Choosing a new bank – Part 3, USAA wins

I’ve already discussed why I need to change banks and some of the many reasons I rejected most. This article talks about why I chose USAA, and why I am really happy about my choice.

I didn’t expect to be happy

In fact, I was depressed for quite a while during the selection process. It really seemed like there was no bank in the world that could make me happy. I don’t think my requirements are all that crazy, I want it free, easy to use on and offline, and responsive to me. Yet 99% of all banks fail these few tests.

I had given up, but then I ran across The Ultimate USAA Thread at Fat Wallet. I was intrigued, I checked them out some more, I read their website, and I decided to give them my business.

USAA in a nutshell

The are located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. Most of their business is done online, and they are very good at that. Their online billpay is second-to-none in features. They are renown for their excellent customer service.

Their primary focus is military and military families. In fact, a casual read of their website would convince you that you must be in one of those classes to use them. That’s not true, anyone can be a member, simply call 1-800-531-2265 and ask for a member number.

In addition to normal bank offerings such as checking, savings, and loans, they also deal in auto/life/home insurance as well as investment services.

They are profitable ($100 million profit last year) and solid, and are rated one of the top 100 companies to work for in the U.S.

My experience joining

I called the number above. In 45 minutes, I had transferred $500 from my existing checking, splitting $475/$25 to my new checking and savings accounts. I had additionally applied for $1,000,000 term life insurance ($554/year for 20 years). I left the call with my checking and savings account numbers, a member number, and one-time passwords to get into the website.

I had to wait twice on hold, and not at all to get a CSR to start with. The waits were once while setting up the savings account and splitting the initial deposit, and another wait while my life insurance quote was being prepared. Each time, the CSR would make sure to break in every few minutes and tell me that all was OK and that they were working on the application.

I am very pleased to note that when they transferred me from banking to insurance, despite my account being minutes old, they did not need anything from me other than my member number. Contrast that with my experience calling Bank Of America, where every transfer starts with a multiple-question litany “name, social security, account number, birthday”.
Great customer service is in the details, and they had those details nailed down.

I look forward to many happy years as a USAA banking customer!

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