USAA

[GiveJoy]

I recently opened a USAA checking and savings account. I am not too familiar with USAA but have seen the occasional post on myfico that it is a good place to have an account with. So, I am wondering, what is great about having a USAA membership (I joined through my father who is retired military) and in what ways can I use USAA to help me rebuild my credit?

[ccnewcc]

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@Cutie-Mama wrote:

I recently opened a USAA checking and savings account. I am not too familiar with USAA but have seen the occasional post on myfico that it is a good place to have an account with. So, I am wondering, what is great about having a USAA membership (I joined through my father who is retired military) and in what ways can I use USAA to help me rebuild my credit?

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Well USAA offers a wide range of products and services like any bank.

Not sure how USAA can help you rebuild better than any other bank.  It is said that USAA offers better rates and higher CLs to full members.  But I doubt that is true.  Or at least not verifiable beyond anecdotal evidence.

Maybe CMS and CCs that they offer.  They have secured cards too.  But again, not sure how USAA can help rebuild better than most.

[GiveJoy]

What is a full member?

How would I know if I am a full member or not?

What other types of USAA membership is there besides being a full member?

I don't recall seeing anything on their website about different types of membership when I signed up. Where would I find out this information?

[Swapmeet]

Don't worry, you are a full member. The good things about them is that they are liberal with credit scores that they will approve for a cc, and they are generous with initial credit limits and cli. If you need to, start with a secured card and treat it good -- they will graduate you to an unsecured card or approve you for an unsecured card in a reasonable amount of time. They also offer reasonable insurance rates and loan rates.

[chasmith]

If your father is retired military, his service should also qualify you for membership in NFCU.  I'm in the same situation (membership through my father's reserve service 15 years ago for USAA and joined NFCU three years ago via his retired status).

USAA offers outstanding insurance products and service on insurance.  They are more conservative about lending than NFCU (harder to get approval, lower limits).  Both offer secured credit card products, NFCU also has a really easy secured installment loan process.

[BearOSO]

Do their secured cars really graduate? I have not heard of them doing a review to graduate to an unsecured card. I am about 2 months away from finishing up my USAA Amex secured term of 2 years, they have yet to say anything or send me anything. 

[chasmith]

USAA definitely doesn't graduate, at least in my experience.  I had their secured MC for two years, had to make a new application and was turned down.  I'm a long time full member, but had a 2009 BK which caused no loss to them.  I was able to add (unsecured) a Walmart Discover (1200 CL) and a First Tech FCU VISA (5K CL) to replace the USAA card (1500 CL).  I still believe they are a great resource and do some banking and all my insurance with them.

I hear mixed statements about NFCU.  In my case they graduated my card with a CLI, since then I've gotten other credit from them.  I would focus on NFCU for secured or rebuilding credit.  If you must borrow secured and have no installment debt reporting you can do a double play - put money in to secure an installment loan.  Then use the loan proceeds to secure a credit card.  That can give your score a slight extra bump for the credit mix.