USAA is eliminating jobs at its bank: Report

USAA is eliminating an unspecified number of jobs in several departments, according to a news report.

The job cuts appear to be focused at the San Antonio-based company's bank subsidiary, USAA Federal Savings Bank, according to the report from the San Antonio Express-News.

The newspaper, which cited interviews with employees and social media posts, said that the company's information technology, client advising and human resources divisions were affected by the reductions.

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USAA, which offers banking and insurance products to members of the military and their families, declined to provide any details on the job cuts. In a statement sent to American Banker, USAA said it makes business decisions that respond to "changing member needs as well as shifts in the marketplace."

"This includes investing more heavily in growth areas, scaling back or stopping work in others and changing the way we're organized," the company said. "Anytime employees are impacted, we treat them with care and dignity — and support them in finding another position at USAA or elsewhere."

USAA Federal Savings Bank, which has roughly $114.5 billion of assets, has been hit with several regulatory fines in recent years. 

Those penalties include $140 million in fines in March from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Regulators said the company failed to set up an adequate anti-money-laundering program and file timely reports on suspicious transactions.

The OCC also fined the bank $85 million in 2020 both for risk-management issues and for violating laws that protect military members from financial harm. In 2019, the same agency ordered USAA to make related improvements but did not assess a financial penalty.

"Simply put, we have fallen short of our high standards and those of our members and our regulators," USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock said after the OCC's 2020 fine.

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Additionally, the OCC downgraded the bank's Community Reinvestment Act rating from "satisfactory" to "needs to improve" in 2020. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also required the bank to pay $15 million in 2019 for failing to respond to stop-payment requests and for reopening deposit customers' accounts without their approval.

Last year, USAA hired a new bank president, Paul Vincent, who had been in the company's leadership for seven years and was previously its head of retail banking. USAA also hired a former Citigroup executive to become its chief risk officer.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that the company cut 90 jobs in March from its mortgage division. Layoffs have widespread in the mortgage industry this year as higher interest rates prompted a slowdown in the home loan market.