Offering banking services since the 80s, USAA Bank caters to military members and their families. This midsize bank provides checking, savings, certificates of deposit (CDs) and various lending products — all the trimmings of a typical bank. It also has a very large ATM network of over 100,000, offers early direct deposit and supports Zelle. However, while there are no membership fees, you must become a USAA member to access their products.
Best for: Military members and their families.
Pros
No monthly fees on deposit accounts
Low opening deposit requirements
Large ATM network
Integrated with Zelle
Cons
Low savings APY
Few branch locations
Is USAA right for you?
USAA Federal Savings Bank, or just USAA Bank, states they are member-owned, but they’re not a credit union. It’s an FDIC-insured, traditional bank. If you prefer in-person support, it has a few “Financial Centers” in Colorado, Maryland, New York and Texas.
However, not everyone can join. USAA Bank membership is available to active duty National Guard and Reserve members, veterans, cadets, midshipman and their immediate family members.
How USAA Bank stacks up
USAA Bank is among the top 20 banks in the US by asset size. So, while it’s much smaller than the Big Four banks like Chase or Wells Fargo, it’s still a big player in the industry.
Offering bank accounts, loans and insurance products, USAA is a traditional bank with traditional offerings. However, its savings rates are below average unless you can maintain a high balance on its Performance First Savings account to get its 1.10% APY.
Its checking accounts are just fine, providing early direct deposit, ATM reimbursements, a large ATM network and USAA is integrated with Zelle.
Where it shines
USAA Bank has membership requirements but a decent number of perks.
No membership fees. USAA requires a membership, but there are no fees to join.
Large ATM network. Easily one of the largest ATM networks in the states, USAA offers fee-free access to over 10,000 ATMs across the states.
Various services. USAA offers banking, lending and insurance products.
Few fees. Most USAA bank accounts don’t charge monthly maintenance fees, though you likely need an opening deposit.
Integrated with Zelle. Like many large banks and credit unions, USAA members with bank accounts can use Zelle to send money to friends and family.
Where it falls short
USAA simply isn’t the right bank for everyone.
Limited eligibility. Unless you’re a current or former military member or the family member of a USAA member, you won’t likely qualify for a USAA membership to access its products.
Few branches. Unless you live near a branch, count on doing most of your banking online.
Low savings APYs. Most CDs and its main savings account earn just 0.01% APY. The USAA Performance First Savings account offers up to 1.10% APY, but you’ll need a balance of at least $500,000 to earn that rate.
USAA Bank checking accounts
You’ve got a few checking account options with USAA.
USAA Classic Checking. A simple account with no monthly service fees and a $25 opening deposit, the Classic Checking account has a decent number of benefits. Offers early paycheck deposit, access to 100,000 ATMs, budgeting tools in the app and mobile check deposits. Also earn 0.01% APY on balances of $1,000 or more and get reimbursed when you use other banks’ ATMS up to $10 per month. Fresh military recruits get extra perks, such as a waived opening deposit and a prefilled IRA to help simplify finances.
USAA Youth Spending. A kids’ checking account, parents get controls like ATM withdrawal and deposit limits. This account has no monthly fees, offers a debit card and doesn’t let you overdraft, so there are no overdraft fees.
USAA offers three savings accounts — but none have APYs that will knock your socks off. As you’re comparing rates, remember that the national average rate on savings accounts is
0.40%, as reported by the FDIC.(1)
USAA Savings. A basic, tiered savings account with a $25 opening deposit. While rates are technically tiered, all balances earn 0.01% APY.
USAA Performance First Savings. The bank’s high-yield account requires $1,000 to open. Offers between 0.01% to 1% APY, depending on your balance. Requires at least $500,000 to earn 1% APY.
Youth Savings. The USAA kids’ savings account with a $25 opening deposit. Offers 0.01% APY on all balances.
USAA UGMA and UTMA Accounts. These custodial accounts let you invest money on behalf of a child, who’ll get access to it at 18 or 21, depending on the state.
A classic savings product, CDs “lock” your funds away for a set term to earn interest. At the end of the term, you can withdraw your deposit and earnings.
Most banks require at least $1,000 to open a CD, and USAA also follows that trend, requiring a minimum $1,000 deposit for standard CDs, $95,000 for jumbo CDs or $175,000 for super jumbo.
One of the best CD offerings is the standard, jumbo or super jumbo CD for a term of 182 days with a 2.25% APY.
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What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.
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What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score analyzes hundreds of CDs from more than 100 institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate for available terms and opening deposit requirements - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
Different banks and credit unions offer CDs for various lengths of time, ranging from as short as seven days to as long as 20 years. For our ratings, we consider the term lengths that the FDIC uses in its monthly updates on national rates.
If a bank or credit union doesn’t offer a CD for a specific term used by the FDIC, we don’t penalize it: Instead, we simply don’t rate it. Each of the standard term lengths has its own APY rating based on the FDIC’s average rates.
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What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 300 checking accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, overdraft fees, opening deposit, customer support options, ATM network and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of checking accounts against what we consider is the best option: no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, a large ATM network of 50,000 or more, additional features outside of typical banking services, and the optional perk of earning interest. Accounts that are nearly free to maintain and use are scored the highest, while accounts with costly fees and few features are scored the lowest.
1.16 out of 5 stars, based on 2360 customer reviews
Trustpilot score
1.2 out of 5 stars, based on 3,297 customer reviews
Apple App Store Score
4.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,000,000 customer reviews
Google Play Score
4.5 out of 5 stars, based on 327,000 customer reviews
Customer reviews verified as of
21 April 2025
USAA offers a lot of products and services, and one of its flagship products is insurance — which is what most of its reviews are about. And speaking of, reviews aren’t great.
Trustpilot reviews are very varied, but a few commonalities include complaints about rising insurance rates, unhappiness with mortgage processes, costly bank account fees and negative experiences with customer service representatives. Another main theme is past USAA customers warning other military members to stay away from the bank.
On the Better Business Bureau (BBB), it has over 1,000 complaints, but that’s typical for a company of its size. Most complaints are typical, such as locked accounts, issues with deposits, attempts to resolve fraudulent charges and charge disputes. USAA takes time to respond to these complaints, helping USAA defend that A+ BBB rating.
What do people on Reddit say?
On Reddit, most users agree that USAA Bank has standard banking products — nothing super special, but nothing super horrible, either. Some say they’ve never felt the bank’s products were competitive, especially their sub-par interest rates on savings accounts and CDs. Another Redditor says USAA’s offerings are similar to big banks like Chase and Wells Fargo, and we’re inclined to agree. Customers of USAA mention they use it just for typical banking products, like checking, and then have their savings in a high-yield savings account somewhere else to get a better rate.
Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto.
Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt.
Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others.
Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine.
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Military members and their families can enjoy this free, interest-bearing checking account
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