USAA Willing to do 6 month interest rate match

[JamesSFO]

I called USAA because a transfer to Ally bank was refused (too much $), the supervisor asked if she could match their rate for 6 months on the performance first savings, I said yes and kept my money at USAA.

Never would have occurred to me to ask.

[Tazdog]

I just opened an account at Ally because of the low interest rate in the performance first account at USAA. I too had to call USAA about transferring funds but they did not offer to match Ally's rate. I guess they need your business more than they do mine. I have been a USAA member for over 20 years, but recently have disappointed with their customer service.

[northstar22]

They must be losing a lot of money to Ally. I just transferred a bunch last week. Still keeping my checking with USAA and have no problems other than their low interest rate.

[spartanlaw]

I switched from USAA to Ally about six months ago. Couldn't be happier.

[JamesSFO]

I just opened an account at Ally because of the low interest rate in the performance first account at USAA. I too had to call USAA about transferring funds but they did not offer to match Ally's rate. I guess they need your business more than they do mine. I have been a USAA member for over 20 years, but recently have disappointed with their customer service.

I've been a member 22 years and they mentioned that as one of the reasons and also suggested I call before opening CDs.

Perhaps it was just the supervisor I got, time of day, retention needs, etc. As people chase safe yield my guess is they are under increasing pressure.

[Raymond]

Transferred my emergency savings account several months ago from USAA (0.35% APY for accounts $50,000 or more) to a Barclays Bank US savings account (1.00% APY for any amount, not just a promotional rate).

25-year USAA member here.

My thoughts on USAA:

Insurance products: Excellent.
Banking products: Very good service, free checking, but rates are "meh."
Investment products (mutual funds, brokerage). Meh again

[JamesSFO]

Insurance products: Excellent.
Banking products: Very good service, free checking, but rates are "meh."
Investment products (mutual funds, brokerage). Meh again

I think HISTORICALLY their banking products were much better on relative terms. I will also add that they invest heavily in excellent web/phone support compared to many.

[Raymond]

I think HISTORICALLY their banking products were much better on relative terms. I will also add that they invest heavily in excellent web/phone support compared to many.

Oh, absolutely. My day-to-day financial life is centered on USAA, and will remain so. Even in the pre-Internet days, it was very easy to keep up with my accounts via commercial phone or AUTOVON.

[Tazdog]

I just opened an account at Ally because of the low interest rate in the performance first account at USAA. I too had to call USAA about transferring funds but they did not offer to match Ally's rate. I guess they need your business more than they do mine. I have been a USAA member for over 20 years, but recently have disappointed with their customer service.

I've been a member 22 years and they mentioned that as one of the reasons and also suggested I call before opening CDs.

Perhaps it was just the supervisor I got, time of day, retention needs, etc. As people chase safe yield my guess is they are under increasing pressure.

I did get them to give me an additional 10% cash back on up to $200 a month in gas purchases on my credit card several months ago. The rebate is good for a year and is on top of their regular cash back offer. They were trying to better the old BP gas card deal of 5% cash back.

[Carl53]

I did get them to give me an additional 10% cash back on up to $200 a month in gas purchases on my credit card several months ago. The rebate is good for a year and is on top of their regular cash back offer. They were trying to better the old BP gas card deal of 5% cash back.

My old 5% BP Visa card now sits in the drawer since they dropped the 5% rebate for a far inferior points system about a year ago. Does yours still get 5%, and are you still getting 10% on the USAA card?

[spartanlaw]

Transferred my emergency savings account several months ago from USAA (0.35% APY for accounts $50,000 or more) to a Barclays Bank US savings account (1.00% APY for any amount, not just a promotional rate).

25-year USAA member here.

My thoughts on USAA:

Insurance products: Excellent.
Banking products: Very good service, free checking, but rates are "meh."
Investment products (mutual funds, brokerage). Meh again

I have to disagree with you on the insurance products. For over ten years I had USAA for my Auto, Home, Fire (for rental), Life Insurance, and Umbrella. Two years ago I had a minor home owners claim that was handled very poorly. So, I decided to obtain quotes on all these products from various providers. Every single insurance product from all of the providers were SIGNIFICANTLY less than USAA. I called USAA back to see if they would match (or at least come close). USAA wouldn't budge a bit. I suggest you call around and compare rates. I'm willing to bet that you are currently paying quite a bit more than you need to be.

[NYBoglehead]

I called USAA because a transfer to Ally bank was refused (too much $), the supervisor asked if she could match their rate for 6 months on the performance first savings, I said yes and kept my money at USAA.

Never would have occurred to me to ask.

Another example of how competition in the private marketplace benefits the consumer.

[burnsh]

USAA Member since 1996. Have tried in the past to get them to match interest rates for an auto loan compared to my local Credit Union. They would not do it. They even told me they never try to match other competitors. You either take their rate or go somewhere else, so I did. My Credit Union auto loan was 3.5% lower. What was also surprising is that I live in San Antonio, home of USAA, and San Antonio's two bigest credit unions, RBFCU and SSFCU, have billboards with their lower loan rates all over the city. Same with their better interest rates on CD's etc. So USAA is very well aware they are being beaten in their own backyard, and yet they would not budge.

I guess they are just trying to hard to grow the company. You can see commercials and advertisements for USAA everywhere now (TV, Internet, Radio, Billboards, you name it), and they now offer most of their services with few exeptions like auto insurance to the general population. In my opinion, instead of rewarding it's members with better rates, they spend the money on advertisement.

[spartanlaw]

USAA Member since 1996. Have tried in the past to get them to match interest rates for an auto loan compared to my local Credit Union. They would not do it. They even told me they never try to match other competitors. You either take their rate or go somewhere else, so I did. My Credit Union auto loan was 3.5% lower. What was also surprising is that I live in San Antonio, home of USAA, and San Antonio's two bigest credit unions, RBFCU and SSFCU, have billboards with their lower loan rates all over the city. Same with their better interest rates on CD's etc. So USAA is very well aware they are being beaten in their own backyard, and yet they would not budge.

I guess they are just trying to hard to grow the company. You can see commercials and advertisements for USAA everywhere now (TV, Internet, Radio, Billboards, you name it), and they now offer most of their services with few exeptions like auto insurance to the general population. In my opinion, instead of rewarding it's members with better rates, they spend the money on advertisement.

I completely agree. I used to have all my financial products with USAA and recommended them to my family and friends. But in the last few years I feel like their focus has completely changed.

[NYBoglehead]

^I like USAA and for now think they are great but I'm definitely skeptical of their recent surge in advertising. I think what makes them great has been they have kept membership somewhat exclusive and focused on taking care of the customers instead of massive growth. I hope that continues to be the case, I'd rather get higher interest rates in my savings and pay lower rates for my auto insurance than we 50 USAA commercials every time I watch a football game.

[Saleen]

I love USAA Banking, and my USAA Banking checking account is where my paychecks are deposited and is where I keep my money to meet my daily needs. There rates are crap right now though!

After getting .46% cashback on my credit card last year I just switched to Capital One's 1.5% cashback card. I only have an average of about 3k in my checking account at any given time, so I would only be getting .4% at Ally, that's still a lot higher than the .01% I'm getting right now at USAA. For me, the difference is only about $15 a year, which I am willing to pay to stick with USAA's excellent online and mobile exerpience, which I am now used to. However, if I had more that 15k in checking and it was .75 at Ally vs .01 at USAA, I think it would be a no brainer.

I guess slick advertisements get more new customers than decent rates. I wonder how many USAA commercials we will see during the superbowl? My guess is 2.

[fitzroymac]

Thanks to OP for this thread. I currently have a USAA Performance First Savings account with a sizable balance. It was earning the standard 0.35% APY. I called and asked if USAA would be willing to increase that rate and said that I had researched other institutions. They gave me the spiel about Ally being underfunded and so on and then talked to me about their unadvertised CD rates. I declined and then they said that they could give me a one-time, six month APY on my savings account of 0.85% APY. I accepted for now and will investigate additional options in six months. On the whole, I am happy with USAA and would like to keep my money with them so long as rates and services are more or less competitive.

[JamesSFO]

Thanks to OP for this thread.

Awesome! Glad to have helped.

[Tazdog]

I did get them to give me an additional 10% cash back on up to $200 a month in gas purchases on my credit card several months ago. The rebate is good for a year and is on top of their regular cash back offer. They were trying to better the old BP gas card deal of 5% cash back.

My old 5% BP Visa card now sits in the drawer since they dropped the 5% rebate for a far inferior points system about a year ago. Does yours still get 5%, and are you still getting 10% on the USAA card?

My BP went to the points system and I cancelled the card because of it. My 10% is good through April, when I will call and see about extending the offer!

[Sally]

Well, this is the FIRST time that I have EVER had anything negative to say about USAA...BUT, after reading these, I called USAA. I received a voice mail from a bank representative that said they never do the above and that all rates are the same for all customers, and to please call so they can check the website to make sure the website is accurate.

I called back and they said they do not offer different rates to different folks--all rates are the same, and that they never match or increase rates for some and not other folks. Only when I specifically mentioned "retention and moving my funds" did the story change to a "retention is different and this a one-time (only) increase to retain an account, and not sure if it could be offered b/c it would have to be approved."

It makes me wonder what other "special" rates are available IF you use the terminology that triggers such??? As a 35 year member with substantial funds in in checking&savings, I am not happy, nor comfortable having to guess their "key words" in order to receive their best rates. Bottom-line, I am very disappointed in this aspect of USAA and am now going do more research and likely move my funds to other organizations that are a bit more focused on giving current, loyal customers their best rates WITHOUT having to use specific terminology to get such rates.

I wasn't inclined to move from one place to another IF I got good customer service, but I guess I will-- so much for simplification--how will I ever remember even more passwords! lol

Seriously THANK YOU to the above posters for the info!

[henry A]

As of recently, I have also been having some minor issues with USAA. Besides the incredibly low interest rates with their savings account, I was quoted (what I thought) was an astronomical price for renters insurance. After calling around, I called USAA back and was given a quote of exactly half the original by a different representative. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have just taken my business elsewhere.

The amount of USAA commercials I have seen on TV lately has also seemed to increase substantially. I wonder if their recent change to recruit more customers will eventually lead to more incidents such as this... I always used to brag about how great they were too!

[burnsh]

On another point, USAA has once again payed their employees a bonus of 18.8% of their base pay. This in a year where they raised their home insurance premiums by 15.7%.

See this article: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/ar ... 232825.php

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with employees receiving a bonus for good performance, but I do have a problem when a member owned organization not giving their owners the best possible rates and rewarding themselves for it.

[tj]

Their recruiters are terrible too.

[Tazdog]

On another point, USAA has once again payed their employees a bonus of 18.8% of their base pay. This in a year where they raised their home insurance premiums by 15.7%.

See this article: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/ar ... 232825.php

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with employees receiving a bonus for good performance, but I do have a problem when a member owned organization not giving their owners the best possible rates and rewarding themselves for it.

Thanks for posting the link to this article. Glad I made the switch to Ally.

[Wricha]

I am not sure if I am happy or pissed. I called USAA today. Been a member for 36 years with a very large balance in savings account collecting .0035 interest. After the call today I am now getting .0085 I missed out on several thousands of dollars of interest last year. It felt like an open air market in a third world country trying to get a better interest rate. As former Army officer this was not the company I originally joined. Sorry USAA your standards have fallen, I guess that is the price you pay for increasing your risk pool.

[Cernel]

Wow, this is an eye opener.

I have been a USAA member for 40 years and always felt good about their Insurance products and customer service. In reading these experiences I am now starting to wonder if I might be better served with another insurance company.

I, too, am concerned about the costs and potential impact on their current clients given the increased advertising, especially that seen on TV. I never recalled USAA advertising on TV until the past couple of year and knowing how expensive that is, I am sure that has influenced rates. I was also shocked to learn of the recent 18.8% bonus paid to their employees. Great for their employees, what what is the impact on rates?

What this thread has encouraged me to do is to go out and compare rates for both my car and home owners insurance. We will see what happens.

[rec7]

They are not on top but their one year CD is almost 4 times what my local BOA branch is paying. I am not a full member so I don't know about the insurance. Being a non full member is kind of funny you can give them all the money you want just don't ask for insurance and some of the loan products.

[Sally]

rec7 » Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:29 am wrote:

They are not on top but their one year CD is almost 4 times what my local BOA branch is paying. I am not a full member so I don't know about the insurance. Being a non full member is kind of funny you can give them all the money you want just don't ask for insurance and some of the loan products.

Their one year CD may be higher than your local BOA branch, but their 1 yr CDs are lower than PenFed, NFCU, Ally, CIT, Discover, etc.

With that said, I would have stayed with USAA banking (for simplification purposes, b/c of customer service, etc.) UNTIL after talking with them about this line of discussion. I am disappointed (to say the least) with their responses (they simply preach why they believe they are competitive and how they cant take positions that would lose $$ (of course I understand this--but, I can't afford to lose $ either, and more importantly...) what I don't understand is why they deny giving higher rates to some performance savings accounts and then later (when pointed out) explaining that the higher rates are only offered to keep customers--in other words, customers must say they are moving to another institution to get USAA best rates--to me, that still equates to some getting higher rates--. ...So, rather than remain complacent and take whatever from USAA, I agree with some of the above posters and have started the process to transfer the majority of my banking funds to another institution(s).

With that said, I have had great service (absolutely no issues like the above) from the investment/brokerage and insurance divisions of USAA. IF and only when their banking division is as good--namely, customer service oriented and responsive to customer concerns-- as are their investment/brokerage and insurance divisions, will I consider again using the banking division.

Sally

[Tazdog]

This is my email and their response last October when I inquired about higher rates:

Reference Account: SAVINGS #XXXXXXXX
I saw Ally is paying .95% on saving accounts and was wondering if USAA would competitively match this rate. Since I have been a USAA customer for 20+ years I thought I would ask before transferring my savings account for a higher rate.

Thanks.

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

Thank you for your email regarding your savings account ending in XXXX. We understand your concern about the interest rates on our Performance First Savings account. To better serve you and all customers, we regularly review our interest rates to ensure that they are competitive.

Our rates are based on current market and industry analysis. This ensures that we have the ability to adjust interest rates to meet the needs of our members and the association during volatile rate environments.

In addition to competitive rates, our deposit accounts offer the following benefits:
No monthly service fees, regardless of your balance.
ATM rebates. (1)
Free online and mobile banking.
Free with your checking account.
Tiered savings rates - the more you save, the more interest you earn.
Free USAA Deposit@Home, which lets qualified members deposit checks with a computer and a scanner. (2)

We're here to help
If our deposit accounts are not right for you, please click on the Products and Services tab and consider our other products. Remember with USAA Bank you'll receive unparalleled customer service.

(1) USAA does not charge a fee for the first 10 ATM withdrawals and refunds up to $15 in other banks' ATM usage fees each month. A 1% foreign transaction fee applies to withdrawals outside the United States.
(2) You must qualify for USAA's Deposit@Home and Deposit@Mobile; eligibility for USAA property and casualty insurance and credit qualification required. Deposits may not be available for immediate withdrawal.

USAA Federal Savings Bank, Member FDIC
We value your business and the opportunity to serve all your financial needs.

Thank you,
XXX XXXXX
USAA

USAA means United Services Automobile Association and its affiliates.

[rec7]

This is my email and their response last October when I inquired about higher rates:

Reference Account: SAVINGS #XXXXXXXX
I saw Ally is paying .95% on saving accounts and was wondering if USAA would competitively match this rate. Since I have been a USAA customer for 20+ years I thought I would ask before transferring my savings account for a higher rate.

Thanks.

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

Thank you for your email regarding your savings account ending in XXXX. We understand your concern about the interest rates on our Performance First Savings account. To better serve you and all customers, we regularly review our interest rates to ensure that they are competitive.

Our rates are based on current market and industry analysis. This ensures that we have the ability to adjust interest rates to meet the needs of our members and the association during volatile rate environments.

In addition to competitive rates, our deposit accounts offer the following benefits:
No monthly service fees, regardless of your balance.
ATM rebates. (1)
Free online and mobile banking.
Free with your checking account.
Tiered savings rates - the more you save, the more interest you earn.
Free USAA Deposit@Home, which lets qualified members deposit checks with a computer and a scanner. (2)

We're here to help
If our deposit accounts are not right for you, please click on the Products and Services tab and consider our other products. Remember with USAA Bank you'll receive unparalleled customer service.

(1) USAA does not charge a fee for the first 10 ATM withdrawals and refunds up to $15 in other banks' ATM usage fees each month. A 1% foreign transaction fee applies to withdrawals outside the United States.
(2) You must qualify for USAA's Deposit@Home and Deposit@Mobile; eligibility for USAA property and casualty insurance and credit qualification required. Deposits may not be available for immediate withdrawal.

USAA Federal Savings Bank, Member FDIC
We value your business and the opportunity to serve all your financial needs.

Thank you,
XXX XXXXX
USAA

USAA means United Services Automobile Association and its affiliates.

Don't feel bad my uncle tried a match and they would not do it his account is close to the 250k limit. So it is not as if they were turning down some chicken feed.

[Tazdog]

I find it fascinating that there are so many folks on this site with a similar experience. I thought it was just me that had noticed the decline of USAA.

[mickeyd]

If I am following this thread correctly, am I correct in understanding that USAA FSB is granting a 0.85% savings account to some members, but not to others? Seems strange.

Since I am a 40+ year USAA customer and have less than $50K in savings account paying 0.25%, I called them yesterday, advised them of an offer from Discover bank online savings I just received for 0.80% and was advised by the CSR rep that my only option was to upgrade my account to one paying 0.30%, but I had to bump the total up to $50K in order to "qualify". The rep said that it sounded to him that I would do much better with the Discover account!!

What magic words do I need to mention to the USAA CSR rep in order to get it bumped up to 0.85%?

[tj]

The rep said that it sounded to him that I would do much better with the Discover account!!

At least he's honest!

[burnsh]

I would like to know USAA answer to this one:

"Imagine if you could earn 3 or 4 percent interest on a “free” checking account – with no minimum balance requirement, no monthly fees and free transactions at any ATM in the country?

Advertise | AdChoices
It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not.

The Kasasa checking account (pronounced kah-sah-suh) offered by dozens of community banks and credit unions across the country is for real. Right now, 29 of these institutions are paying 3 to 4 percent APY to those who qualify. "



http://www.nbcnews.com/business/better- ... -1B8310118

[Saleen]

I would like to know USAA answer to this one:

"Imagine if you could earn 3 or 4 percent interest on a “free” checking account – with no minimum balance requirement, no monthly fees and free transactions at any ATM in the country?

Advertise | AdChoices
It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not.

The Kasasa checking account (pronounced kah-sah-suh) offered by dozens of community banks and credit unions across the country is for real. Right now, 29 of these institutions are paying 3 to 4 percent APY to those who qualify. "



http://www.nbcnews.com/business/better- ... -1B8310118

This is very interesting! Looks like at least one bank on there (evergreenbankgroup, based out of illinois) offers online banking nationwide and gives 2.05% APY on the first 10k. This could be good for someone like me who never keeps more than 6k in my checking account.

[mickeyd]

Update~~~

I just got off of the phone with USAA and after being transferred to two other folks @ USAA I am told that I too qualify for the rates of "their very best customers" which is 0.85%. But it's not as simple as that.

My savings have been in a regular USAA savings account earning 0.25. I was offered an increase to 0.30 or 0.35% (over 50k) by the first person (person #1) I spoke with. I said that I was only interested in the special 0.85% savings account (not an annuity, not a MF). #1 was unaware of this special rate. I mentioned "retention and moving my funds" that Sally made mention of above. I was then directed to the "Member Advice Solution Team" and this guy seemed to be aware of the 0.85% rate but held his cards close to the vest. I basically told him that I was going to move my savings to Discover bank and take advantage of their 0.80% online savings account and I would rather stay with USAA if I qualify for the special deal. Since he could not help (it turns out is not with the USAA bank but the USAA investment company), he transferred me to a 3rd person (Sharon). After a brief accounting of my situation and that I was prepared to move it all to Discover bank today, I was advised that I qualified for the special 6 month increase of 50bp on top of the 0.35% that is offered for the "Performance First" savings account (.35 + .50= .85!). After 6 months they will contact me and offer a new short term (6 month) deal. No additional paperwork was required.

I can't stress enough that using the verbiage that Sally mentioned in her post ~ "retention and moving my funds"~ seemed to open the doors to get to the person who wanted to retain me as a customer and had the authority to grant me entrance to the club.

I agree that it is a shame that this kind of thing has to go on in the banking world, but I am also glad that I pursued it and tripled my APY from .25% to .85%.

[tfb]

I agree that it is a shame that this kind of thing has to go on in the banking world, but I am also glad that I pursued it and tripled my APY from .25% to .85%.

It seems to me moving would be a lot easier than these phone calls with different reps and secret words. Who knows what they will offer after six months. You would also get 1.00% instead of 0.85%. Begging is so not worth it. Unlike a checking account which is linked to many things, a savings account doesn't have that many hooks. It pretty much just sits there.