Consumer complaint received 2026-07-14 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: MO

Complaint narrative:
My monthly VA disability compensation and my OPM disability retirement benefits were directly deposited into my USAA Federal Savings Bank checking account. Both are federal benefit payments protected under 38 U.S.C. 5301 ( a ) ( VA ) and 5 U.S.C. 8346 and 8470 ( OPM ), and are recognized as protected federal benefits under 31 CFR Part 212. 

My USAA account currently shows a negative balance. That negative balance exists only because USAA credited my account with funds that were fraudulently taken and then clawed those funds back. Those charges are still actively being disputed as fraudulent and have not been resolved. USAA is applying my protected federal disability and retirement funds against this disputed negative balance. 

On or about XX/XX/year>, I called USAA and spoke with a member of the Member Relations Team ( MRT ), who confirmed that these funds were federally protected benefits, that they should not be applied to the negative balance, and that they would be rejected and sent back to the U.S. Treasury rather than applied to the balance. That call was recorded by USAA. USAA can locate and review the recorded call from on or about XX/XX/year>, in which its representative confirmed the funds were protected and would be rejected and returned to the U.S. Treasury. This confirmation was also entered into my account annotations/notes. 

On XX/XX/year>, at approximately XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, I spoke with another USAA MRT representative, named XXXX. I explained repeatedly that the funds were to have been rejected, that my account is negative only because USAA credited it with the fraudulently taken funds and then clawed them back, and that the representative I spoke with on XX/XX/year>, told me the funds were federally protected benefits that should not be applied to the negative balance and should instead be sent back to the U.S. Treasury. This call was also recorded, and USAA advised me it would be recorded. USAA can reference the recorded call from XX/XX/year>, at approximately XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX 

During that call, the representative reviewed the documents on USAAs end and confirmed that the funds were in fact processed to be sent back and that USAAs records show they should have been returned. She stated USAA sent these documents on XX/XX/year>, and that the process typically takes 7 to 10 business days. That 7-to-10 business day window has now fully elapsed, and USAA has still not completed the return of my protected funds. This process is taking entirely too long, and I remain without access to one of my only sources of income. I am homeless and completely without money to buy food. I am going hungry. 

Later in that same call, the representative told me to reach out to the VA and OPM regarding the funds. This directly contradicts what she had just confirmed that USAA itself processed the return on XX/XX/year>, and that the funds were on USAAs end awaiting completion within USAAs own 7-to-10 business day timeframe. Following her instruction, I contacted the VA, and the VA was unable to locate my VA disability funds and confirmed the money has not been sent back to them. This confirms that USAA has not actually completed the return it claims to have processed. The funds are not in the possession of the VA or OPM, and it is USAA not the VA or OPM that initiated and controls the pending return. Redirecting me to the VA and OPM is an improper attempt to shift responsibility for completing a process that USAA already started and that its own records show should have been finished. 
Separately, and I believe as a direct result of a prior CFPB complaint I filed against USAA, USAA has elected to no longer do business with me and is closing my accounts. USAA has given no reason for this action other than the fact that I exercised my right to file a complaint. I believe this is retaliation against me for filing a CFPB complaint. 
USAAs own recorded calls, account annotations, and internal documents confirm its representatives have repeatedly acknowledged these are protected federal benefits that should have been rejected and returned to the U.S. Treasury. Despite these acknowledgments and USAAs own records showing the funds were processed to be sent back on XX/XX/year>, USAA has failed to complete the process within its own stated 7-to-10 business day timeframe, and the receiving agency confirms the funds have not arrived. I am asking the CFPB to require USAA to immediately complete the return of my protected VA and OPM benefit funds to the U.S. Treasury. 

Desired resolution : Immediate completion of the rejection and return of my VA disability and OPM disability retirement funds to the U.S. Treasury ; a written explanation of why the return was not completed within USAAs own stated 7-to-10 business day timeframe after being processed on XX/XX/year>, when the receiving agency confirms it has not received the funds ; cessation of applying protected federal benefits to a disputed, unresolved account balance ; resolution of the pending fraud dispute ; confirmation that USAA not the VA or OPM is responsible for completing the return it processed on XX/XX/year> ; and an explanation of USAAs decision to close my accounts following my prior complaint.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation