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I have been doing a lot of reading on USAA, and think it is time I start to establish a history with them.
My father has been a member of USAA for probably 25+ years and has used their insurance products. I have been on a number of the car insurances and have an account with USAA (insofar as I can log in to the website), but I do not have a current product solely under my name.
My current credit profile is: TU 698, EQ 676, 66% Overall Util (I am currently working on getting this down), with one card having a 88% util. I should have overall util below 50% by the fall and the high balance card below 50% by early 2010. I have one paid CO showing on my reports (which is my only baddie) that is almost 6 years old, and it has another year to go (and the utility company that is reporting apparently does not respond well to GW attempts, so not much I can do there). I have 2 inquiries on both reports set to hit the 1 year mark in early September. AAoA is 6 years with my longest account being 21 years (my parents added me as an AU on their Amex when I was a kid).
FWIW, I have brought my scores up over 100+ points in the last year thanks to this forum, and am definitely on the right track thanks to the advice I have gathered here.
I have a few questions for the USAA experts.
1) Does opening a savings and or checking account result in a hard inquiry? I would like to limit my hard inquiries until after Sept. .09
2) Do their insurance products result in a hard inq? (such as renter's insurance)
3) Any chance of getting a CC with them at this point given my scores and the fact that I do not have any personal accounts with them?
4) What strategy would you advise for building the best relationship so that I can get, eventually, a high-limit CC (my highest current limit is $4K).
Thanks in advance, I really do appreciate the input.
You have full membership due to your dad.
Realistically get some insurance with them. They seem to value that more than anything else. auto/renters.
ultimately they are a conservative lending institution.
But yeah insurance is kinda a big deal.
Thanks, usmc. I think I will definitely start with the renter's insurance. Curious, will this result in a hard pull on my CR? Just trying to avoid any INQs until Sept.
Also, will USAA then begin to soft me and offer CCs eventually or will I have to initiate the app down the road (say in 6-12 months)?
I have had auto insurance with USAA since 2002. I added renter's insurance in 2005 with no hard inquiry. In November 2005, I made some changes to my insurance policy. The rep offered to open a checking and savings account over the phone. I accepted. I don't believe it was a hard inquiry because it never showed on my CR. On April 28, I applied for the USAA World Rewards MC online and was approved for a $6000 CL. The APR is 9.9%. Although I haven't used it, my MC is also for overdraft protection on my checking. I am not certain if it was a hard inquiry or not. I would surmise that it was a soft because it hasn't shown on my CR. I guess I should add that my EQ FICO is a 753 and I have no baddies. HTH.