physixfan      2019-10-08     2019-12-23 75 Comments

Charles Schwab Visa Platinum Debit Card (Charles Schwab ATM Card, Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account) Review

People who frequently travel abroad often wonder what the best debit card is to withdraw cash while travelling, as merchants in many countries may not accept credit cards. However, most debit cards have exorbitant fees when withdrawing from privately owned ATMs or those belonging to a different bank, in addition to foreign transaction fees. This is where the Charles Schwab debit card shines, as all ATM fees are reimbursed worldwide!

Application Link

• Charles Schwab Debit Card. You can use my referral code: REFER4U7MQ8R6 in “Add an offer/referral code”. You have to open a brokerage account at the same time to get this debit card, therefore in “choose an account” you should select “Schwab Bank Checking Account from Schwab Bank Linked to a Schwab One® brokerage account” upon opening the account.

Features

1. (The sign-up bonus is actually for its brokerage account, so please check Charles Schwab Brokerage Account Review.)
2. NO ATM fees worldwide! Often you will get charged a fee by the ATM, but all fees will be reimbursed by the end of the month in which the transaction was made.
3. When you withdraw cash abroad, you can get local currency automatically, according to the current daily exchange rate.
4. $0 monthly fee, no minimum deposit requirements.
5. This debit card is a Visa card, so you can withdraw cash from almost every corner in the world.

Disadvantages

1. Applying for this Debit Card will result in a Hard Pull (HP) on Equifax (EQ). (One HP for brokerage+checking.)
2. Daily ATM withdrawal limit: $1000.
3. It may take 3~5 business days for the money you transferred in to become available (and this is also true for most banks). Therefore it is recommended to plan ahead before going abroad.
4. The checking account is associated with its brokerage account, and in order to get the debit card, you must also open the brokerage account. But it is totally free of charge, so it’s fine.

Summary

This debit card is a must-have if you need to travel abroad! Though Charles Schwab is generally known for investment products, their debit card is really fantastic. It is similar to the Fidelity Check Card. We suggest you can compare these two and choose one of them if you travel internationally. The main difference is that the Fidelity Check Card has a 1% Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF), while the Charles Schwab Debit Card doesn’t. Also, applying for the Fidelity Check Card does not result in a Hard Pull and the ATM withdrawal limit is $500, as opposed to $1000 for the Charles Schwab.

Application Link

• Charles Schwab Debit Card. You can use my referral code: REFER4U7MQ8R6 in “Add an offer/referral code”. You have to open a brokerage account at the same time to get this debit card, therefore in “choose an account” you should select “Schwab Bank Checking Account from Schwab Bank Linked to a Schwab One® brokerage account” to open.

If you like this post, don't forget to give it a 5 star rating!