So I’ve decided to move all my banking to USAA from Bank of America.  The fact that the big BOA still needs money from good old Uncle Sam doesn’t instill confidence in this customer.

So I set up a checking account and several different savings accounts at USAA to replicate the banking structure I had at BoA, and signed up for their USAA World Mastercard as well with the Total Rewards program.  My existing card is held through Citi, who happens to also need another boatload of cash to continue its business.  Since I don’t keep a balance on any of my cards, there’s really nothing to transfer, and I just need to change all of my automatic payments over to the new card.

I’ll probably continue to keep the Citi card active just in case, but I don’t anticipate using it.

No more going to the bank for me!

The other cool thing about USAA banking is the Deposit@Home feature, where you simply scan your deposits directly from your scanner via a Java applet on the website.  The funds are deposited directly to your account and are available immediately.  Kind of cool, and despite the a slight hiccup at first with the Java program, the system works pretty well.

The rewards program is a little different.

As for the rewards program with the Total Rewards card, there are a few differences compared to my Citi Dividend Platinum card.  The first being that you earn one point for every dollar you spend on the card, and one point for every two dollars you spend on your USAA debit card.  You can redeem these points for merchandise, gift cards, charitable contributions, or my favorite, cold hard cash.

With the Citi card, we had a limit of $300 in dividends per year, and by charging all our utilities to that card, plus everyday purchases, we achieved that $300 limit fairly quickly.

The USAA Total Rewards card doesn’t have such a limit, however the program isn’t quite as lucrative as the Citi program.  The Total Rewards program breaks down the rewards in a tiered fashion where you get more cash back the more you spend.  For instance, the first 20,000 points only returns you 0.83% in cash, but after that, you earn 1% cash back.  So the key is to wait until you have accrued more than 20,000 points to redeem for cash back.

Banking, Credit Cards, Finance, Rewards Programs Banking, Rewards Programs, USAA

The options for rewards programs are endless it seems.  Cash back, frequent flyer miles, hotel points… pick your reward.

Some rewards programs are better than others, as I found out on a recent trip to Europe.  I am a member of American Airlines AAdvantage program, which I earn a mile for every dollar I spend on my AAdvantage Citi card.  I also earn up to 10 miles per dollar depending on where I eat under the dinning program.

Sounds pretty nice, right?  Who would turn down a free ticket on your next vacation?

That’s the catch with the AAdvantage program. Chances are, program seats aren’t available on the flight you want to take, or on the day you want to take your trip. In addition, you might end up with a long layover (overnight) at an intermediate location somewhere between your home and destination.

In preparing for our trip to Greece, I inquired about using miles to get from the States to Europe.  We needed to leave on a Wednesday due to vacation days off from work and the time constraints of a wedding we were attending.  Unfortunately, the rewards program could only get one of us there, and we’d have to stop overnight in London.  Then, we’d have to buy another ticket on the same flights, which would cost more than a ticket straight through to Athens…  In addition, if we did buy the individual ticket, there is no guarantee of sitting next to each other.

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Credit Cards, Rewards Programs