Credit Cards & Banking

U.S. Bank Military Benefits: SCRA & MLA Fee Waivers

No retail discount — but U.S. Bank publishes its SCRA policy (6% cap + all fees waived on pre-service accounts, by request), reportedly zeroes annual fees under the MLA, and waives the $12/month Bank Smartly Checking fee for active duty and veterans. Plus the 2026 catch: the $400 Altitude Reserve is closed to new applicants.

U.S. Bank doesn’t offer a “military discount” — no code, no percent-off. What it offers sits in two federal-law tracks. Under the SCRA, U.S. Bank publishes its policy right on usbank.com: accounts you opened before being called to active duty — mortgages, loans, lines of credit, credit cards — get a 6% interest-rate cap and a waiver of all fees while you serve. You have to request it, and U.S. Bank makes that unusually easy: upload your orders inside the app under “Call to active duty orders,” or call the Military Service Center at 800-934-9555. Under the MLA, U.S. Bank is consistently reported to zero annual fees automatically on personal cards opened during covered service, confirmed by a mailed benefits letter.

Here’s the honest 2026 catch: the card that made that waiver famous — the $400 Altitude Reserve — stopped taking applications on November 11, 2024, and every U.S. Bank flagship card you can open today (Smartly Visa, Shield, Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+) already has no annual fee. So for new applicants, the MLA waiver has almost nothing left to waive. The U.S. Bank benefit that endures — and the only one that includes veterans — is banking: the $12 monthly fee on Bank Smartly Checking is waived for “active duty military and veterans” by simple self-disclosure, plus ATM fee breaks and free cashier’s checks, money orders, and stop payments.

This is an independent guide. NavyWeek is not affiliated with U.S. Bank; U.S. Bank sets its terms and can change them, and eligibility is defined by federal law (SCRA/MLA) and Department of Defense records.

Written by

T Madden Alford — U.S. Naval Academy '02 · U.S. Navy Reserve Captain (O-6) · Former submarine officer, USS Key West

Reviewed by

Erik Rivera — U.S. Naval Academy '04 · Former U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer

Publish date: July 19, 2026 · Last reviewed: July 19, 2026

How we research & review: Our editorial process

Opens usbank.com · Eligibility set by federal law + Department of Defense records

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WHO QUALIFIES

U.S. Bank has no retail military discount or promo code; it publishes its SCRA policy — a 6% interest-rate cap plus a waiver of all fees on mortgages, loans, lines of credit, and credit cards opened before active duty, by request — and is reported to waive annual fees to $0 under the MLA on personal cards opened during covered service. The one benefit that explicitly includes veterans: the $12 monthly Bank Smartly Checking fee is waived for active-duty military and veterans by self-disclosure.

• Active-duty members (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force) — SCRA on accounts opened before active duty; MLA on personal cards opened during service; military checking fee waiver.
• National Guard and Reserve on active orders of 30+ days — MLA covered borrowers while activated; SCRA on accounts predating the orders.
• Military spouses and dependents — MLA covered borrowers in their own right (32 CFR 232.3); U.S. Bank checks the applicant’s SSN against DoD records. U.S. Bank-specific spouse reports are thin: the law is solid, the mechanics less documented.
• Veterans and retirees — “current or former member of the United States Armed Forces” qualifies for the military checking benefits by self-disclosure. No ongoing card fee relief; statutory SCRA claims for a past active-duty period close 180 days after release.
• Business cards — excluded from the MLA fee waiver (the law covers consumer credit only).

HOW TO REDEEM

HOW IT WORKS

The SCRA track is the strongest thing U.S. Bank offers, and — unusually among big issuers — it’s published policy: “If you obtained your U.S. Bank mortgage, loan, line of credit, or credit card prior to being called to active duty, SCRA allows a cap of 6% on the interest rate and a waiver of all fees while you are on active military service.” It is requested, not automatic — U.S. Bank says plainly that “you’re not automatically covered for all of the protections.” The request is easy: upload orders in the app (Manage cards → “Call to active duty orders”), or go through the Military Service Center by phone (800-934-9555; overseas collect 513-277-5899), email, mail, or fax. The outcome comes by letter. The same published page also covers SCRA auto-lease termination without penalty and mortgage foreclosure protection during service plus one year — worth a call before a PCS or deployment. The statutory floor applies regardless: interest above 6% is forgiven, and the claim window runs through active duty plus 180 days after release.

The MLA track comes with a freshness warning most ranking pages haven’t caught up with. Yes, U.S. Bank reportedly checks applicants’ SSNs against the DoD MLA database and waives annual fees to $0 for covered borrowers — active duty, Guard/Reserve on 30+ day orders, spouses and dependents — mailing an MLA benefits letter that often arrives before the card does. (usbank.com never states this; the figure comes from benefits letters and consistent military-finance reporting, and U.S. Bank may not always waive fees under either program — check your own status at mla.dmdc.osd.mil before applying.) But the card that made the waiver famous, the $400 Altitude Reserve, closed to new applications on November 11, 2024 — existing holders keep it, with benefits cut on December 15, 2025 — and the FlexPerks Gold Amex has quietly disappeared, its usbank.com URL now serving the $0-fee Smartly Visa page. Every currently open flagship consumer card (Smartly Visa, Shield, Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Cash+) is $0-annual-fee for everyone, so the waiver has almost nothing to act on; annual fees survive mainly on the Korean Air SKYPASS co-brands. The old “you must be an existing U.S. Bank customer” application hurdle was an Altitude-Reserve-era requirement — moot for the closed card and not stated on any current open card page. If the goal is a fee-waived premium travel card while serving, the MLA route lives at American Express and Chase now.

The veteran-honest answer: veterans and retirees not on active duty get no card fee relief at U.S. Bank — the benefit that explicitly includes them is checking. usbank.com states the $12 monthly maintenance fee on Bank Smartly Checking is waived for “active duty military and veterans,” with eligibility worded as “current or former member of the United States Armed Forces,” by self-disclosure — no ID.me, no DD-214 upload step published. The package adds $0 U.S. Bank ATM transaction fees, the first four non-U.S. Bank ATM transactions per statement period fee-free with the first surcharge reimbursed each period, and free cashier’s checks, personal money orders, and stop payments. That’s $144 a year in maintenance fees alone, and it’s one of the few big-bank checking waivers that names veterans explicitly. Unlike Capital One (published 4%) and Chase (reported 4%), U.S. Bank advertises no below-6% SCRA rate — its published benefit is the statutory cap plus the all-fees waiver. Compare the companion issuer guides: Amex publishes its policy openly, Chase’s numbers are letter-confirmed, and Navy Federal and Citi have their own quirks.

Exclusions & fine print

• No coupon, code, or retail percent-off exists — any page offering a “U.S. Bank military discount code” is wrong.
• One relief per account, decided by the account-open date: opened before active duty → SCRA (request it); opened during covered service → MLA (automatic). They never stack.
• You can no longer apply for the Altitude Reserve (closed to new applications November 11, 2024) or the FlexPerks Gold Amex — ignore older military-finance pages that still route you to them. Existing Altitude Reserve holders keep the card, whose benefits were also cut on December 15, 2025.
• Business and corporate cards get no MLA fee waiver (the law covers consumer credit only). A pre-service business account may still be claimable under statutory SCRA — U.S. Bank doesn’t publish product scope; call 800-934-9555.
• Veterans and retirees outside active duty pay standard card pricing; the 180-day statutory SCRA window covers only the past active-duty period. The checking fee waiver is the benefit that includes them.
• The $0-annual-fee MLA figure is U.S. Bank practice as reported and letter-confirmed, not published usbank.com terms — U.S. Bank can change it without notice; confirm at 800-934-9555.
• U.S. Bank publishes no below-6% SCRA rate — don’t import the 4% Capital One publishes or the 4% reported at Chase.
• The waivers cover account fees, not spending — no percent-off at merchants, nothing to stack with portals or promo codes. Card rewards and bonuses are unaffected.

SOURCES

• U.S. Bank — Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (official published policy: 6% cap + waiver of all fees on pre-service accounts; Military Service Center contacts; auto-lease and foreclosure protections) — U.S. Bank
• U.S. Bank — Military banking (official military hub) — U.S. Bank
• U.S. Bank — Military checking accounts ($12 monthly fee waived for “active duty military and veterans”; ATM and free-services list) — U.S. Bank
• U.S. Bank — Bank Smartly Checking ($12 fee; “Members of the military (requires self-disclosure)”) — U.S. Bank
• U.S. Bank — How do I send active-duty orders for SCRA review? (KB0287975: in-app upload path, Fargo PO Box, fax, document limits) — U.S. Bank
• U.S. Bank Cardmember Agreement (MLA covered-borrower arbitration carve-out) — U.S. Bank
• 50 U.S.C. § 3937 — SCRA 6% cap, forgiveness of excess interest, 180-day notice window — U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel
• 32 CFR Part 232 — MLA covered-borrower and dependent definitions — eCFR
• MLA covered-borrower status check (Department of Defense) — U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Bank Military Credit Cards (editorial: automatic MLA waiver practice, benefits letter, YMMV caveat) — Military Money Manual
• U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Military (editorial: historical $400→$0 waiver, existing-customer-era application requirement) — Military Money Manual
• US Bank Altitude Reserve no longer accepting new applications (November 11, 2024 closure) — Frequent Miler
• U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card Discontinued (closure confirmation; December 2025 benefit changes) — Upgraded Points

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