are promoting lifetime membership- that entails of purchasing a suite of products w/ them-ones that will mean you will will pay on the for a long, long time- and then you can become a "lifetime" member. From the top of my head it includes long term insurance policies- but I could be wrong.

Just call them up- they are super-duper friendly.

Disclaimer- feel free to post anything that I might have gotten wrong.

PS- USAA has grown by leaps and bounds, when my Dad first had it- I strongly believe it was just insurance. Now it is virtually everything.

Re: Need USAA help

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:08:17 GMT

Dang, you know a lot more than I ever knew! I just hang on to my 7-digit membership number (beginning with 210), and the fact that I became a member in 1979. Hope they don't try to cancel me, because then I would lose checking, savings, Roth IRA, HELOC, MC, and AmEx. Plus the auto and homeowner's insurance that we're still thrashing through.

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:12:34 GMT

Getting ready to open up a Roth IRA w/ them.

Re: Need USAA help

nathan — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:27:21 GMT

USAA knows your current status and even your rank. i joined when i was at boot camp in 2003 but had no account with them since then. I called and opened a savings account late last year and i was shocked they even know my current rank without asking. I bet they will be the first to know when you get out. i am still scared to apply for their cc. My current scores are exp-653, tu-636, eq 596. i know these scores will not impress them at all. i will wait till all scores are atleast 680. Are they strictly an eq puller like other cu? if that is the case, i will have a long way to go with eq

Re: Need USAA help

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:38:45 GMT

They pulled EQ on my daughter last June, but others have posted that they pulled EX.

Have you got $50/ month that you can throw into a Roth IRA? It's one of my emergency not-savings strategies. If the hmm hits the fan, you can withdraw your contributions, although not the earnings. I have mine currently parked in a money market fund and a GNMA fund, simply because those areas aren't well-covered in my TSP, and they're reasonably predictable and well-behaved.

Anyway, once you have some sort of banking or investment relationship established with USAA, they are increasingly likely to offer you CC's. I had a checking account with them when they first offered me the MC, and I'm sure that my scores were mediocre at best.

Re: Need USAA help

nathan — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:21:14 GMT

I just opened a savings account with them and I have been pumping any loose cash on it without any withdrawals. I know i will eventually get their card with time. i want to apply when i am sure i can get a nice cl.

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:29:16 GMT

Nathan... I just opened an account with them. The rep said to wait for my scores to be atleast 720 before apping for cc, or mortgage. Things are just too iffy right now. Yes, she knew my husband's rank and so forth as well.

Re: Need USAA help

stpn2me — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:35:40 GMT

I dont think your scores have to be over 700 to get their credit cards, the mortgage may be a different story. I have both their credit cards and my scores were avg 680. The mortgage may be a little higher, but I dont know, they are very military friendly...

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:10:19 GMT

With USAA, credit score means much less than the length of your membership and how many different accounts/products you use with them.

I have top notch scores, but didn't get the best APR on MC due to my only have auto insurance at the time. However, now I have a Roth IRA, a re-occurring investment account, renters insurance, auto insurance, and checking....now I get unbelievable rates and deals and my credit score has gone down (e.g 5.9% car loan upto 50K, HELOC upto 100K at some really low rate, etc.)!

Also, from my understanding, once you purchase any insurance product (auto, home, or life) you are a member for life and can come and go. However, if you become a member and only use banking products then there is a limited time you must return before you forfeit your opportunity to re-join...

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:16:34 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
They pulled EQ on my daughter last June, but others have posted that they pulled EX.

Have you got $50/ month that you can throw into a Roth IRA? It's one of my emergency not-savings strategies. If the hmm hits the fan, you can withdraw your contributions, although not the earnings. I have mine currently parked in a money market fund and a GNMA fund, simply because those areas aren't well-covered in my TSP, and they're reasonably predictable and well-behaved.

Anyway, once you have some sort of banking or investment relationship established with USAA, they are increasingly likely to offer you CC's. I had a checking account with them when they first offered me the MC, and I'm sure that my scores were mediocre at best.

Digging up old threads. As they say, curiosity killed the cat. By chance hauling, how long did it take before they offered you the Amex card?

P.S. I keep forgetting you're also a Fed...yay for TSP...although now-a-days mine has been hurting bad, lol.

P.P.S. If you are in a better financial situation might I recommend you switch over your USAA Roth IRA to Capital Growth or the Cornerstone fund in place of the MMA...I'm doing really, really well on both right now. Just thought I'd share...

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:21:04 GMT

P.S. All my usaa "my offers" are no more on the website...they have been gone two weeks now...my score is still strong...but no "my offers" ::single tear:: lol

Re: Need USAA help

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:34:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Digging up old threads. As they say, curiosity killed the cat. By chance hauling, how long did it take before they offered you the Amex card?

Looks like 2 years, 2 months. But you have to realize that I was in a much different position from you. I had that MC maxed out when they offered the AmEx, due to an unexpected (by me) change in DD#1's financial aid package. And I sure didn't have anything like the reports and scores that you have now. Also, the AmEx was just sort of a la-dee-dah card. I think it had double points or something for the first year, which I didn't even notice.

P.S. I keep forgetting you're also a Fed...yay for TSP...although now-a-days mine has been hurting bad, lol.

Yeah, I take little peeks at it and shake my head, and go on! Considering I'm putting $20,500 in it a year, that balance isn't changing nearly as fast as I'd like. That's OK, it has time to recover before I retire, and Lord knows I'm picking stuff up cheap now, every two weeks.

P.P.S. If you are in a better financial situation might I recommend you switch over your USAA Roth IRA to Capital Growth or the Cornerstone fund in place of the MMA...I'm doing really, really well on both right now. Just thought I'd share...

Appreciate that! I've got some in Capital Growth as well, and DD#1 is starting a Roth in Cornerstone. The reason I have the MMA is to build up my emergency savings. (It's outside of the Roth.) I still have the GNMA going because TSP doesn't have any real exposure to real estate (or commodities, for that matter), and I'm trying to make up for it in the Roth, plus I'm crazy over-exposed to equities in my TSP. And the GNMA is doing surprising well --it has about the same figures as Capital Growth over these last sad months. I also have a small 401K from my second job, and it's in a Templeton global bond fund. So overall, I've still got a small positive return, and when things recover in another 6-12 months, I should be back in business.

Now that we've hit everyone with finances first thing in the a.m., I guess I have to drag my patootie on in to the office...

Re: Need USAA help

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:49:02 GMT

hauling - you're sooo good. Thanks for all the feedback and insight!

Yeah, I'm hoping 2-3 years we'll see big jumps re: retirement stuff. It sounds like you have a fantastic mix. And congrats on the home upgrades and repairs!!