Charles Schwab Debit Card/Checking/Brokerage Acct

[jfchandler]

So Jim, I think I can summarize those 15 pghs above as...

All other things being equal, we're generally better off in terms of exchange rates using VISA logo cards vs. MC logo ones....

[JimGant]

Homepro in Chiang Mai (in Carrefour mall) now asks "baht or dollars." And with a smile. I don't know if it's because they remember us -- and that the wife read them the riot act a few years back, after the clerk feigned igorance -- and she nearly caused a scene getting the manager to reverse the charge (wife lived in States for 30 years -- the Thai way of not dealing straight-on drives her nuts).

Anyway, JFC never gets asked -- because that tattoo on his forehead ("Death to 150 baht overchargers") makes them aware that DCC may not be to his liking either...

[Pib]

Cap One in my opinion has a problem with their ACH transfers. I like the fact that you can set up periodic transfers online unlike Schwab where periodic transfers have to be submitted manually. The problem is that to set up any ACH transfer, one-time or periodic, you must have the cash cleared in your account at the time you set it up even though the transfer may occur in the future when you know the funds will be in your account.

Quicken direct connect (Mac and PC) works fine for both checking and savings accounts but you have to manually download transactions for the credit card accounts.

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding your statement above "...Schwab where periodic transfers have to be submitted manually", what I have found in setting up my Schwab transfer links on my brokerage, checking, and savings accounts is:

Savings Account:

You first have to mail in the application/form with a VOIDed check/deposit slip of the external bank. Once Schwab processes that form, you can then "call Schwab" to initiate a transfer from or to the external bank account you identified on the form. This transfer link will "not" appear on your online account; you must call to initiate the transfer. To me, this is definitely a manual process when I have to call versus being able to initiate online. But with that being said, the transfer links are now setup...I just have to make the call each time.

Checking Account:

OK, after getting surprised with how the transfer setup actually ended up working on the Savings account based on my call to Schwab Customer Service, the CSR also explained I needed to do the same application/form to set transfer links for my Checking account but once the form is processed, the links "will" appear in my online account for the Checking account (but as mentioned above, that don't happen for the Savings account). For whatever reason, it appears Schwab wants to make it a little harder to transfer funds into/out of the Savings account via an external bank. You can do an online transfer between the Schwab Checking and Savings accounts from the get-go...no form/application required.

Brokerage Account:

You can set that up online via TrialDeposits....I've already done it for several of my other banks...only took two business days to complete the TrialDeposits verification process. By transferring money to my brokerage account from the external bank, I can then transfer to my Schwab Checking account, but not the Savings account. However, but, right after I transfer the funds from my brokerage account to my checking account, I can transfer those same funds from my checking account to my savings account (but there may be a few days holding time).

Summary: setting up external bank transfer links is a piece of cake for the Brokerage account, but then gets more complicated/strange for the Savings and Checking accounts. This is not really a big deal as I can "push" money to my Schwab checking and savings accounts from my other banks online banking; it's just I want to ensure I have both the push "& pull" capability setup on all my bank accounts, to include my Schwab accounts, to the best possible effect in order to minimize transfer delays/funds holdings periods.

[jfchandler]

I think Grin was talking more about trying in Cap One to advance schedule future online transfers....as opposed to setting up the initial links between accounts... For instance, going online today and wanting to order a funds transfer to take effect on March 1.

[jfchandler]

the wife read them the riot act a few years back, after the clerk feigned igorance -- and she nearly caused a scene getting the manager to reverse the charge (wife lived in States for 30 years -- the Thai way of not dealing straight-on drives her nuts).

Jim, I'm in your wife's camp... Give her a big sloppy one for me...

[inzman]

Thought you might all want to know that other brokerage accounts offer this same service. I have my account with Fidelity and I have a visa debit card I have used for years with exactly the same deal. All fees reimbursed and no problem to use in thailand. Basically it does not cost me anything to access my money here!

[jfchandler]

Inzman, I believe Fidelity takes a 1% fee out of your funds when using their debit card outside the U.S. Schwab and Capital One, among a few others, do not...

1. Other institutions may assess ATM fees for use of ATMs in their network. mySmart Cash Account^® customers will be reimbursed for ATM fees charged by other institutions. Fidelity accounts coded Premium, Private Client Group, or held by customers with householded annual trading activity of 120 or more stock, bond or options trades, will automatically be reimbursed for some ATM fees charged by other institutions while using a Fidelity Visa^® Gold Check Card at any ATM displaying the Visa^®, Plus^®, or Star^® logos. Please review your Fidelity Check Card Agreement(PDF) and respective Fidelity account agreement for specific information on reimbursement caps or limits. Please note there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.

http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/aong/sca_learn.shtml.cvsr

[jfchandler]

I haven't seen a lot of comment from TD Bank users here... But one of the financial blogs I follow had this update re coming changes to TD accounts:

A reader just emailed me a letter he received from TD Bank informing him of the new ATM fees that will take effect on March 9, 2011. I confirmed with a TD Bank CSR that this new policy will affect all TD Bank customers. In summary, they will face a $2.00 ATM fee when using a non-TD bank ATM. In addition, there will be no reimbursements of foreign ATM fees.

Here's an excerpt of the start of the letter:

At TD Bank, we appreciate your business, and want to keep you informed about upcoming changes to your Convenience Checking account. Beginning March 9, 2011, when you use your TD Bank ATM or Visa debit card to get cash at a non-TD Bank ATM, your account may be subject to ATM transaction fee from TD Bank and from the financial service provider who owns the ATM. As always, you may use your TD Bank ATM card or Visa debit card at any TD Bank ATM for free.

More details are listed on the second page of the letter.

TD Bank Fees When You Use non-TD Bank ATMs

Beginning March 9, 2011, we will begin to assess a $2 fee for transactions conducted at ATMs that we do not own or operate. These fees will be reflected in your April 2011 statement. Such transactions are referred to as "non-TD Bank ATM" transactions. For certain account types, we will waive the fee on some non-TD Bank transactions, as described in the chart below.

TD Bank's chart shows unlimited transactions fees waived for Premier, Relationship and Interest checking accounts. No fees are waived for all others.

No Reimbursements of Fees from Other Banks

For non-TD Bank ATM transactions, the institution that owns the ATM (or the network) may assess a surcharge fee at the time of your transaction, even if you are just checking your balance. As described in the following chart, for some checking account types, we will reimburse you for these surcharge fees at the end of each statement cycle. Beginning March 9, 2011, for all other account types, the surcharge fees will not be reimbursed.

TD Bank's chart shows a minimum $2,500 daily balance for the Premier, Relationship and Interest checking accounts is required for the reimbursement. There are no reimbursements for all other accounts.

Edited February 20, 2011 by jfchandler

[grin]

Cap One in my opinion has a problem with their ACH transfers. I like the fact that you can set up periodic transfers online unlike Schwab where periodic transfers have to be submitted manually. The problem is that to set up any ACH transfer, one-time or periodic, you must have the cash cleared in your account at the time you set it up even though the transfer may occur in the future when you know the funds will be in your account.

Quicken direct connect (Mac and PC) works fine for both checking and savings accounts but you have to manually download transactions for the credit card accounts.

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding your statement above "...Schwab where periodic transfers have to be submitted manually", what I have found in setting up my Schwab transfer links on my brokerage, checking, and savings accounts is:

<elided ...>

Summary: setting up external bank transfer links is a piece of cake for the Brokerage account, but then gets more complicated/strange for the Savings and Checking accounts. This is not really a big deal as I can "push" money to my Schwab checking and savings accounts from my other banks online banking; it's just I want to ensure I have both the push "& pull" capability setup on all my bank accounts, to include my Schwab accounts, to the best possible effect in order to minimize transfer delays/funds holdings periods.

Ah, the key word in my post about Schwab was "periodic". Here's a summary of the differences that I've noticed between using "Schwab brokerage" accounts and "Cap One savings" accounts for transferring funds (I have no experience with transfers using other kinds of accounts at these two institutions):

One time transfers at Schwab can be performed online but periodic transfers cannot. You must call Schwab to set up periodic transfers. With Cap One both types of transfers can be done online.

The linking of external accounts at Schwab can be done online but requires a phone call to confirm. With Cap One the whole linking process can be done online.

Once 5 links have been set up for a Schwab account then further online linking fails. Any linking past that must be done by faxing or mailing them a form. I've never run into any limit when linking accounts at Cap One.

Once funds have been transferred into Schwab they take 3 business days to clear before they can be transferred out. With Cap One it seems to take 5 business days.

When transferring funds from one Schwab account to another Schwab account you have to wait one business day to transfer the funds out. With Cap One there seems to be no delay in the use of the funds.

Immediate transfers at Schwab, both incoming and outgoing, seem to occur within one business day. With Cap One it seems to take at least 3 business days.

Future transfers at Schwab can be scheduled without the funds cleared in the account. With Cap One it seems that for any future transfers, either one time or periodic, that the amount of the transfer must be cleared in the account at the time the transfer is set up.

[Pib]

I just logged onto my Schwab account and went to the Transfer & Payments section. You can do Periodic transfers, but only "From" the Schwab Brokerage account "To" the Scbawb Checking account (but not vice-versa). The transfer options offered are: One time, Every Two Months, Annually, Last Business Day, Monthly, Quarterly, Twice A Year, Twice A Monthly.

Every other combo I tried like from Brokerage to External Accounts, Checking to Savings, etc., only offered the One Time option.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Pib

[grin]

Sorry, I should have been more explicit in my post comparing transfers at Schwab brokerage accounts and Cap One savings accounts. I was referring only to "external transfers" in each case except for the one about transfers from one Schwab brokerage account to another Schwab brokerage account. For most of my accounts I have found that the institutions supply adequate functionality for internal transfers. It seems that they usually have more limitations on external transfers. Thus, external transfers were naturally my focus. Hopefully this information will be useful to someone.

[jfchandler]

Just a bit of an update related to the new Cap One ATM card, the Cirrus network and AEON ATMs...

Whereas the new Cap One ATM-only card (no VISA logo) is a Cirrus network card that doesn't work in the AEON ATMs...

It so happened that I just got a new VISA logo debit card that also has only the Cirrus affiliation on the back, and I tried it out today for the first time on an AEON ATM, and it worked fine... no problem. Also did some POS with it, likewise no problem.

Today, this particular VISA/Cirrus debit card produced exactly the same exchange rate for my AEON ATM withdrawal as it did for a store POS: 30.50, compared to a BOT EIR for the day of 30.62. So that's pretty good, and seemingly closer to IER than a typical Master Card logo/Cirrus card typically gets.

So regarding the AEON ATMs issue, it just reinforces as someone had suggested earlier that having the VISA (or MC) logo on the front appears to override or outrank the Cirrus logo on the back, meaning these cards will work fine with AEON ATMs.

It's only when you don't have a VISA or MC logo on the front and you only have a Cirrus logo on the back that you're going to have a problem with AEON.

[Pib]

That's good news. I may just give Cap One Banking a call next week and apply for their banking (all they can do is say no). I sure know I love their Cap One Cash Rewards Credit Card with no foreign transaction fees and 1 or 2% cash back. I would apply for Cap One Banking primarily to get their no foreign transaction fee debit card and in those cases where I couldn't use an AEON ATM, possibly get reimbursed for the ATM fees up to $10 a month if I remember right. The debit card would be a backup to my Charles Schawb debit card that has no foreign transaction fee and reimburses ATM fees worldwide (at least for now).

[jfchandler]

Pib, yep, I think it's safe to presume that the Schwab VISA or MC debit card, even if it has the Cirrus logo on the reverse, should work fine in AEON ATMs, as well as any others.

And for those who can open Cap One's online checking accounts, Cap One's ATM fee reimbursement amount is a max of $10 per month... But I'm trying to remember, has anyone here ever confirmed that Cap One will accept non U.S. bank ATM fees for reimbursement under those accounts?

[jgm005]

This is probably the wrong thread to alert those holding a Capital One ATM card from their direct banking side. But know that because of their switch from PLUS to CIRRUS they are issuing new ATM cards. To be sent out between 01 March and 14 May. AND once the new ATM card is issued your existing ATM card will fall down dead within five days. Their system will know when you use your old ATM card and that your new ATM card was mailed out. And if this is five days out your old ATM card will be deactivated.

Since I am going back 04/April I have put in a few calls to narrow down exactly what will happen and the above is what I have been told via voice and message.

[jfchandler]

JGM, I don't believe we have a separate thread on Cap One, and they've already been part of the discussion here. So we might as well continue it here....

Re Cap One, I just got an email from them the other day saying the new card was going to be mailed. But the email didn't say anything about the timing of the invalidation of the old card.

Are you really saying the old Cap One cards will go dead FIVE DAYS after Cap One mails out the new cards to any particular account holder?

If so, that would seem very strange...barely enough time for mail delivery even in the U.S. -- leaving aside what happens with those folks who have their mail stored and forwarded.

When banks do this kind of thing, usually, the new card takes over once you've called to activate it (upon receipt) and/or use it for a purchase or ATM w/d for the first time.

[Langsuan Man]

Here is the email from Cap One, don't know where jgm005 got his info since the email doesn't say anything about your current card. I will be hoping that it will have the Visa logo, so it will might again work at AEON

[jfchandler]

Ya LM, I got exactly the same email... but no detail about the status of the existing cards...

If your comment is in regard to their straight ATM card, I'd say no hope with that for AEON.... It will be a non-VISA logo ATM card on the Cirrus network, which is a no-go for AEON.

The existing Cap One straight ATM cards have already stopped working at AEON because of Cap One's behind the scenes switching from PLUS to CIRRUS... Unless they pull some kind of unexpected surprise, the new cards should just formalize that...

But, we won't know for sure until someone actually gets a new one and tries it.

[Langsuan Man]

Hope springs eternal

[jgm005]

I got my information from two sources:

1)

My internal message to them:

Date: 2/28/2011 5:00:00 a.m.

Account: High Yield MM XXXXXX

Subject: ATM/Debit Card

Message: I received an email saying I will receive a new ATM card between 01/March and 14/May. I am overseas on 04/April for 2 months. If the new ATM card does not arrive by then will the existing one still work? Thank You

======================

Received Message Response

Date: 3/1/2011 2:08:53 p.m.

From: Customer Care

Subject: RE:ATM/Debit Card

Message: Dear Valued Direct Banking Customer,

Thank you for your message. We are currently in the process of issuing new ATM cards to all of our customers who have an active ATM card. There will be no action required on your part in order to activate this new card. Please note, the new ATM card will have a different card number than your previous card. However, your ATM PIN will remain the same.

Please also keep in mind, your previous ATM card will automatically be deactivated within 5 business days of receiving your new ATM card. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

If you have additional questions, please respond to this secure message and we will be happy to assist you further.

Thank you for choosing Capital One Direct Banking.

2)

Upon getting the above I called CAP ONE and spoke to the CSR who answered the phone and her supervisor. I 'grilled' each on the statement from above as to how CAP ONE would know to deactivate the old one within five days since there is no need to call a 800 # to activate the new one. Both said that once the new ATM card is mailed out their system will note the mailed out date. And if you use your old ATM six or more days out it will not work due to it being inactivated. As said I went through all this due to the fact I come back over on 04/April. And the receipt of the new one is within 01/March<>14/May.

So I am spreading the word based on what I have been verbally told and the noted message from them when I used the secure messaging system within the online account.

If all this is true just another reason I am going to dump CAP ONE. Another behind the scene move on them. I mentioned the switch from Plus to Cirrus and before I could make my point the CSR said they, CAP ONE, had been bombarded (my words) by overseas users of their ATM card not being happy folks.

Here is the email from Cap One, don't know where jgm005 got his info since the email doesn't say anything about your current card. I will be hoping that it will have the Visa logo, so it will might again work at AEON

Edited March 2, 2011 by jgm005

[jfchandler]

Both said that once the new ATM card is mailed out their system will note the mailed out date. And if you use your old ATM six or more days out it will not work due to it being inactivated.

JGM, thanks for your posting on this....

If Cap One really does this in the manner described above, they're going to get a lot of angry calls from locked out customers...and it won't just be from folks in our neighborhood.

I've never experienced a bank or CU handling a card changeover in that manner... at least... not yet.

[jfchandler]

Once 5 links have been set up for a Schwab account then further online linking fails. Any linking past that must be done by faxing or mailing them a form. I've never run into any limit when linking accounts at Cap One.

When transferring funds from one Schwab account to another Schwab account you have to wait one business day to transfer the funds out. With Cap One there seems to be no delay in the use of the funds.

Grin, I want to say thanks for your posting above about the Schwab limit on external linked accounts... I'd been running into a problem with that lately (though I didn't know why). And when I finally sat down today to solve it, and ended up talking on the phone to Schwab, I remembered the detail from your post...before the CSR began explaining...

So... let me update and clarify a bit, based on my conversation with the Schwab CSR just now...

She said Schwab does indeed now have a limit of 5 linked external accounts for the Schwab brokerage account. The CSR thought it might have been some kind of change from past policy... All I know is, I had 7 account linked already to my brokerage account, and every time I've tried to add a new one online lately, the Schwab online system coughs up an error message that doesn't in any way say or explain what the problem is. (That's a pretty bad customer relations move on their part).

So, over the phone today, the CSR deleted 4 of my 7 external bank accounts linked to my Schwab brokerage account, theoretically leaving me room to later add back two more online, which I'll try to do tomorrow after their system is updated overnight. If there's any problem in doing that, the CSR advised to call them and ask to speak with their "Move Money" team, who would assist in adding the desired accounts.

In our conversation, however, the CSR clarified that the 5 external accounts limit applies only to links with the Schwab brokerage account. She specifically said there is no limit on the number of external accounts that can be linked to the Schwab checking account. Though, as already has been explained here before, the process for linking accounts to the Schwab checking account is a paper-based, print out and mail in the form type one. Schwab still has no online process for linking external accounts to their checking accounts, nor any public timeframe for accomplishing that (Another bad customer relations move on their part, as I remind them every time we happen to be speaking).

Also, as best as I can tell, and confirmed by the CSR, Schwab customers with brokerage and checking accounts will actually have two different (though potentially overlapping) lists of linked accounts. Some of my external accounts I had set up under both my Schwab checking and Schwab brokerage accounts, using the two different linking methods involved for each. So when the CSR removed 4 accounts from my brokerage list, she said that didn't remove those same external banks from my Schwab checking linked accounts list.

BTW, on the other subject of using Schwab online banking to move funds between different Schwab accounts, such as checking to brokerage or brokerage to checking, I know it doesn't always take one business day...and sometimes the transferred amount is credited almost instantaneously... I've had it happen both ways.... Perhaps it has something to do with what time of day the request is entered... But lately, I've done online internal transfers with them where the funds were moved and available in the destination account within a minute after me hitting the transfer button.

[grin]

JFC, you are quite welcome.

I found out about the Schwab One limit of 5 links the same way you did. Their web site lets you go all the way through the linking process and gives a completely nondescript error at the end. I spent close to 30 minutes on the phone with a CSR while he called around trying to figure out what the problem was. He eventually did come up with the limit of 5.

Did the CSR you spoke to say that no more than 5 accounts could be linked even using forms? In the past Schwab allowed me to continue linking past the limit of 5 by using forms but the last time I linked a new account was in December, 2009. Since I have close to 10 links in both Schwab One accounts I would have to delete quite a few to link a new account if that is the case. Next time I visit Schwab in the US I might as well try to link another account with a form to see if there is a hard limit of 5 links now.

I've only noticed the one business day hold when transferring from one Schwab One account to another Schwab One account. The balance of the receiving account is updated with the transferred amount immediately but if you go to the transfer page and select that account as the "From" account for a new transfer then the web page displays the maximum amount that can be transferred from that account. The funds don't show up in the transferrable amount until the next business day.

I never bother transferring funds into the Schwab checking accounts linked to my Schwab One accounts. You can set it up so that if the checking account goes below a specified amount then funds will be automatically be transferred from the linked Schwab One account to bring the checking account balance up to that amount. I keep the balance at zero in my checking accounts because you can also use the Schwab One account for overdraft protection from the linked checking accounts and there are no fees for overdrafts. Essentially I use my checking accounts as a way to provide ATM cards for my Schwab One accounts.

This brings up a question for those that have Schwab savings accounts. Assuming that you get better interest in the sweep account for a Schwab One account I was trying to figure out a good reason to open a savings account. Do you keep money there because of FDIC protection? I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing out on something.

[grin]

JFC's post reminded me of another difference between linking external accounts to a Schwab brokerage account and to a Cap One savings account. At Schwab a link applies only to one specific Schwab brokerage account. If you want an external account linked to more than one Schwab brokerage account you must link it separately to each account. Once you have linked an external account with Cap One you can use it from any of your Cap One accounts.

[jfchandler]

Grin, I'm just a mere mortal....

I only have one Schwab brokerage account, not two or more... So, unlike you, I never have to worry or even think about moving funds between two Schwab brokerage accounts...

My comments above about the transfer times, as noted, were regarding checking to brokerage or brokerage to checking transfers...

One reason for those kinds of transfers is that the 2% cash back earnings from the former Schwab (now FIA) VISA credit card still are automatically credited into accountholders' Schwab One brokerage accounts.

So then, in order to access those funds via an ATM card that is linked to the Schwab checking account, the funds need to be internal transferred to the checking account.

Another reason for those kind of internal transfers is.... because Schwab had made it easy to create new external links to its brokerage account, but much more involved for its checking account, there have been times when I pulled funds into the brokerage account because I didn't yet have the same external account linked to the Schwab checking, because of the time involved in getting all the paperwork processed.

[jfchandler]

So... let me update and clarify a bit, based on my conversation with the Schwab CSR just now...

She said Schwab does indeed now have a limit of 5 linked external accounts for the Schwab brokerage account. The CSR thought it might have been some kind of change from past policy... All I know is, I had 7 account linked already to my brokerage account, and every time I've tried to add a new one online lately, the Schwab online system coughs up an error message that doesn't in any way say or explain what the problem is. (That's a pretty bad customer relations move on their part).

Well, I guess Schwab has been hiring some of Cap One's CSRs lately, because Schwab tells me today that the advice they gave me yesterday (above) through one of their general CSRs was wrong...

Today, I ended up speaking with a member of Schwab's Money Link or "Move Money" team, which can be reached direct through a different 877 number from the main Schwab phone number.

As I started to explain the reason for my call and the info I'd received yesterday about the limit of 5 external accounts being linked to the Schwab brokerage account, the Move Money guy said he didn't know anything about a limit of 5, and instead said there is a limit of 10 external bank accounts being linked to the Schwab brokerage account... OK, 10 is a lot better than 5.

So in fact, at least based on what I'd see on my transfers screen, I always had less than 10 linked accounts. So why couldn't I add new account links? The answer, it turns out, was that apparently some of my old, no-longer-used deleted linked external accounts were still lurking in the Schwab system (even though they weren't listed in the transfers drop down menu of linked accounts), and those caused the Schwab system to think I was over the limit. Once the Move Money guy cleared out the old account links, I was able tonight to successfully add two new account links online, and in fact now have a total exceeding five...

Sorry for the prior confusion... I guess the free advice you get from bank CSRs is worth what you pay for it...

[Pib]

JFC,

This proves it...you've changed banks so many times and setup/deleted some many transfer links to the external banks you have bogged down Schwab's whole financial network! These problems with your brokerage account just may have been the real cause of the semi-recent stock market Flash Crash.

Cheers,

Pib

P.S. And you just keep on looking for the best banking deals (like I do) because what's a good bank today, can be a not-so-good bank tomorrow.

[jfchandler]

Sorry Pib... Can't talk now... On the phone with Ben B...

[jgm005]

Capital One ...

I am back in the States for family business for a few weeks. I had previously posted about Cap One sending out a new ATM card and that the old one becomes inactive. I have scanned and attached the insert that came with the new Cap One ATM.

1)

Withdrawal limit has increased to $600 per day

2)

ATM number has changed

3)

NO activation required

4)

Old ATM card is dead after one week of receiving new card

Good Luck All!

capone.pdf

[sendbaht]

I thought Schwab didn't do foreign wire transfers. That is what the literature I have says.

I do a wire transfer from my CS account to my Bangkok Bank once a year. So they do them.

All I do is fax a filled out form, then call them or they call me and all is fine.

A few years back they charged me $25 for the wire but I've got that waved now.

I do have there Dcard but I use my Bangkok card instead.

CS is one fine company to work with.