Consumer complaint received 2023-11-30
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: CO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
USAA sent me two letters dated XXXX that I did not receive until XXXX. One letter said my two credit cards ( XXXX and XXXX XXXX had been cancelled. The second letter said my three banking accounts with them would be closed on XXXX. I had two savings accounts and one checking account. The letter about my bank accounts said, " We're sorry to inform you that USAA Federal Savings Bank is exercising its right to no longer do banking business with you per our Depository Agreement. '' The letter about my credit cards said, " We are writing to inform you that USAA Savings Bank is exercising its right to no longer maintain a banking relationship with you due to your account activity or usage with us or an affiliate. '' I called the number given in the letters to contact with questions. I first spoke with XXXX who told me she was not authorized to give me an explanation of why the accounts were closed other than what the letters said. I asked for her supervisor and then spoke with XXXX who told me decision was made by the Anti Money Laundering Ops Team and could not be reversed. XXXX said the reason could be due to money laundering or fraud. He attempted to contact the AML Ops Team but was told he was not authorized to deal with them. He told me this happens all the time. He reviewed my accounts and said he could not see any suspicious activity that would have caused the arbitrary closures. When I asked for his supervisor, he said one was not available but that they would tell me the exact same thing he had. Apparently, nobody at USAA is authorized to give an explanation. The ALS Ops Team has no public phone number or email address. My husband and I have been members of USA since approximately XXXX  and never been late on a payment as our credit cards were set up to be automatically paid in full by AED monthly. Our banking accounts have never had a problem. Our checking account has never been overdrawn or had any returned checks. 

On the date of the letters, XXXX, I had made an interbank transfer of {$25000.00} from one of our savings accounts to a savings account we have at XXXX XXXX. This was done to realize a much larger APY than USAA pays. I have made these transfers before. The only conclusion I can reach is that USAA felt they were not making enough money on our accounts. Possibly it could be because I am a XXXX XXXX female aged XXXX  years. I certainly have nothing to do with money laundering, nor have I committed any fraud that I am aware of. 

What USAA did may be legal, and it may be true they are not required to explain their actions, but it certainly is not ethical to treat a customer in this manner. All I want is an explanation for why they did this. If they believe I did something wrong, they could tell me what it was. Right now I have no viable clue. I read in my XXXX magazine, and in a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX article that this sort of thing is happening more and more, and that many complaints have been registered. This seems grossly unfair. 

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this complaint. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation