4.5 stars across
8 reviews
Write a Review of This Bank
Best Bank I've Ever Used!
This review is for: Charles Schwab Bank
After banking with Bank of America for a couple years, Charles Schwab was heaven sent. I am 100% completely satisfied with my experience with Charles Schwab. I have a high-yield investor checking account and savings account and the rates are very decent, even though they have gone down quite a bit since I joined. There have been absolutely no fees, my checks were free, and they even offer free postage paid addressed envelopes to use when you need to deposit a check. Since starting with Charles Schwab, I have called several times to ask questions and within a few seconds I always get to talk to a REAL person! You don't have to spend 5 minutes talking to an animated system and pressing buttons before reaching someone. To me, the customer service is the best part about Charles Schwab!
Posted by allison.lynn323 -- Nov. 11, 2010
New customer - very satisfied so far
This review is for: High Yield Investor Checking
I left Bank of America after 32 years of banking with them; their fees and their terrible customer service finally got to me.
I spent a looonnngg time researching what bank I should move to and ended up deciding on Schwab. They pay good rates, even on checking accounts, have a great online banking site, good customer service, and low fees. While they don't have ATMs, they reimburse fees, so you can use any ATM you want.
I've only been a customer for a couple of weeks, but am very happy so far. Their online banking site is great; very easy to use and let's you do everything from there. The two times I've interacting with their customer service it's been great; I waited only a minute on hold and the person on the other end was friendly and helpful.
Posted by drew -- July 27, 2010
A quality experience when you know what to expect
This review is for: Charles Schwab Bank
I opened my Schwab Investor Checking account about 9 months ago. Overall, I am quite pleased, but there are many good and bad characteristics I learned about Schwab that you should consider:
Here, I am referring to the Schwab High Yield Investor checking offered through Schwab.com. Schwab also offers a similar but limited interest checking account at schwabbank.com. THEY ARE DIFFERENT! The Investor checking at Schwab.com is MUCH better. It is better because, in order to open an Investor checking account, you must also open a Brokerage account. The brokerage account is free and you will never be pressured to use it. Basically, schwab.com rewards you with a better checking account if you choose the option of investing with them by opening a free brokerage account. Alright, now onto the pro/cons of the Schwab.com High Yield Investor Checking account.
1. Free ATM/debit card, unlimited ATM rebates at any ATM, unlimited free checks, unlimited pre-paid/pre-addressed deposit envelopes.
2. Consistently high and competitive interest rates on its checking, savings, and CD rates. They are some of the best rates you will find anywhere.
3. You can only bank online and with phone representatives. I must say that the Schwab customer service reps provide 5-star every single time. I'm amazed every time I speak with them - always cheerful, competent, and helpful.
4. Transferring to the savings account (because it is new) is a pain. You cannot transfer online. You must call Schwab and ask for the funds to be transferred. I've been told that Schwab will be correcting this soon.
5. Getting funds into the account can be a hassle. I must say this is my least favorite characteristic. First, if you transfer from an external institution, Schwab will "hold" the funds for a full 3 business days. The money will be in there but you just can't use it. Second, and far more irritating, is depositing by mail. Maybe it's Schwab or maybe it's the USPS, but I have had deposits lost twice! Sometimes mail-in deposits take 2-3 business days to arrive and process. Other times it takes over 2 weeks! And as I mentioned sometimes deposits never arrive.
I opened this account switching from ING because I wanted an online-only bank to be my primary bank; however, I didn't want to be required to have a linked brick-and-mortar bank. Well, I should've kept a linked local bank from the beginning for deposit purposes due to my several deposit problems (see above).
Overall, Schwab provides consistently high rates, unique and amazing benefits (see ATM rebates, free checks, pre-paid deposit envelopes), amazing customer service, a mediocre web interface, sub-par functionality with transfers and deposits. I think this is probably the best online, interest checking account available but be forewarned that it does have some quirks.
Posted by jacobggardner -- Sept. 29, 2009
No hassle checking account
This review is for: Charles Schwab Bank
I have had a checking account with Schwab for almost a year now and it has been a mostly positive experience. There are really only two negatives, first is that the original variable interest rate of 3% has dwindled down to 0.75% and second it that there are very few physical branches around. The interest rate going down is annoying because the 3% was one of the reasons I chose to switch to Schwab. Not having many physical branches means checks usually have to bee deposited by mail: fortunately Schwab give you free envelopes (no postage required) to send you checks in. The best thing about banking with Schwab is that all ATM fees are reimbursed by Schwab, meaning no more having to look for a specific bank's ATM. Since Schwab traditionally has only been a brokerage house there are few locations around so I have not had very many experiences with the people. One experience I had was when I tried to mail in a check that I had washed in with my clothes, Schwab sent the check back saying it was older that six months (which it was). This was a neutral experience because I really did not expect the check to be accepted. Overall I would recommend people bank with Schwab only if they are content with not having physical branches around, if so the it is definitely worth it for having all ATM fees refunded.
Posted by zxakari -- Aug. 14, 2009
The Good and the Bad
This review is for: High Yield Investor Savings
Three key features set this bank account apart from others. First and most importantly is the ATM fee rebate charged by other financial institutions. Charles Schwab does not charge you a fee to use ATMs however there is often a fee charged by other banks. They will refund you the fees up to $10 a month. Secondly it is extremely cost effective. There are no minimums or annual fees to maintain this account. It is free to sign up and electronic transfers in and out of this account are free. Thirs notable feature is the link between the savings account and any securities held under Charles Schwab. You can transfer finds easily between any uninvented money market accounts held with CS and the High yield Investor Checking. Additionally you can set up overdraft protection to automatically sell securities of your choosing as to give your money market account enough funds to provide overdraft protection to your checking account.
There are a few downsides. The web site for online banking and investing is not that user friendly. There is a slight learning curve to figure out where you are and where you want to be. It takes more mouse clicks than there should be. Also the broker fees of $13 per trade are a little steep.
On a personal note, I find it frustrating that they mail me a paper statement every month even though the balance is freely available online. I have called to cancel this and it just doesn't seem to happen.
Posted by mxharlow -- July 14, 2009
Schwab = Hassle-Free Checking
This review is for: High Yield Investor Checking
My husband and I have had a joint Schwab account for over a year now, and we really like it. We chose it because we wanted to make a little extra money on the balance we kept in our checking account anyway and because we already had a Schwab brokerage account for our stocks and bonds. It's been to great have everything localized to one institution. One online log-in lets us see all of our financial info at the same time, and Schwab is great about being completely paperless. All our statements come by e-mail. The major drawback to a Schwab Bank account is the lack of local branches. If you use a lot of cash and/or don't receive your paychecks via direct deposit, it could be problematic. But for us, it's amazing. We each have a debit card we use for everything, and we know exactly how much money we have at all times. If we absolutely need cash (which happens maybe once a month), Schwab does unlimited ATM fee rebates, so we can use any ATM anywhere to get what we need. If we need to deposit a paper check, we send it to them by mail in one of the prepaid business reply envelopes they provided us with. They have 24-hour customer service that always gets us an actual banker (even in the middle of the night!). No call centers in India from Schwab. Occasionally we come across a person who can't answer our question, but they always quickly transfer us to someone who can. I would absolutely recommend this account to anyone who wants to cut down on their paper and have everything all in one place for easy review with great customer service and lots of free perks.
Posted by kissaturk -- July 12, 2009
The premier online checking account
This review is for: High Yield Investor Checking
I've used Schwab for my checking for about two years now. Prior to that, I'd used checking accounts at about a dozen other banks, both online banks and branch banks, but find Schwab superior to all of them.
First, the goodies: competitive, variable interest (once as high as 2%, now about .75%) that averages a little under half what you'd get on a good CD. So even the money you don't set aside for "saving" is earning you interest. Second, I never pay ATM fees - ever. Schwab rebates all fees in their network, which is fast that I haven't encountered a single ATM where my fee wasn't rebated. The result is that I never need to carry cash because the nearest ATM is always free. There's also NO MINIMUM balance, as in zero dollars. Pretty nifty, since it means if I like another checking account better, I can switch my money but leave the account open - and switch back if the terms of that competing account change. Hasn't happened yet, but I like options.
Downside - it can be a little difficult to deposit checks, because Schwab has almost no branches. Typically, I deposit checks to accounts with other banks and then transfer the money via ACH. It's a slight inconvenience but well worth it.
Posted by Geremiah -- June 30, 2009
ATM Fee Rebates Set This Account Apart
This review is for: High Yield Investor Savings
I have held a savings account with Charles Schwab for about a year now. I originally signed up for an account through the recommendation of a friend. The main selling point for me was that the bank reimburses you for any ATM fees from using their bank card. For me, this not only makes all ATMs accessible, but it saves me about $10/month. In addition, Charles Schwab offers a nice APR to their customers. The customer service through Charles Schwab is excellent too. Their customer service people always seem educated, attentive and definitely not out-sourced (which is great when you have a complicated issue that needs to be worked out).
The downside of the account is the online interface isn't especially user friendly. You have to click around a lot to see where you can go to pay your bills or view your transactions. Also, once a month I get a thick packet of paper in the mail as my statement. I am more on the green side of things, so I am a little annoyed Charles Schwab doesn't have the option to go entirely paperless like some other banks.
Overall, I would recommend this account to anyone who uses ATMs and is tired of automated phone customer service or underpaid customer service representatives. Charles Schwab really values their customers and it shows.
Posted by ecbrower -- June 16, 2009
Rates and accounts may differ by geography so enter your zip code for better information.