schwab bank high yield checking acct

[aloha]

i got a flier in the mail today notifying me that schwab bank offers a checking account with one of the highest interest rates - as of mid-sept it's 3.00% apy.

the flier claims there are no atm fees, no minimum balance, no monthly service charge, free standard checks, free on-line bill pay, overdraft protection, fdic insured.

the high yield checking acct is linked to the schwab brokerage acct

does anyone have this? benefits, pitfalls, as good as advertised?

[DHK]

I would recommend this as a secondary checking account, not as your primary checking.

Why? Well, what about service issues? What if you need to cash a check?

These kinds of accounts are usually online only or you need to mail in your deposits. Very little local support.

So, keep your current account, but definitely get one of these "on the side".

[aloha]

I would recommend this as a secondary checking account, not as your primary checking.

Why? Well, what about service issues? What if you need to cash a check?

These kinds of accounts are usually online only or you need to mail in your deposits. Very little local support.

So, keep your current account, but definitely get one of these "on the side".

thanks - i plan to keep my local credit union accounts- i've had great low-interest car loans from them in the past, and one of my oldest tradelines on my credit reports is my checking acct overdraft with my cu

anyone have direct experience with this schwab high yield checking acct?

[Chester P. Dexter]

I think Schwab's commissions might be high, so think about how much you'll be trading and what kind of trading you'll do. I got the same flier and actually looked into it.

It did give me the idea, though (Schwab can take the credit for prompting me to open an account with a competitor) to get an ETrade account instead. Their max-rate checking has 2.9% interest. Like DHK said, if you have to make a paper deposit, you have to mail it in.

USAA has deposit at home, so you can scan checks and they're deposited instantly. Why don't all the banks offer this? That's what I want to know.

[aloha]

I think Schwab's commissions might be high, so think about how much you'll be trading and what kind of trading you'll do. I got the same flier and actually looked into it.

It did give me the idea, though (Schwab can take the credit for prompting me to open an account with a competitor) to get an ETrade account instead. Their max-rate checking has 2.9% interest. Like DHK said, if you have to make a paper deposit, you have to mail it in.

USAA has deposit at home, so you can scan checks and they're deposited instantly. Why don't all the banks offer this? That's what I want to know.

thanks - sounds like i've got some research to do - check out the schwab commissions and etrade, etc. i don't really have too much of a problem with mailing in paper deposits since i'll be using it more for the interest rate than as my bread-and-butter checking account.

interesting to be able to scan checks into a usaa account! do they charge for that?

i remember years ago, when atm's first came on the scene. one of the "benefits" touted to get customers to use the darn things was that it would help banks hold down the cost of hiring tellers. LOL! then, a few years later when everyone was using atms like crazy - suddenly all sorts of 'transaction' fees started popping up for atm withdrawals. they wouldn't have dared do that in the beginning, or customers would never have bought into using atms en masse.

[Chester P. Dexter]

There's no fee charged to deposit checks from home. And one of our local little banks has a sign bragging about remote deposit, too (I think it's the same thing.) I think soon all the banks will have that.