Letter in today's mail: Schwab no longer sponsoring Invest First Visa card. "FIA Card Services . . . will make all decisions regarding terms, conditions, and reward programs." (FIA Card Services is a Bank of America division or company.) I got this card specifically because they did not charge a foreign transaction fee. My other Bank of America card charges foreign transaction fees. I fully expect the "terms" on the formerly-Schwab card to change. I guess this means Capital One may be the only major card issuer that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee. (And, note the use of "major"; I know some smaller institutions don't, such as some credit unions, but many do so it is a bit of a challenge to track down which ones do and which ones don't.) How would Rick Steves feel about starting his own online bank? Lots of money in it Rick.
Posted by
San Francisco, California, USA
446 posts
I hope they don't discontinue the two percent cash back feature, but it being Bank of America, I don't have any great expectations.
Posted by
Aptos
2 posts
We leave in 2 days for Europe and have always loved the Schwab credit card. I guess on Oct 1, I should start using the Schwab ATM/debit card instead. Need to research this further tomorrow. Bummer.
Posted by
OP
Tuscaloosa, AL
1152 posts
I think you can still use the Visa card. The letter said the terms could change, not that they had changed.
Posted by
San Francisco, California, USA
446 posts
The card is still valid. It is being taken over by FIA Card Services, a Bank of America subsidiary. So, the question is, will they eliminate the two percent cash back feature? They are not saying, but if I had to place a bet, I would predict that feature will be gone in a few months. According to a NY Times article today, the reason Schwab decided to end their sponsorship of the card was because it was costing them too much money. The issue seemed to be that most people who signed up for the card were savvy investor types who always paid their cards in full at the end of the month, so Schwab got little or no profits from interest charges to offset the cost of the two percent cash back.
Posted by
Greenville, SC, USA
263 posts
I'm an AmEx Blue cash user at home (1.5 to 5% cash rebates) but their foreign transaction fees are terrible, so I got a Capital One Mastercard for my recent 5 week trip to Europe. It worked like a charm, no extra fees over the purchase amount, and I've confirmed that the exchange rates were good (another thing AmEx wasn't so good about). The CapOne card also earns cash back (.5-3% I believe).
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
It's not much use to speculate about how things might change or what features you might miss, since things haven't changed yet. I wouldn't moan about a change in the fees or loss of rewards until it actually happens. There's nothing you can do if it does, anyway.