[Idyllchat] cash and credit cards

[Pete and Maggie Haggart]

You are right - I did mean that the card was not available to non-military folks. I need to read my message more carefully in the future
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Irvjane at aol.com 
  To: idyllchat at lists.untours.com 
  Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 6:27 AM
  Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] cash and credit cards 


  In a message dated 11/25/2007 8:19:03 P.M. Central Standard Time, haggart at moscow.com writes:
    That ATM card is no longer available to military service members or retirees
  Hi Pete.  Thanks for the update to the list. You did mean "NON-military . . ." I assume.

  You're right, and I wasn't aware of the change but Wikipedia knew:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA#Banking 

  <<<
  For many years, while USAA did not market to anyone outside its niche, they would open bank accounts for qualified customers requesting USAA's services. In July 2006 USAA chose to further focus on its target market and will only extend new banking services to people eligible to purchase P&C insurance from USAA. They continue to make an exception for residents of Bexar County (San Antonio, TX) and those people that already have a banking relationship with USAA.
  >>>

  Evidently that window doesn't work any more.  I'm not sure what "qualified customers" means, but my 90 days active duty in the USAF Critical Skills Reserves Program back in 1960 didn't qualify me as a Serviceperson or retiree.  I think only these good people are eligible to purchase the P&C insurance.

  At the time I signed up, long before July 2006, I was told that because the "USAA Federal Savings Bank" was a "Federal Thrift," they had to offer the service to all US citizens.  Evidently that's changed, but here's more on this banking vehicle:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_savings_associations 

  <<<
  Federal savings associations (also called "federal thrifts"), in the United States, are institutions chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision pursuant to the provisions of the Home Owners' Loan Act, a U.S. federal statute. Although the activities of federal thrifts were once confined primarily to taking deposits from consumers and making residential mortgage loans, federal thrifts are now authorized to offer a wide range of financial products and services.
  Federal thrifts should not be confused with national banks which are banks chartered under federal law by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Although the differences between federal thrifts and national banks have diminished as the authorized activities of federal thrifts have expanded to include virtually all traditional banking activities, they are still distinct institutions subject to different regulatory schemes and supervised by different regulators.

  >>>

  I'll have to be careful not to let my USAA account lapse.  My pension check gets deposited there and I pay most routine bills from it via the Internet (setting them up in advance for later payment) before we go on a trip).

  Actually it was in ITN magazine that I first learned of the USAA ATM.  All Untourists should think about subscribing to this excellent travel publication:

  http://www.intltravelnews.com/

  Irv





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