USAA is one strange duck

[Anonymous]

I app'd for the USAA Limitless Card last month. I was really excited about this product. I recevied an instant denial for "excessive debt". I don't have any consumer debt (only federal student loans). USAA wouldn't budge on a recon. Needless to say I wasn't happy. You can read about it at http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/USAA-2-5-Targeted-Offer-UPDATE-MARCH-2017/m-p/4883758 USAA countered with a secure visa -- seriously!!!!

I closed my USAA accounts (checking, savings, and existing credit card) last month.

I logged onto USAA.com today to make sure all the accounts were closed and had a new offer pop up. So, I checked it out. Low and behold a targeted offer for their rate advantage visa @ 7.40%. So, last month USAA would only approve me for a "secured visa", but now I have a targeted offer for their lowest interest rate. Nothing has changed on any of my reports. Go figure.

I truly don't understand USAA. This whole thing is comical and I'm glad to be done w/ them. Thought I'd share this story, I find it somewhat amusing.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Quack Quack

[Aduke1122]

They are very strange sometimes but I do love them they have given me a chance when no one else would when I started my rebuild and they have stuck by me since , I must say after my last deal with them last mth I kinda am mad at them . I have a car loan with them it is 6mth old I had to take what I could get back then bc we needed the car desperately so they gave me an apr of 9% now I was just over 600 then so understanding the Apr they gave me was fine . Now that I have received raised my scores over 60 pts I tried to refi the loan with them they came back with an APR of 13% and the rep sounded happy like Congrats blah. She was like should we go thru with the final steps and I was like hell no, I told
You I was trying to decrease my Apr not raise it up .. needless to say I will be Refi with another lender soon

[Aduke1122]

What were your scores when they denied you for the Limitless?

[Anonymous]

I don't remember the exact number on the USAA letter, but I believe in the 790s accoridng to their model. My FICO 8 from Amex/Disc/Citi was in the low 800s. Literally nothing has changed sine the app.

I also had an existing 24k CL on my USAA visa (which I closed last month). However, I was consistently getting targeted offers for their preferred cash rewards card while I had my old visa, so I don't think that I hit my "internal" limit w/ them. Idk. I really don't undertand them.

[Aduke1122]

Wow sorry to hear that , that's just crazy !! Esp with your scores and all

[Anonymous]

How much student loan debt do you have?   I don't see why the need to cancel all your stuff with them just because they didn't approve you for one card at one point in time.  Their car buying service has great deals on BMW's.  I got over 7k off my X3 last year plus a low interest rate (1.9 percent  for 72 months). 

[Anonymous]

$200k. Which seems like a lot, but law school isn't cheap. No car loan/credit card debt/etc. Income is little above $100k and I'm on the IBR payment plan. Really, no other banks have any issue w/ the student loan debt. If that was USAA's reason I would be even more ticked off - I view the student loan debt similar to a mortgage.

Well, after I called for the recon they were complete jerks to me. They refused to look at my reports and kept telling me to contact the credit bureaus to dispute. There is nothing to dispute. If a bank throws shade at me, I walk away. They need me, I don't need them. I can get great deals on cars elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Well the 200k student loan debt explains it.   I think Penn Fed has a 2 percent back card for veterans.  You might want to try there.

  Those student loans seem to be a problem for recent college graduates.     I am sure if the student loan program were eliminated the cost of tuition would go down instantly. 

[Anonymous]

Hahaha. Well, again if that is USAA's idea of debt problems I'm glad I walked away from them. Complete idiots. Graduate/Professional school is crazy expensive. It will take 10-20 years for any recent law or med student to pay back their loans, unless they have family money or huge schloarships. These are the people who will likely bring in the big bucks later on in life. Assuming no DTI problems (and I have no issue there what so ever) who cares about some student loan debt? Would USAA had of denied me if I had a second mortgage for a vacation home assuming no DTI problems? Probably not. Education is an investment in your future - so is a mortgage.

I'm speculating at the reason for the denial, it's the only possibility. If they had a pair of human eyes look at the app, I'm certain it would have been approved. But any way, they are a weird bank and one that isn't for me. Yet, they continually pepper me with offers even after the denial - weird.