A corporate partnership that's useless for consumers
Fidelity Observer just got a fat mailer from USAA Federal Savings Bank, promising great things. Quickly I discovered that its contents were useless.
Fidelity Observer already banks through USAA. The benefits of the USAA Federal Savngs Bank account are generally quite good. I have free bill pay, I have not been nickel and dimed with fees (like BOA) and most ATM fees are refunded. However, there are no physical branches, which means all transactions take place through the Internet or through the mail, with preprinted and first-class prepaid desposit envelopes. This also means cash deposits are not possible. So when I got the fat mailer promising "a new way" to mail in my deposits, I was excited. Could this mean a safe way to mail in cash, or some other great improvement?
Not quite. Here are the details of the "new way" to send in deposits:
Dear --Huh? So instead of dropping my deposit slip in a mailbox (i.e., the "old way"), now FO has the option of dropping the deposit slip off at a UPS store (the "new way"). What's the benefit? For consumers, there is no benefit -- unless you believe the USPS are incompetent, and UPS Store employees are totally trustworthy.USAA has teamed up with the UPS Store to bring you QuickPost. Now simply drop off your USAA desposits at the UPS Store nearest you, using a QuickPost envelope and your USAA deposit slip. It's one more way USAA is making banking more convenient for you.
On the other hand, there is a benefit for at least one of the corporations involved. The UPS Store will get more new customers coming into its stores and perhaps doing additional business beyond dropping off USAA deposit envelopes.
But Fidelity Observer has no idea of the benefit to USAA, as any USAA customer with two brain cells to rub together will see that the new partnership doesn't add up to much.
Related Posts:
What The USAA Ad Didn't Mention
USAA responds to Fidelity Observer with a playground insult
Bait and Switch: USAA Federal Savings Bank
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Harsh!---and unnecessarily so. Because USAA is a member-friendly nonprofit organization (for example, their insurance arm REFUNDS policy premiums whenever the insurance trust exceeds their reserves--and that actually happens quite often), you have to think beyond exactly what you "get now" from this. Basically, with this deal, USAA has found a new revenue stream (you don't think they're partnering with UPS for free do you?). This new revenue stream, in turn, reduces expenses elsewhere. Reduced expenses means more money to offer back to their members---be it lower loan rates, higher interest rates on deposits, more ATM fees refunded, you name it. Personally, I'm OVERJOYED that USAA has made this deal--not because of what the deal nets me, but because it shows me that USAA is not sitting on their laurels, and is actively managing the company. Kudos to USAA!
Hello dclounger. Thanks for your comment. I love USAA too -- I've generally gotten top-notch service and great rates from them over the years. They also have great governance, including an unusual commitee made up of ordinary USAA customers which I will discuss in a later post.
But on Fidelity Observer, I call things like I see them, and I don't see any real benefit for USAA customers in the USAA/UPS partnership. It's not like the rental car or tax software partnerships, in which USAA customers get a decent discount. For the UPS deal, I'd much prefer if USAA had saved the time and money it spent on forming and marketing this dud, and spent it on something else for its customers.
Fid. Obs- you don't see the benefit in having your deposits sent overnight to Netbank's processing center (Quickpost is a Netbank product - USAA licensed it), where it is transmitted electronically to USAA?
It seems obvious that overnight deposits are faster than standard USPS deposits. How can you not see the benefit in that?
Having said all that, I agree that the program has one problem: Unlike most UPS solutions, it involves no tracking number and your deposits are in fact at the mercy of UPS Store and UPS employees. USPS also offers no tracking, but the USPS is notoriously reliable in delivering the mail.
