Schwab Investor Card by AMEX - new sign up offer

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

Their site says it must be linked to a brokerage account, and for the brokerage account:

Low minimum deposit of $1,000 (waived with automatic $100 monthly deposits).5

But you are doing a good job selling it. 

I'm seriously considering it, actually. I'm about 4 years out from hopefully getting completely out of debt other than mortgage (and likely an auto or loan or two at that point) and will need to start figuring out retirement immediately as soon as it makes more sense financially to do that than paying off my revolving balances.  Then I just need to figure out whether to go the Schwab or ML/ME route.

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I have a Schwab account. I've never been charged a fee and never have had direct deposit into either. 

But hey, if you don't wanna join, I won't talk you into it. 

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/investing/accounts_products/accounts

"...$0 account opening or maintenance fees. Other account fees, fund expenses, and brokerage commissions may apply.1 "

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The full pricing guide has the fine print in it:

$1,000 per account The Minimum Deposit Requirement is waived if you open a linked Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking® account or establish an incoming monthly transfer of at least $100 through direct deposit or Schwab MoneyLink.®

[HeavenOhio]

There are potentially two hard pulls for joining Schwab. One would be on the brokerage end, and one would be on the banking end. Because I already have a brokerage account (two, actually), I could open more without another pull. To open a checking account, I'd have to take a pull because I currently don't have any banking products. But there'd be no more pulls if I wanted to open more banking products after that.

[wasCB14]

I didn't get a HP when setting up my Schwab brokerage or checking accounts.

Granted, this was in 2014.

[K-in-Boston]

If I can piggyback on @LadyJEsq's photo, "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

The $1,000 or $100 monthly direct deposit in the fine print is to open the brokerage account.  No fees to maintain that or the checking.

And yes, I should probably meet with a financial adviser at some point.  BoA keeps hounding me to do so.  One of those cases where I'm not sure if I should poke the bear, even though the bear seems to really like me and isn't mistaking me for food.

[simplynoir]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

There are potentially two hard pulls for joining Schwab. One would be on the brokerage end, and one would be on the banking end. Because I already have a brokerage account (two, actually), I could open more without another pull. To open a checking account, I'd have to take a pull because I currently don't have any banking products. But there'd be no more pulls if I wanted to open more banking products after that.

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I did not know this. I'm assuming because you're already an account holder they just open it with just a SP at most?

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

If I can piggyback on @LadyJEsq's photo, "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

The $1,000 or $100 monthly direct deposit in the fine print is to open the brokerage account.  No fees to maintain that or the checking.

And yes, I should probably meet with a financial adviser at some point.  BoA keeps hounding me to do so.  One of those cases where I'm not sure if I should poke the bear, even though the bear seems to really like me and isn't mistaking me for food.

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I opened it with $0. You really need to just pull the trigger. Just saying... 

[HeavenOhio]

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

There are potentially two hard pulls for joining Schwab. One would be on the brokerage end, and one would be on the banking end. Because I already have a brokerage account (two, actually), I could open more without another pull. To open a checking account, I'd have to take a pull because I currently don't have any banking products. But there'd be no more pulls if I wanted to open more banking products after that.

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I did not know this. I'm assuming because you're already an account holder they just open it with just a SP at most?

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Yeah, there could be a SP. I didn't get into that level of detail with the rep who explained this. He said to expect a hard pull for the first account on each end (brokerage and banking), then no more hard pulls for subsequent accounts after that. I didn't ask about credit cards, but I'd assume that like almost all cards, they'd have their own HPs.

[simplynoir]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

There are potentially two hard pulls for joining Schwab. One would be on the brokerage end, and one would be on the banking end. Because I already have a brokerage account (two, actually), I could open more without another pull. To open a checking account, I'd have to take a pull because I currently don't have any banking products. But there'd be no more pulls if I wanted to open more banking products after that.

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I did not know this. I'm assuming because you're already an account holder they just open it with just a SP at most?

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Yeah, there could be a SP. I didn't get into that level of detail with the rep who explained this. He said to expect a hard pull for the first account on each end (brokerage and banking), then no more hard pulls for subsequent accounts after that. I didn't ask about credit cards, but I'd assume that like almost all cards, they'd have their own HPs.

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Good to know. Thanks!

[wasCB14]

There seems to be a bit of guessing, uncertainty, and speculation in this thread.

I have a Schwab brokerage account, a Schwab checking account, and a Schwab Platinum charge card. I'd be happy to answer any questions people still have.

If I don't know the answer to a question, it's probably something I didn't read about or think to ask Schwab or Amex (but probably should find out, too).

[EvilR-T]

I use my Schwab checking account as my main account. I had to open a brokerage account to open the checking. I did not have to fund the brokerage account. It was a hard pull, one hard pull. I also applied for the Amex investor card less than a month ago. The promo then was get $100 added to the brokerage account after spending $1000. I've already spent well over that and with the 1.5% back, I should be getting close to $140. This is not a statement credit. It is cash deposited into brokerage, that can be instantly transferred to my checking or savings. I could call and ask for the new promo, but I already accepted the terms of the original and I'm satisfied with that. I'm going to let the cash back just build in brokerage and treat it as a zero interest savings account. Maybe one day I'll grow up and use it to fund a Roth IRA.