Consumer complaint received 2024-09-27
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION (WA)

Because USAA does not have any local branches, I can not deposit cash. My only option has been to purchase a money order and use mobile deposit. Today ( XXXX ) I had cash that I needed to use to pay for an auction. The auction house does not accept cash or checks, so I did what I always do and purchased money orders to make the deposit so I could use my debit card. I deposited 2 money orders. XXXX for {$500.00} and the other for {$370.00}. The funds for the {$500.00} were made available right away, but the {$370.00} was held. Customer service said that we were told there would be a hold before the deposit was complete, but we did not get any warning about a deposit hold until after the transaction was complete. As a side note, even if there was a warning, the money order would have been worthless by that point because it has to be endorsed for USAA mobile deposit before you can even start the mobile deposit process. I tried using the chat option in the app and the only answer I got was a copy and pasted reply about the policy and eventually was told that it was unpredictable when funds would be held. When I asked to escalate my issue I was just told to call the customer service number. When I called customer service I felt like I was treated much better, but still did not get any reasonable answer. I asked to have by issue elevated again and was transferred to someone that seemed to only be interested in repeating the same empty answers with XXXX attempt at resolution. 
Over almost 20 years banking with USAA, I have dealt with the struggles of not having a local branch. I have never been able to deposit cash and have used work around like deposits using the XXXX stores when that option was available and now having the only option being purchasing a money order to use with mobile deposit. All of this has been a headache worth dealing with because customer service was always excellent. Not just good, USAA was the best customer service I had ever encountered. I always got off the phone or finished a chat feeling better than when I had started. Now customer service is tied to just repeating policy rather than trying to help find a solution. I have been using money orders and the mobile app to get cash into my account for years and never had a problem. Now it is held for no good reason. I have never had a returned deposit, my paycheck and VA pension are always deposited on a reliable schedule. I have gone into overdraft, but it has always been cleared and never been an issue. Now I am made to feel like a nuisance for expecting to be able to use the money that I deposited into my bank account. The last person I was transferred to when I called in was only interested in getting me off the phone. I was told multiple times that it is a computer that decides if I can have my funds available. At this point, I have no incentive to to deal with the hassles of not banking locally. Being treated like a person rather than an account kept me willing to jump through a few more hoops. Now, after over half my life as a USAA member, I am ready to walk away because I can be treated like garbage anywhere, but at least I can deposit cash at another bank.