How to Fill Out and Submit the USAA Power of Attorney Form

The USAA Power of Attorney form authorizes another person to handle your banking, insurance, and other USAA account activity while you cannot manage it yourself. You can download it at usaa.com/poa or request a copy by calling member services at 800-531-8722.¹² USAA prefers members use its own form rather than a generic POA drafted elsewhere, because many financial institutions reject third-party documents with unfamiliar language or formatting.³ A shorter “Special Power of Attorney and Authorization” form is also available for more limited grants of authority.⁴

Information To Gather Before You Start

The form collects detailed identifying information about both you (the grantor) and the person you’re appointing (your agent or attorney-in-fact). Have this ready:

Your full legal name, USAA member number, Social Security number, and date of birth.
Your agent’s full legal name, USAA member number if they have one, Social Security number, date of birth, relationship to you, phone number, physical address, and mailing address if different.
Your agent’s employer name, occupation or type of business, and employer address.
Whether your agent is a U.S. citizen. If not, you’ll need their country of citizenship, alien identification card number, passport number, and resident status. The form also asks whether the agent is a senior foreign political figure or a family member or associate of one.

You can name a successor attorney-in-fact who steps in if your primary agent cannot or will not serve. The successor requires the same set of fields. Print in black ink as the form instructions require.⁴

Choosing What Your Agent Can Do

The form gives you two options: grant all listed powers at once, or check only the specific powers you want to authorize for each USAA line of business.¹ Selecting everything is simpler, but most people dealing with a deployment or temporary absence are better served by granting only what their agent actually needs.

Banking Powers

The banking section covers day-to-day financial tasks. A banking authorization can let your agent deposit or withdraw funds, endorse and cash checks, open or close accounts, and receive statements. Separate provisions address safety deposit box access, borrowing money and pledging collateral, and modifying automatic payment or deposit instructions on any loan or account.

Insurance Powers

The insurance section lets your agent pay premiums, make changes to property or casualty policies, and handle related transactions on your USAA insurance accounts. If you only need someone to keep your auto or homeowner’s policy current while you’re away, you can limit the grant to insurance and leave banking unchecked.

Read each listed power before checking the box. Borrowing authority, for example, lets your agent take out loans in your name and pledge your property as collateral. That’s a significant power most people don’t intend to grant for routine bill-paying.

Signing and Notarization

The form includes a notary jurat section with spaces for state, county, date, and the notary’s acknowledgment. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID to the notary appointment. Fees for a single acknowledgment generally run between $2 and $25. Banks, UPS stores, and shipping centers commonly offer notary services during business hours. Service members stationed on base can usually get documents notarized free through the installation’s legal assistance office.

Witness requirements vary by state. Some states require one or two disinterested witnesses to sign alongside the notary; others require none. A disinterested witness is someone with no financial stake in your accounts or estate. If you’re unsure about your state’s rules, having two witnesses sign costs nothing and eliminates the risk that the document is challenged later.

Military Power of Attorney Option

Service members have an additional route under federal law. A military power of attorney prepared and notarized through a military legal assistance office is exempt from state-specific form requirements and must be given the same legal effect as one prepared under state law.⁵ The document must be notarized under 10 U.S.C. § 1044a or other applicable law. This route helps during short-notice deployments when visiting a civilian notary isn’t practical. Submitting USAA’s own form alongside a military POA can still speed processing, since USAA’s compliance team is familiar with its layout.

Submitting the Completed Form

USAA accepts the form three ways. The fastest is the document upload tool inside the USAA mobile app or website: open your inbox, choose “Send documents to USAA,” upload the file, pick the destination, and send.⁶ Make sure every page of the signed and notarized document is legible.

To send paper, mail the original to USAA at 9800 Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, TX 78288, or fax it to 800-531-5717.⁷ Certified mail with return receipt gives you proof of delivery. Keep a copy of the fully executed document for your own records regardless of the method.

After USAA receives the form, staff review the signatures and notarization against their compliance standards. If anything is missing or illegible, USAA contacts you through the message center in the app. Once approved, you’ll get a notification confirming your agent has been added to your profile and can begin transacting on authorized accounts.

Revoking the Authority Later

The authority you grant stays in effect until you revoke it in writing and deliver that revocation to USAA.⁴ Handling transactions yourself does not cancel the POA. To end it, send a written revocation through the same channels you used to submit the original: upload it through the app, mail it, or fax it. Then call member services at 800-531-8722 to confirm the revocation has been processed and the agent’s access has been removed.²

Notify your agent directly that their authority has ended. USAA’s revocation takes effect only once the institution receives it, so any transactions your agent initiates before that notice arrives may still go through.

1
USAA. USAA Power of Attorney
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USAA. Insurance, Banking, Retirement and Investment Services
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USAA. Estate Planning Checklist: Secure Your Legacy Today
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USAA. Special Power of Attorney and Authorization
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1044b – Military Powers of Attorney: Requirement for Recognition by States
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USAA. Banking: How-To Videos
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USAA. Member Service and Support