Consumer complaint received 2026-01-23 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem making or receiving payments
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: CT

Complaint narrative:
Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I have been subjected to a series of adverse and unexpected decisions on my account relating to chargeback reversals, overdraft fees, funds freezes, and account holds that were applied in a retaliatory and abusive manner. I believe that USAA engaged in this pattern of conduct to discourage me from seeking available protections under consumer and banking laws, including the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and its implementing Regulation E, and the Consumer Financial Protection Acts prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices ( UDAAP ), which the CFPB has previously enforced against USAA for failures in error resolution and account handling.

First, USAA has regularly delayed issuing reversals for debitcard and other electronic transaction disputes, often only complying with Regulation Es errorresolution obligations after the 10businessday period had expired and only when I contacted customer service to demand compliance. In many cases, USAA issued a provisional credit or chargeback only to later reverse that credit permanently without clear explanation, even after I requested reconsideration and provided additional evidence, leaving me unable to effectively challenge fraudulent transactions against my account. USAA continues to engage in this pattern for chargebacks filed in Q4 2025, issuing adverse reversals while refusing to disclose its investigative process, explain its reasoning, or meaningfully consider the evidence I submitted. USAA has used this practice of surprise reversals on credits to further subject my account to abusive and predatory overdraft fees it routinely refuses to reimburse.

Second, for a longer period, from approximately XX/XX/XXXX through the present, USAA has repeatedly locked or frozen that same debit card ( though not the underlying deposit account ) without any advance or contemporaneous notice, despite my enrollment in account and card alerts. As a result, I have repeatedly experienced declined transactions for essential items such as food and gas while USAA continued to draw on my account balance and to side with merchants I identified as engaging in fraudulent or deceptive practices. In roughly a dozen or more instances, the only way to remove these freezes and restore use of my card was to call USAA, rendering my debit card effectively unusable on a recurring basis and preventing me from accessing available funds for necessities.

I believe USAA has targeted me with these arbitrary, capricious, and opaque practices in retaliation for exercising my rights to dispute transactions and seek chargebacks, and that these practices constitute unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, as well as violations of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation Es requirements for timely, goodfaith error resolution and transparent handling of electronic fund transfer disputes.

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