USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review: Excellent Customer Service but Weak Rewards

Available for military families, the USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review has no annual fee or foreign transaction fee. Cardholders also benefit from USAA's highly rated customer service. However, lackluster rewards limit this card's value. See if the pros outweigh the cons in our full USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review review.

This credit card is a good fit for: USAA members who want to stick with that company for all their financial products.

Top perks

It's not quite feature packed, but the USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review has some good benefits.

No annual fee

The USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review is light on common credit card fees. Most importantly, this is a no annual fee credit card, so you don't need to pay a fee to have it in your wallet.

Customer service

One area where USAA excels compared to other major credit card companies is customer service. It has a reputation for quality service, and customer satisfaction surveys back that up. If that's a key factor you consider when reading credit card reviews, then it could be a reason to lean toward this USAA card.

In the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, USAA scored 860 points out of 1,000. Although it wasn't included in the official rankings because it didn't meet the award criteria, its score was the highest among national card issuers. To put the number into perspective, American Express scored 838, which was the highest score that qualified for the rankings.

APR

The USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review has a variable annual percentage rate (APR) that tends to be lower than what most credit cards offer. If you carry a balance on your credit card, a lower APR saves you money on interest. It also doesn't charge a penalty APR, which many cards charge if you fall behind on your payments.

Keep in mind that these are perks it's good to avoid relying on whenever possible. It's better to pay off your credit card bill in full every month and avoid any interest charges. If you do that, then your card's interest rate and whether it has a penalty APR are both irrelevant. And if you need to pay off a large purchase over time with your credit card, 0% intro APR credit cards would be a better choice.

Learn more: What Is APR and What Does It Mean for Your Credit Cards?

2,500 bonus points

After your first qualifying purchase with this USAA credit card, you'll receive 2,500 bonus points. USAA rewards points are worth $0.01 per point when you redeem them for cash back, giving this sign-up bonus a value of $25. It's not a lot, but it's at least easy to get, since it only requires a single purchase.

Earn up to 2 points per $1

The USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review earns:

• 2 points per $1 on gas and dining out
• 1 point per $1 on other qualifying purchases

Since these credit card points are worth $0.01 each, you're effectively earning 2% back on gas and dining out and 1% back on everything else.

Travel protections

The following travel protections are available on qualifying purchases made with this credit card:

• Auto rental coverage
• Travel accident insurance
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Baggage delay and reimbursement

Read more: Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

No foreign transaction fee

Credit cards for international travel are a must for consumers who plan to go outside the U.S. at all. While the USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review doesn't have tons of travel perks, it is a no foreign transaction fee card, so you can use it abroad without spending extra.

What could be improved

The USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review has some notable problems that hold it back in terms of value.

Small sign-up bonus

This USAA credit card has a very small sign-up bonus, as the 2,500 points you get are worth just $25 in cash back.

A $25 bonus isn't close to competitive with what other credit card companies are offering. If you look at the best credit card sign-up bonuses, there are many no annual fee cards with bonuses worth $200 to $250. You're giving up quite a bit of value by choosing the USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review over one from another bank.

Low rewards rate

The rewards rate on this USAA card is another area where it falls well short of current credit card products. You get 2% back on gas and dining out and 1% back on all your other qualifying purchases.

For comparison's sake, some rewards credit cards offer 2% back across all sorts of purchases for no annual fee. Or, if you want a card with bonus categories, you can find plenty of rewards cards that offer 3%, 4%, or even 5% in bonus rewards.

Only available for military families

To apply for any USAA cards, you need to be a USAA member. USAA membership is open to active, retired, and separated veterans with a discharge type of "Honorable" from the U.S. military, as well as their eligible family members.

Eligible family members include spouses, widows, widowers, and unremarried former spouses of USAA members who joined USAA during or prior to the marriage. It also includes children and stepchildren of living USAA members.

While this is USAA's policy and is unlikely to change, it means that many consumers can't apply for a card.

A FICO® Score of 670 or higher is suggested to apply for the USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review. The majority of the applicants who are approved for this USAA card have credit scores in the good credit or excellent credit range.

USAA looks at many factors when evaluating credit card applications. Although your credit score is important, that alone doesn't guarantee an approval or a denial.

You're a USAA member who values quality customer service and bundling your financial products over earning rewards.

While USAA is a highly regarded company, the USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card Review is really only for existing members who want to keep it simple. It's lacking when it comes to the benefits that can save cardholders money on a regular basis, such as rewards or zero-interest offers. You can almost certainly find other credit cards with more to offer.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.