Best bank for Army soldier? USAA?

[Rustic23]

I have been with USAA for 50 years. I would say it is a love/hate relationship. Like the little girl in the ferry tale, when they are good they are very, very, good, but when they are bad they are horrid!

As long as you color within their lines they are fine, but, when you get outside those lines i.e. off their script, they break down rapidly.

Latest example, for us, was when we built our house. We had a builders loan at a local bank, and used USAA as permanent financing. USAA wanted to call it a refi, and charge us a higher rate. It got so ridiculous they sent the loan papers to the house under construction when it was only a slab! Things got worse when it came time for the appraisal. In the end, and after a letter to the President of USAA, they closed the loan with no fees to make up for the hassle they caused.

I understand they went through a management shake up several years ago, and most of our problems were from the old management structure.

 

[samclem]

We've been very happy with USAA bank, we've been with them for about 35 years. They have been good to deal with, and they have been accommodating of the many "complexities" of life in uniform. I'd rate their banking services as among the best service I receive from any company. Their mortgage business is "less good" than the other aspects of heir banking service, I think this is largely a result of their decision to outsource some of this to other companies that don't necessarily meet the standards USAA keeps.

Insurance: Also satisfied.

Investments: I started with USAA as a young pup, but they are not at the top of the heap.

The company is changing. As the %age of folks in uniform drops from the Cold War days, USAA has sought to avoid loosing ground by opening up membership to more and more people. One of the key things that made USAA special is the degree of mutual trust between their members and the company, and this was possible due to the nature of that membership pool. The changes are likely to decrease that special relationship.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

I'm truly glad that most have had an excellent experience with USAA. I don't know what caused my sons' experience to be so drastically different. I don't think there was anything about his circumstances that made him particularly outside the norm. Strange that our experience differed so drastically and was consistent with several customer service reps.

 

[unno2002]

Retired Coast Guard Reserve here, been with USAA since shortly after enlisting... We also have an account with a local bank for when something physical is required, but most stuff is with USAA...