Consumer complaint received 2025-10-24 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION

Complaint narrative:
On XXXX XX/XX/year> I initiated an international wire transfer for {$20000.00} US to my bank account in XXXX XXXX. USAA requested the same information I had used before on a successful wire transfer ( XXXX XX/XX/year> ) so I had them use the same information for the wire transfer on XXXX XX/XX/year>. I was charged {$45.00} by USAA for the wire transfer. That wire transfer was rejected ; my transfer amount was returned in whole but I was not refunded for the fees charged by USAA. I was told to contact my bank in XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, to figure out why the transfer had been rejected. The only thing they could tell me at USAA was that the transfer was rejected because of " address ''. That was it, one word, no clarification. I called XXXXXXXX XXXX  and they had no record of the transfer coming in and said they wouldn't have rejected a transfer because the address wasn't formatted correctly. They said it was on the American side. They also mentioned that the US used some strange wire transfer technology and had recently changed it ( XXXX? ) to make it more standardized. 

I called USAA to let them know XXXX XXXX  was unaware that a transfer had been rejected. USAA told me to wait a week or so and try again. So I did on XXXX XX/XX/year>. I started another wire transfer for {$20000.00} and I was charged {$45.00} in fees by USAA. This transfer was rejected on XXXX XX/XX/year>. I was refunded my USAA {$45.00} fees but the transfer came back {$40.00} short. I only got back {$19000.00}. When I called USAA they said the receiving bank must have taken that money. I called XXXX XXXX and they had no record of the transfer coming to them and they don't take money out of transfers. On XXXX XX/XX/year> I initiated another wire transfer for {$20000.00} and paid USAA {$45.00} in fees. This transfer was rejected as well, I was not returned my {$45.00} from USAA for the fees and I only got {$19000.00} back from my transfer amount. 

I called USAA to complain and they told me the transfer from XXXX XXXX was rejected because the address was wrong but didn't tell me what the correct format was supposed to be. They told me the transfer from XXXX XXXX was rejected because the account number was wrong. They told me the transfer from XXXX XXXX was rejected because the address was wrong. When USAA compared all three rejected transfers they noticed that the addresses on all three were substantially the same, and the account numbers on all three were the same. In other words, they had no idea what was going on. When I start a wire transfer, USAA asks a bunch of questions and I answer them all. So if something is wrong or missing, how am I responsible for that? We go over every entry that they ask about to confirm account numbers and addresses and names. XXXX USAA representative was able to identify XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ) as an intermediary bank that handles USAA 's international wire transfers and told me that was the bank rejecting my transfers. I have been unable to confirm that XXXX is indeed the intermediary bank. I requested USAA look into the matter and there was no response, the money for my fees has not been returned from XXXX and I've only received compensation from USAA for one set of fees out of the three they took. When I called USAA on XXXX XX/XX/year> to follow up on the problem, the first person I spoke to ( XXXX XXXX had not idea what was going on. He transferred me to XXXX and she was completely useless. I asked her if I was supposed to call XXXX to figure all this out and she basically said she couldn't give me any advice, completely missing the sarcasm. Everyone at USAA just says they don't know what's going on and they can't help out. They are a bank! How do they not know how to do this?! 

I think it would be appropriate for USAA and XXXX to refund all of my fees and money stolen during these transactions if they can not provide evidence that I knowingly or neglectfully supplied the wrong information. This is totally a bank-to-bank problem but I have been forced to pay both banks for pure failures in service. USAA failed to solve my problems, this issue has been unresolved for over a month at this point. 

Thank you for your time, XXXX XXXX

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