USAA® Federal Savings Bank Checking Accounts

I'm an Active Duty Soldier who has been exclusively using USAA for my banking and insurance for the past 15 years. I have insured my cars, my primary residence, my personal belongings, and my rental properties through this company and use them for my primary checking, savings, and have multiple credit cards with them.

After 15 years of faithful loyalty, I finally had to make my VERY FIRST insurance claim through them. I was driving to my TDY location in Virginia, and a semi truck in front of me had a tire blowout which flew back into my car. The debris impacted the front of my car and went underneath it, but I managed to maintain control of the vehicle. I had no issues I could immediately notice and I felt that I avoided any damage. I continued down the highway a few exits to my destination without noticing anything of concern. When I slowed down at the exit ramp, that's when I noted a loud scraping noise coming from underneath the vehicle. I got to my hotel inspected the damage only to realize that my entire front bumper was ripped off and lodged underneath my vehicle. I immediately filed a claim, sent pictures and notified the VA state troopers to get an incident report filed.

USAA's response: I'm actually at fault and liable for the semi having a tire blowout somehow, and they won't cover the damage, towing, or rental that I pay for. This isn't a company that cares about service members or their families.

I have been a member of USAA since 2017, but for the past two years, it has been a complete nightmare banking with them. Their fraud/security department has been flagging and locking my account constantly. I could be at the grocery store shopping, and when it's time to pay for my items, my account is locked. I have to call them and spend hours on the phone trying to figure it out to get my account unlocked, then they say it will remain locked for 72 hours. Most recently, they restricted my account while I was trying to pay the deposit to get a new apartment. I had no access to my account, couldn't pay to move into my apartment, had no money to get a hotel, and had to sleep in my car. And every time I call them, no one can give me an exact answer as to what is going on or how long my account will be restricted. They claim to be for the military and veterans; however, I am active duty and am currently sleeping in my car. I am getting paid by the military but can't touch my money because USAA has locked me out of my account. I'm in the streets sleeping in my car without food, my phone is cut off for nonpayment, and I can't do anything while I have a good paying job. DO NOT BANK WITH USAA. THEY ARE TERRIBLE TO DO BUSINESS WITH.

On Saturday, June 21, 2025, I received a fraud alert text from my bank. As soon as the fraud alert came through, I received numerous phone calls from the same number that I declined, but they kept calling non-stop, so I answered. The man said he was with the fraud department of USAA and asked me if I was traveling and then inquired about a few large charges that he said were pending from California. I live in Pennsylvania and am handicapped, so I do not travel. He then asked about an attempted transaction near me for $18,000.00 to Brownstone LLC. He said I needed to go to the bank immediately to correct and stop this. The first Chase bank he had me go to is where he told me the fraud occurred. He told me to go in and fill out a slip to counteract the scammers' charges. The first bank asked questions about the transaction, so he had me leave right away. He said the teller asking me questions and following me was the hacker. He said I needed to go to a different Chase bank to do the same thing there to counteract and stop the charge. He did tell me that he deactivated my debit/credit card so it was unable to be used, but I would have to show that and my ID at the bank. He told me once I did this, my account would be secure. He was in my bank account while I was on the phone with him. He was making changes in my account as I watched him on my mobile bank app. I gave him zero information. He had it all. When he put me on hold, the USAA jingle hold music was playing. He told me what my most recent charges were and what my son's and daughter's accounts were. He said if he weren't with USAA, he would not be able to access my account. He sent me texts that looked exactly like the USAA texts do. He ended up taking $18,000.00 from my children and me. I am disabled with Multiple Sclerosis, and that was all of the money that I had. Please help me. The phone number was a Texas number, but apparently, the transaction was made from Florida, according to my bank.

If I could give USAA zero stars, I would. This is hands down the most dishonest, incompetent, and downright predatory financial institution I've ever dealt with. They pretend to serve military families and veterans with honor, but the truth is they exploit that trust and run their bank like a scam operation. USAA gave me a provisional credit during a dispute and then retracted it days later without warning like some back-alley loan shark. They didn't notify me. They didn't explain. They just drained the account, leaving it in the negative as if it was Monopoly money. If this is how they treat customers, especially those tied to military families, they should be ashamed to exist under the USAA name. They let unauthorized transactions slide, failed to protect my money, and acted as if it was my fault when they couldn't manage their own system. Their support is useless—robotic, cold, and more interested in covering their own mess than helping the people they're supposed to serve. To the people working there: I hope you all reflect on the fact that you work for a company that thrives on taking from the very people it claims to protect. You aren't helping anyone; you're just pressing buttons in a system designed to take advantage of people. Run from USAA. I pulled every cent out and moved to a real bank that actually values its customers. Don't wait until they pull the rug out from under you because they will.

Since my daughter reported them to the BBB, they credited her money back from the scam, but not my money, which was all together as one transaction. How can a portion of it be stolen due to fraud, and the balance is not? This bank is TROUBLE. Run from them. They do not care about people in the least. Do not bank here if you value your money and sanity. Look up all the problems they've had since 2019. Seriously, do not bank here. They are not what they profess to be or what they used to be. Save yourself the mental anguish and run from this place.

This bank is fraudulent and deceptive! On June 17, 2024, USAA sent me a letter stating, "We're committed to keeping you informed about the status of your account. After careful evaluation, we're writing to inform you that we're exercising our right to no longer do banking business with you per our Depository Agreement. We're electing to close your accounts." This occurred a day after I disputed charges from claritycheck.com. On that same day, claritycheck issued refunds for all the disputes. I received every refund except for a charge of $24.99. On that day, I had two deposits: one was my husband's paycheck, and the other was child support for my five children. A day later, I received another child support payment, which they have kept.

I asked for the reason they closed the accounts, and they refused to give me one, stating it was their right to close any account for any reason. I requested my money be refunded, and at that time, I was told that until the disputes that were open were resolved, they would not release my funds. I spoke with Brittany, who is a customer advocate, and was told that once the dispute closed, they would immediately release my funds. The dispute was closed on Friday, July 11, and I was told a check was mailed out to me that day. The next day, a representative informed me that they were keeping the money for a full 60 days and wouldn't release my funds even though the disputes were closed.

When I asked for transcripts of all communication since the closure, I was told that I would have to have them subpoenaed. I also have proof from the bank itself that they received the refund for the dispute on June 17th. They have not put the refund into my account and kept the dispute open for no reason. I took a photo of the communication from the bank acknowledging they received the refund and told the bank yesterday that I had found it in my documents. Today I went to my documents, and it is no longer there. This is straight-up fraud.

People think that USAA is for veterans, but they do not help veterans. They make it hard for veterans and seem to enjoy it. These people are professional crooks; they're worse than an insurance company. One star is too many. I was starving, and I cashed a $1,000 check via mobile deposit. I've been with USAA for over 20 years. They wouldn't budge at all. I told them I was literally dying on the phone on the fifth day of not eating, and they would not release the funds. The lady said, "We will not release your funds." I said, "Well, I'm starving to death," and she said, "Hopefully, you live seven days because that's when you'll get the money." This bank would let you die before they release the money because they are earning interest on your check. They make you wait intentionally. They don't care that I was dying; they would not give me my money because they were making a few dollars in interest by making me wait seven days. This bank is terrible.

I wish I could give them zero stars. I have been a member for over 10 years, and they have declined in quality. When you call them for an issue, they often cannot help you, so they transfer you to different departments, hoping you get frustrated and give up. They will mislead you, saying they are transferring you to a supervisor or specialist, but it will actually be to a different department that cannot assist you. If you confront them about this deceptive behavior, they will hang up on you. The authentication process with every new person you speak to is exhausting, adding to the frustration. They also have a script of platitudes to offer insincere sympathy when you express dissatisfaction. I am in the process of closing everything down and moving banks. I will also report them to the BBB and OCC. Stay away from USAA.

My girlfriend has been through a great deal with this bank dealing with the fraud department. The last time she was scammed, USAA sent her a new card with the same credit card number. She notified USAA to return it. She tried to send it back via FedEx, but USAA said they would send a carrier to retrieve it. The carrier's name was supposed to be Jessica, but someone else came to pick it up. This seemed odd, but she called USAA back before she gave him the card. USAA said to give him the card. This happened last night, and this morning she has multiple charges on her account. What is going on with this? USAA deals with veterans and seniors; this is the type of care USAA has for their clients. I hope we can get this matter resolved soon. I'm pretty sure if it were a person working with USAA, they wouldn't experience this type of problem.

This bank is supposed to be for veterans, yet they closed my account without any notification. They also closed my daughter's account and now I am told I have to wait 60 days to get my money, which I think is unacceptable. This bank doesn't care about an individual's financial situation at all. Terrible bank, and I will never use them again. They really need to stop saying they support the military because they don't care.

USAA erroneously added my personal banking account information from a third-party banking account to another individual's USAA banking account. USAA is refusing to remove my banking information from the other individual's account and refusing to acknowledge the error. My personal bank account from a third-party bank is now available for another individual to use without my consent. I cannot immediately close the third-party account until every direct deposit and outgoing bill payment is changed. If you've never had the pleasure of working with government pay accounts, the aforementioned will take months to complete. "Just file a lawsuit if someone takes your money?" Okay, but who wants to spend more time and money doing that when USAA made the mistake?