The Schwab card

Historically the exchange rate has been set by the network exchange rate -- either MCard or Visa. So how do you get a better than average exchange rate?

You load your travel money onto the card before you leave and whatever fee you are charged at an ATM or merchant, they credit you back.

Just to be clear - the debit card is attached to a checking account - so to "load" it you deposit money to the account. It's more than a pre-paid card.

Also keep in mind:

When applying for your Schwab High Yield Investor checking account, you will also be required to open a Schwab brokerage account if you don't already have one.

That's not to say that the card doesn't offer advantages both domestically and abroad. I have a similar debit card with Fidelity - although you must be on the Plus or Star networks to have fees rebated. But you will have two more accounts than when you started.

And curious what advantage the Schwab card would offer on a Travelex or Euronet ATM, which are now ubiquitous across Europe.

It is true that you need to open a Schwab investor account in order to open the checking account. However, you don't need to fund or use the Investor account. It can sit there at zero forever if you like. I have had all fees from ATMS overseas refunded to me by Schwab regardless of the ATM I used.

I jumped through all their hoops to get an account set up before a 3 week trip last summer. It was ridiculous. Thought I was going to have to send them my first born son, but eventually got my account set up.

During my trip, I made atm withdrawals about 5 times, at whatever atm we happened to walk by. I declined the conversion to $. When it was all said and done, my refunded atm fees were about $10.

Totally not worth it. The atm fee hype is just hype.

As a former Schwabbie, Schwab is not a company I will do business with.

EDIT: I use both my Fidelity ATM and Visa card when traveling. No fees foreign or otherwise, ATM fees are reimbursed.
Jojo Rabbit explains Fidelity’s offer in his post below.

The Schwab Bank Visa Platinum Debit Card always travels with me...and has for years. It has performed flawlessly in the many countries visited. Deposits to the checking account can be very easily made electronically. In addition to the financial benefits noted, customer service is superior. Unlike most firms these days that force you through a lengthy painful phone tree system and then long waits to talk with disinterested staff, calls to Schwab Bank are answered promptly and staff are smart, well-trained and pleasant. In my extensive experiences, Schwab Bank Visa Platinum Debit Card and associated staff easily earn and maintain five stars.

And curious what advantage the Schwab card would offer on a Travelex or Euronet ATM, which are now ubiquitous across Europe.

I guess I do not totally understand your point, those machines operate like any other ATM, yes, they will absolutely charge a fee unless local laws do not allow, but Schwab refunds the fee. Those machines will also offer DCC, but you decline. Costs at a Travelex or Euronet machine are no higher than other ATMs using the Schwab card. However, more and more finding a no fee ATM, "Bank" ATMs included, aa well as one that does not offer DCC, is becoming rare.

Capital One 360, Chase Sapphire Banking, and a host of other cards also have cards that reimburse fees, a number without having to open an investor account (though I do actually use my investment account, so works well for me.

The article mischaracterizes the Fidelity CMA and debit card (I know because I have one). It is "not" a brokerage account, it is exactly like the Schwab deal, a separate CMA from a brokerage account with no fees on ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world, plus you can use the account like a de facto checking account, with paper checks, mobile app, bill pay, etc.

In addition, who uses a debit card to make purchases, particularly purchases abroad? That is foolish; purchases at home and abroad should be made with a credit card (preferably a foreign transaction fee free CC) that offers more fraud protection than a debit card.

Finally, it is one thing if you already have one of these accounts and cards, but to jump through the hoops to open an account to save a few $ if/when you hit a foreign ATM for local currency is silly. The need for local currency is much lower today than in years past...use your CC - tap to pay, Apple Pay - for as much as possible.

Useless, misleading article.

If you like to have all your money in one place, are willing to jump through the hoops, and use ATMs a lot, it's probably a good deal. I used an ATM only once during my recent 5 1/2 week trip, and that was only because I messed up the booking. It just wouldn't be worth it for me.

I will add, the reason I went to the effort to get a Schwab card, years ago, was that at the time, my credit union limited withdrawals to $200/Day and we only had the one debit card account. The card offered a high daily withdrawal limit ($1000 I think) plus we had the security of a second account then to draw from, one we used only for travel. Fee reimbursement really was not a concern, but a nice perk.

Fast forward, still nice to have two accounts that could be used, fee reimbursement is still nice, but agree with others, the days have having to withdraw cash one or more times a day are gone, we typically withdraw once, maybe twice in a 3-4 week trip.

As I mentioned, there are probably easier solutions to get a card with fee reimbursement, but I would encourage anyone to have a second debit card, as back-up.

There are still European countries where cash is used a lot. They include Turkey, Albania and North Macedonia. Most ATMs in those countries charge substantial fees. It can be the equivalent of $6 or $7 on even small transactions. I walked away from an Albanian ATM that was going to charge arount $10.50 on a withdrawal of about $300. Some Googling will turn up TripAdvisor threads with suggestions for no-fee ATMs in countries like that, but if you read on, you will find later posts with reports that those banks have subsequently instituted ATM fees.

Note that in the case of those three countries you are not using a standard currency like the euro, so you won't want to withdraw more money than you're sure you will spend. That is very likely to lead to multiple withdrawals per week.

There is still value in having an ATM/debit card that refunds fees when you travel to some countries, even within Europe.

I had a Schwab brokerage account when I applied for the debit card via my financial advisor, so it was easy-peasy. I have only recently learned that Schwab also offers international wire transfers for a maximum fee of $15. This seems like a great bargain for me. I've used Wise in the past, but their rules have changed so much I'm not sure they're such a bargain anymore.

For debit cards you need to be aware of the ATM fee, the conversion rate and the foreign transaction fee. Both cards have very good exchange rates and refund ATM fees. Schwab debit cards do not charge a foreign transaction fee. Fidelity debit cards charge a foreign transaction fee of 1% of the transaction amount for non-US dollar transactions.

One other piece of useful info regarding the Schwab card. You may pull $1,000 per day with it - which if a joint account and you have the standard two cards with different numbers is $2,000 per day. While there is now little need for much cash most of the time, if you are lodging a small place that does not take credit cards (yes, there are still some, such as my favorite place in London) or otherwise are getting a nice cash discount from your lodging, this makes it easy to get the necessary cash (though a bit time consuming as you will need multiple withdrawals due to the machine's limit on maximum cash per withdrawal

While there is now little need for much cash most of the time, if you are lodging a small place that does not take credit cards (yes, there are still some, such as my favorite place in London)

In such a rare case, knowing in advance that I am booked somewhere that doesn't accept CC, I would obtain the cash at home pre trip from my bank, B of A, which offers excellent foreign exchange services and rates for customers.

What if the place that wants cash isn't the first place you're staying? I am not happy carrying around a lot of cash.

Which is where the card with the $1,000/day (or $2K for a couple) is so useful. Get the cash 10 minutes before you need it (and at normal non-fee ATM system rates).

What if the place that wants cash isn't the first place you're staying? I am not happy carrying around a lot of cash.

I use a neck wallet for passport, cash, and deep storage CCs...so I would say keep cash wherever you keep those valuables.

I have experienced enough ATMs abroad where the transaction failed, for unexplained reasons that I am wary of the idea of waiting until "right before" I need that cash to pay for lodging: too risky to me, YMMV...

Then with your neck wallet you can get the cash at your convenience. Really, I have over the near 50 years that ATMs have been n use had more failures (and skimming) here in the US than abroad.

Really, I have over the near 50 years that ATMs have been n use had more failures (and skimming) here in the US than abroad.

Pretty sure you have used many, many more ATMs in the US than abroad over that time period...innumeracy at work here in your logic...what percentage of incidents at home vs abroad is the more relevant comparison.

The only time one of my debit cards got skimmed was at a bank, at an indoor ATM inside the bank lobby no less, in Budapest in 2018. Never happened in the US, and I have experienced a much higher 'transaction failure' rate in Europe than here over the most relevant time period, the last 20 or so years. Prior to that, I remember using travelers checks or I took US currency to exchange at banks in Europe. That all went away in the mid 00s...

Europe-1 failed ATM, next one was fine. U.S. -many failures, and several skims through my family (not to mention an issue of internal bank fraud here). You can carry all the cash you want on your person all the time, for me and family, we will get it when we need it.

There seems to be a lot of cloudy information being discussed about ATMs. There are virtually no ATMs that are free. So having a card that rebates the fee is a good thing. On every trip it’s almost a certainty you will run into a vendor that only accepts cash. This is because of a personal decision of the owners because of the % the banks take of the transaction from the vendor. So having some cash is a necessity.

People are over thinking the atm fee when the real concern is the exchange rate bid/ask spread. Any one that says Euronet is a reasonable option doesn’t understand the spread and what type of company Euronet is. It’s very similar to Western Union and not a bank. They provide a convenience of last resort or laziness.

Euronet claims to offer fair exchange rates and transparent fees before each transaction. However, some say that Euronet's exchange rates are unfavorable and can be as much as 13% higher than the mid-market exchange rate. For example, one reviewer said that Euronet's ATM gave them 0.80 euros for a US dollar instead of the expected 0.90 euros, plus a 12% markup and a $4 fee

Euronnet.

Is not a bank., it is an exchange merchant. And as I have said here before many times, the word "exchange" is completely misused. There is no "exchange" going on, that exchange, and in this case it is a Euronet machine rather than someone behind a counter, is a purchase of local currency. Sold for profit by the exchange merchant, conveniently using your bank account as a POS. Whereas at an actual network ATM you are withdrawing your cash from your account, in form of local currency. Yes, there is a network markup for the service and my experience with Schwab and CapOne has been that this amount, from point 1 to point 5 of 1 percent. However, this does not show a fee, it shows in what you receive, which would be that .1 to ,5 of 1 percent on the interbank rate at that time. But no fee for the ATM usage, which some machines and other banks may apply - and Schwab will refund the fee portion. And those banks will also have an increase in the conversion rate built in.

I went to Europe from June 14th 2024 to June 30th 2024 and only used my Charles Schwab debit card to withdraw money from five different ATMs. I always declined conversion so Schwab would handle the conversion. I only went to big banks and avoided Euronet altogether. I’ll share which ones charged a fee and which ones did not.

I withdrew €50 ($53.74) and €60 ($64.51) at two different BAWAG P.S.K. Bank ATMs in Austria. I wasn’t charged any fees.

I withdrew €240 ($257.35) from a HypoVereinsbank ATM in Germany. I wasn’t charged any fees.

I withdrew £5 ($6.34) from a NatWest Bank ATM in the UK. I wasn’t charged any fees.

I withdrew €50 at a BNL Bank ATM in Italy. I was charged a €5 fee. The total amount withdrawn from my Charles Schwab account was $59.20. I was reimbursed $5.38 on July 1st 2024. I will avoid BNL in the future because of the fee.