USAA Secured Platinum Card Review

 Card Stats:

Minimum Security Deposit: $250
Maximum Security Deposit: $5,000

Interest Rate: 9.90%
Introductory Interest Rate: None
Grace Period: 25 days
Foreign Transaction Fees: 1% of each transaction in U.S. dollars
Annual Fees: $35
Application Fees: None
Rewards Program: None
Signing Promotion: No
Interest Earned on Security Deposit: Yes, security deposit is placed into a USAA CD for two years. Click here for current interest rates.

This card is available as either an American Express or MasterCard.

Other Features For The American Express Card:

• Emergency assistance, roadside assistance and concierge service.
• Collision damage waiver coverage pays for physical damage and theft to most rental vehicles with an MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) of $50,000 or less when the eligible card is used to initiate and pay for the entire rental transaction.
• Zero liability coverage if your card is lost or stolen.
• Travel accident insurance up to $1 million.

Other Features For The MasterCard

• Auto Rental Insurance from MasterRental®
• Worldwide Automatic Travel Accident Insurance
• Extended Warranty Protection for retail purchases
• Purchase Assurance Coverage for damage or theft of purchases

Editor’s Review

This review was provided by William Charles, editor of Doctor of Credit. 

This card is the only secured card that is processed by American Express. It has quite a high annual fee, but the APR is one of the lowest on the market. Unfortunately it’s only available to members of USAA (you must be active military or ex military or have a parent/spouse who is) to be eligible for this card. One unusual thing about this card is that they place funds into a CD which has a two year timeframe, if card holders want to cancel their card early they must cancel this CD and forfeit some or all of the interest earned.

Annual Fees

This card comes with a high annual fee of $35. Most other cards are in the mid twenties, with a few having no annual fee at all.

APRs

This card has the second lowest APR out of all the secured credit cards (Navy Federal nRewards Secured Card is lower at 8.99% but this rate is only available to those with good credit) – making it an attractive choice for those wishing to carry a balance.

We suggest people with secured credit cards don’t carry a balance (in fact nobody should be carrying a balance with the high interest rates credit cards charge) as you’ll want to build a positive credit history – if you’re unable to meet your minimum repayment your credit score will decrease. This means you should only be making purchases if you’re able to pay for them in full when your credit card statement is available.

Rewards Program

This card does not offer a rewards program, click for a full list of secured cards that offer rewards programs.

Credit Reporting

This card reports to all three credit bureaus. It does not report as secured.

Adding Funds

It’s possible to add funds to the certified deposit (CD), by doing so the credit limit on the secured card will be increased. Card holders must add a minimum of $50 each time they want to increase their credit limit – this can be increased to a maximum of $5,000.

UPGRADING TO AN UNSECURED CARD

Unfortunately USAA does not upgrade their secured card to an unsecured card, nor do they release the secured funds. This means that if card holders want to get their security deposit back, they’ll need to cancel their card.

Approval

USAA will approve almost anybody for their secured product. We haven’t found anybody that was denied (apart from non military members). Even those with bankruptcies and a lot of derogatory items have been approved.

Final Verdict

This cards only redeeming feature is it’s low APR, personally I don’t believe you should be carrying a balance on a secured card so this feature is worthless. You’re much better looking for a card with no annual fee, a rewards program and something that graduates so you can get your security deposit back. Harley-Davidson® Visa® Secured Card & BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card both fall into this category, but why not look at our best secured credit cards for our full analysis.

Still want to apply? Use the link found below.

Apply for USAA Secured American Express Platinum Card
Apply for the USAA Secured MasterCard Platinum Card