USAA Questions

[chinaco]

In another post I learned that USAA has extended membership to veterans with an honorable discharge.

I am considering banking and/or insurance products with them.



A few questions:

1. How does one become a member? Is it just an online registration or through the mail?
2. How are their products sold? Are the transactions handled over the phone and mail like vanguard?

thanks

 

[check6]

I have been with them for almost 40 years. All the insurance transactions (adding/subtracting autos/home) I have done over the phone. Everything else I do online (paperless). I do not have their banking service only because my credit union can't be beat.

Call and see how you like them.

 

[FIREd]

With USAA, a lot of things can be handled online or by phone. Except for wire transfer, all of our banking is done online. Except for umbrella, most insurance contracts can be subscribed to or modified online as well.

 

[Sixteen Tons]

My brother (retired military) alerted me to this about a year ago. He has been with them from the beginning of his career and has always been very pleased with their service. They usually received very high marks on surveys as well. Until recently I was not eligible, but with their new membership rules, I was finally able to join. Did everythng on line without any difficulty. Like check6 I have a great credit union so do not use their banking service.

 

[chinaco]

Do I have to purchase a product to join?

Is s there an annual membership fee?

 

[FIREd]

No annual membership fee. I can't help you with the process to gain membership, it's been too long.

 

[East Texas]

In another post I learned that USAA has extended membership to veterans with an honorable discharge.

Yes, that is correct. Membership has been extended to anyone who has honorably served.

I am considering banking and/or insurance products with them.
A few questions:
How does one become a member? Is it just an online registration or through the mail?

You should be able to do it through www.usaa.com Otherwise, call 1-800-531-USAA.

How are their products sold? Are the transactions handled over the phone and mail like vanguard?
thanks

USAA is web oriented and transactions can be done over the phone. Go to www.usaa.com and select "products and services". You don't have to be a member to get to this information.

I've been a member of USAA for about 35 years and we have all insurance, banking, and investments with them.


A few of the features we like are (there are just too many to list):

• We have free interest bearing checking accounts.
• Free ATM withdrawals at many financial institutions and reimbursement of up to $15 a month for any ATM fees you did pay.
• If you're a former military member, you can have Deposit@Home where you scan your deposits right into your checking or savings accounts.
• The insurance rates are the great.
• The credit card rates are exceptional if you have a good credit score.

 

[MichaelB]

Do I have to purchase a product to join?

Is s there an annual membership fee?

USAA isn't really an association, it's a bank and a financial services business: mutual funds, home/life/auto insurance. Open to current members of military, their family and descendants and veterans. You confirm your eligibility when you open an account. I recall you can have a membership number without actually having an open account (I think my kids did when they were young), and there is no fee for that.

My folks were long time account holders, as are all my brothers and sisters and my kids. The customer service is good and the pricing is competitive.

 

[East Texas]

Do I have to purchase a product to join?

Is s there an annual membership fee?

The membership actually is on the P&C insurance side of the house. Most of the other products in banking, investments (with some limitations) do not require eligibility for USAA membership.

Click on this link: USAA

 

[East Texas]

USAA isn't really an association, it's a bank and a financial services business: mutual funds, home/life/auto insurance.

United Services Automobile Association. It really is an association even though it's more meaningful to describe USAA as a full financial services organization.

 

[Bimmerbill]

I do most of my banking online or with my smartphone. I can even deposit checks by taking a picture of the front and back via smartphone.

 

[Grandlakeokie]

I especially like their system to track expenditures even when also using another bank or credit union. I can go to one web page to see all my USAA bank and investments, plus all my PFCU credit union accounts, along with insurance policies, e-trade stock balances, etc.

Plus if you review your credit and check transactions in USAA's free "track your money' system on a regular basis, you can isolate any time frame you wish and analyze your spending habits.

I find there is no need to manually balance my check book any longer as I have a near real time snapshot of where I stand 24/7, including recent check and credit card transactions. Having all accounts on one page allows me to also check all my accounts for fraud in just one or two minutes each day from my laptop or smart phone. You can also set e-mail warning limits so when an account is hit for say more then a 1000 dollars, USAA will automatically send you an email real time.

From an insurance standpoint you are part of the organization and have a subscribers savings account. Although my USAA insurance policies are very competitive with other agencies, when you throw in the $7K I have sitting in the subscribers account, the policy savings are much more competitive, not to mention they have great customer service.

At tax time, you can use their discounted TurboTax offering and download all of your USAA investments and interest figures directly into TurboTax- pretty cool stuff

44 years now and still love USAA- that says a lot

 

[East Texas]

The basic USAA TurboTax is free. I upgraded to the next level (a very nominal amount) to electronically import all my USAA information and other basic data from last year. It's not that I'm getting lazy.. well, maybe a little bit... I just wanted to see how slick it worked.

We moved the last of our 401Ks to USAA last year. Had I had the logon information, I could have automatically captured the data from the "old" company.

The bottom line is I trust USAA to do the right thing for the right reason at the right time.

 

[East Texas]

I just counted... we've got 19 products at USAA. We would have had 20 except we had to take out a Farm & Ranch policy with Texas Farm Bureau for the ranch instead of getting a homeower's policy from USAA. This is the first time in 35 years I haven't had my HO at USAA.

On a side note: If you're USAA eligible (military) and own a motorcycle, you can't beat the rates at USAA General Agency.

 

[check6]

I just counted... we've got 19 products at USAA. We would have had 20 except we had to take out a Farm & Ranch policy with Texas Farm Bureau for the ranch instead of getting a homeower's policy from USAA. This is the first time in 35 years I haven't had my HO at USAA.

On a side note: If you're USAA eligible (military) and own a motorcycle, you can't beat the rates at USAA General Agency.

I own and insure a motorcycle with them but I believe they are not accepting new motorcycles.

Btw, the more products you have with USAA the lower your rates.

 

[2soon2tell]

IMHO USAA has outstanding insurance and banking products. Their mutual funds are just OK.

I have had excellent service during my 42 yrs as a member with very few complaints.

2soon2tell