Led by USAA President Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, USN (retired), the USAA Board of Directors appointed Wayne Peacock as CEO-designate in January 2020, replacing former CEO Stuart Parker upon his retirement in February 2020. Peacock became CEO in February 2020 and is the first USAA CEO not to be a veteran of the military. [28] He has been with USAA since 1988 and has held various leadership positions, including President of the Property and Casualty Insurance Group. [ref. needed] The organization was originally called the United States Army Automobile Association. In 1924, the name was changed to the United Services Automobile Association when officers from other U.S. military services were eligible for membership. The company was founded on the basis of a meeting of twenty-five U.S. Army officers on September 20. It was founded in 1922 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, to discuss the purchase of reliable and economical car insurance. Despite initial successes, a dispute between competing factions for control of the company threatened its long-term viability in the late 1920s.
[13] The problem was resolved when the warring members agreed to hire an outside leader, which led to the appointment of Major-General Ernest Hinds as General Manager and Secretary-Treasurer in 1928. [13] Hinds provided stability and remained in that position until his death in 1941. [13] USAA was founded in San Antonio in 1922 by a group of 25 U.S. Army officers as a mutual self-insurance mechanism when they could not purchase auto insurance because they were a high-risk group as military officers. [10] [11] USAA has since expanded to provide banking and insurance services to current and former members of the armed forces, officers and enlistments, and their families. The company took first place. 100 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. companies by total revenue. [12] The USAA Federal Savings Bank banking lobby in San Antonio is the only full-service banking site.
However, other cities have financial centers, often near military bases, that offer advice and assistance in purchasing services of any kind offered by USAA, in addition to opening these accounts online. In 2015, USAA employed more than 32,000 people in its offices around the world. [17] USAA President and CEO Stuart Parker retired on February 1, 2020 and USAA selected an internal replacement: Wayne Peacock, President of the company`s Property and Casualty Insurance. Wayne Peacock is currently CEO of USAA. Banking services are provided by USAA Federal Savings Bank. The bank was founded on December 30, 1983. According to USAA`s 2015 Annual Report to Members, USAA held more than $62.549 billion in deposits with more than 6.3 million accounts. [ref. needed] In addition to its headquarters in San Antonio, USAA has a second large office in Phoenix.
USAA also has offices in Chesapeake, Virginia; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Highland Falls, New York; Plano, Texas; and Tampa, Florida. Internationally, USAA has offices in London and Frankfurt. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] However, his tenure has not been without controversy. Davis oversaw the initial layoffs from the USAA and, according to some reports, had a confrontational leadership style. Davis had told USAA employees that he intended to continue leading the USAA until 2010, but retired in December 2007. [33] The nature of his resignation appears to have been hasty, as USAA CEO Josue Robles said that when he assumed the role of CEO, he “thought I was just going to be a temporary CEO and (the board) said, `Guess what? The permanent CEO is you. [34] On May 27, 2021, USAA announced that it would add an additional 750 employees to its 100 employees in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company will lease 90,000 square feet of space in a new South End building called The Square. The company`s employees will move in at the end of 2021.
[40] USAA is headquartered in northwest San Antonio and is located on a former 286-acre (116 ha) horse farm. [14] [15] The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is a diversified Fortune 500 financial services group based in San Antonio, including a mutual insurance exchange regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance, and subsidiaries that provide banking, investment, and insurance services to individuals and families who serve or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. [6] [7] [8] At the end of 2017, it had 12.4 million members. [9] On July 26, 2019, Charles Schwab Corporation announced that it would acquire USAA`s investment and brokerage accounts for $1.8 billion. [18] The transaction with Charles Schwab closed on May 26, 2020. [19] USAA pioneered the concept of direct marketing; Most business is done over the Internet or over the phone with employees rather than agents. Until the 1960s, most business was done by mail. In the late 1960s, USAA began to shift from sales and mail service to telephone sales and service. It launched a toll-free number in 1978 and Internet services in 1999 through its Web site. [ref.
needed] The USAA offered limited membership to civilians between September 2009 and August 2013. This membership provided access to USAA`s investment products, most bank deposit products, and life insurance. Auto and property insurance were not considered for non-military members due to licensing restrictions. [16] Moody`s Investors Service Aaa (exceptional, highest of 21 possible ratings) USAA offers Education 529 plans to its members, but members are referred to its strategic partners, Charles Schwab Corporation and Victory Capital Management, for other investment services such as brokerage and trading, mutual funds and ETFs. [23] [24] [25] Major competitors include Bank of America-Military Bank, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, and Navy Federal Credit Union. [22] USAA`s mission statement shows that it is focused on its niche market, which consists of members of the U.S. military and their immediate families. To this end, the association has always marketed directly to members of the U.S. military. USAA membership is available to officers and recruited personnel, including those on active duty, National Guard and Reserve, officer cadets in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS), and all those who have served in the above categories and have retired or been honorably discharged.
[26] [27] Children of USAA members are also eligible to purchase USAA property and casualty insurance products, and former USAA members can resume membership at any time (age limit). The company opened its first office outside Texas in Frankfurt, West Germany, in 1952, followed by the opening of the London office in 1962. Banking services can be used in person, by mail, by telephone or via the Internet. USAA`s Federal Savings Bank offers members the ability to deposit checks into their accounts via mobile apps on Apple`s iPhone and iPad and mobile devices running Google`s Android operating system. [21] Historically, only U.S. military officers (as well as certain other federal sworn officers) were eligible to join the USAA, with descendants of USAA members eligible to purchase insurance from USAA-CIC. It doesn`t matter if you are a serving or retired officer; You can join at any time. In 1973, membership was opened to members of the National Guard and Reserve, and in 1996, eligibility was extended to members of the armed forces. Because the number of people who have served on active duty in a status in the U.S. Armed Forces is quite large, the USAA decided to limit the determination of eligibility to those who were currently on active duty or who had recently been separated.
The same time limit for determining eligibility was then applied to military officers. In 2008, USAA extended membership eligibility to all military and retired personnel, as well as all veterans who separated after 1996. [26] In November 2009, the USAA expanded the eligibility criteria to provide coverage to anyone who has previously served honorably in the U.S. military. [27] USAA offers a range of property and casualty insurance, including auto, home, tenant and umbrella insurance, and personal property insurance. In addition to property and casualty insurance, USAA offers whole life insurance, term life insurance and annuities. While not entirely unique in the industry, USAA`s life insurance policies are different from most offerings because they don`t include a war exclusion clause. [20] The organization began offering home and life insurance services in the 1960s, brokerage and investment management services in the 1970s, and banking in the 1980s. USAA`s office building in San Antonio was built under his tenure, and McDermott was responsible for USAA`s transition from mail to telephone service.
He was replaced as CEO by retired Air Force General Robert T.