USAA donates $15 million to aid Coast Guard
San Antonio-based USAA has donated $15 million to a Coast Guard relief organization, which will make interest-free loans to Coast Guard personnel who are not getting paid during the partial government shutdown.
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance will begin making loans to personnel starting today. Service members with dependents will be eligible for loans of up to $1,000, while those without children will be able to borrow as much as $750.
“USAA’s mission is to be there for our members when they need us most,” CEO Stuart Parker said in a statement Tuesday. “This initiative, together with our efforts directly supporting members, will help thousands of Coast Guard families.”
The financial-services company previously announced it was providing low-interest loans to eligible members of the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps.
The special loans carry an interest rate of 0.26 percent, though the rate drops to 0.01 percent on an automatic-payment plan. Customers have 12 months to repay the onetime loans.
The loans have trig-
gered criticism from other cash-strapped USAA members who are not eligible for the loans even though they work for the federal government and aren’t getting paid during the shutdown, which is in its fourth week.
Many have gone on social media and USAA’s website to vent their frustration and accuse the company of neglecting them during the shutdown.
USAA, in its statement Tuesday, said it is making available “additional special offers to help all members” affected by the shutdown. The Coast Guard is under the Homeland Security Department, which hasn’t been funded for the current fiscal year.
Those offers include payment deferrals of 60 days on auto and other consumer loans and 90 days on credit cards (though interest will accrue).
It also is making “special payment arrangements” on auto and home insurance premiums, though it didn’t elaborate.
USAA serves about 12.8 million members, including military personnel, veterans and their families. Service members in other branches of the military — the Air Force, Army Marines and Navy — are getting paid during the shutdown.
The loan assistance from CGMA is designed to cover an estimated two weeks of household expenses.
Coast Guard service members seeking assistance are directed to go to the website cgmahq.org.
CGMA is a nonprofit organization that helps members of the service during times of need. It was formed in by Coast Guard members in 1924 to help fellow members.
USAA’s donation will allow CGMA “to respond during this time of uncertainty for those that rely on Coast Guard payments and pensions: active duty, reservists, civilian employees, retirees and annuitants,” CGMA CEO Cari Thomas said in a statement.
CGMA will disburse the loans with assistance from the American Red Cross.