No More ATM Fees With This Debit Card

When you make the decision to travel abroad or domestic, one of the first things you think about is money.

How much do you need? Which currency will I need to use? How will I access my money? Can I use my credit card while traveling? What are the fees with my credit and debit card?

Keep in mind that not every place you travel to will accept credit cards and its always handy to have cash on hand. Besides, it’s not likely you can pay a street vendor with a credit card.

In these type of situations, it’s best to have a debit card. You can withdraw money in the local currency and use it whenever and however you like.

If you have a US social security number and are looking a debit card for traveling, the best option is to open a Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking account.

Disclaimer: I am NOT making any money by telling you this information. This is an honest opinion based on my experience. I personally use this debit card and have had a great experience with it while using it all over the world.

Now instead of comparing different debit cards, I’m simply going to explain why the Charles Schwab debit card is the best and no other debit card compares.

To get $100 for opening a new account, the link and referral code are at the bottom.

No Foreign Transaction Fees, Minimums, or Monthly Fees

When you’re shopping around for a debit card, you’ll notice that some of them charge monthly fees for simply having an account. Others charge you a fee if you don’t have a minimum amount of money in the account(I don’t like the idea that they charge you money for not having enough money!). Another common fee is the foreign transaction fee.

Let’s take a closer look at the Schwab Checking account.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

When you’re traveling, the last thing you want is to get home and realize your bank charged you $5 or $10 every time you made a purchase. Or maybe they charged you a percentage of every purchase. It adds up and it’s not a good use of your money. This happened to me when I used my Bank of America card in Asia. The ATM had a $5 fee and then BofA charged me an additional $5 fee. Not fun.

The Charles Schwab High Yield debit card has zero foreign transaction fees, which will leave you worry free.

This means that if you withdraw money from an ATM or make a purchase using your debit card, you will only be charged for the equivalent in U.S. dollars. No additional percentages or fees will be tacked on. The price you see is the price you pay.

Side note: I recommend never using your debit card for purchases. If someone skims your information, they can cipher your account.

No Account Minimums

The Schwab debit card does not have a minimum balance. This means as long as you have money in your account, you won’t get charged a fee. With that said, be careful not to withdraw more money than you have in the account or else you will get charged.

No Monthly Fees

Some debit cards charge a monthly fee. Why pay money to a bank to keep your money in a bank that makes the bank money? That’s one of those “If a wood chucker could chuck wood” type of sentences.

I suppose one of the incentives to pay a monthly fee is a higher interest rate. Don’t get fooled by high interest rates with checking accounts. They aren’t as high as they used to be and won’t return much money unless you have a really high amount.

Let’s use the 0.5% interest rate as an example. With a monthly fee of $10, you are spending $120 per year. If you are making 0.5% interest on your money per year, you would need to have $24,000 in your account just to break even ($24,000 x 0.5% = $120)!

Instead of wasting money on a monthly fee, there are plenty of other debit cards that don’t charge a monthly fee. And you guessed it, the Schwab High Yield debit card account doesn’t charge a fee.

Now that we know Schwab isn’t going to charge these ridiculous fees, let’s see at how they will actually give us money back when we are charged fees by third parties.

ATM Fee Reimbursement

When you are researching debit cards you’ll notice that some of the cards are a part of an ATM alliance. The most prevalent of these alliances is the Global ATM Alliance. This alliance is a partnership among banks all around the world.

These banks teamed up and basically said, hey if you don’t charge my customers a fee for withdrawing from your ATM we won’t charge your customers for using our ATMs.

The only issue with the alliance is that you still have to identify which ATMs you can and can’t use so you don’t get dinged with a fee.

If you’re in the US and can sign up for a Schwab debit card, you don’t have to worry about this though.

Instead of charging a fee for using an ATM that is outside of their network, Schwab says that all ATMs are free to use for their High Yield Investor Checking debit card holders.

Even if another ATM charges you a fee, Schwab will reimburse you. It sounds too good to be true, but it works. I came across a random ATM in Costa Rica that wanted to charge me $2 for a withdrawal. I didn’t have to think twice since I knew Schwab would reimburse me later.

Schwab does a pretty good job of combing through your charges and automatically reimbursing you for ATM fees. If a mistake is made and a fee slips through, just let them know and they’ll take care of it for you.

How to Open a Schwab Debit Card Account

Along with the perks above you also get access to benefits that other top cards are offering as well. Things like mobile deposit so you can deposit a check through their app. Also, you can link it to Apply Pay so you can pay with your phone at any place that accepts payment through Apple’s payment system.

When you’re ready to sign up for the Schwab debit card, it’s simple. Head over to the Schwab website and click on Apply Now. They are currently running a promotion to people opening up a new account.

You can earn $100, just for signing up. Here is the referral code.

This is part of Schwab’s personal referral program. Once again, I’m not making money from this, I’m just letting you know the opportunities you have to save.

One of the things you’ll notice is that a Schwab brokerage account is automatically opened up as well.

This gives you access to trading stocks on the market, however, you don’t really need to concern yourself with that to get the benefits of the debit card. I never once used it.

Once you’ve accepted that you have to open a brokerage account, it sends you over to the application where you fill in all of the basic info including your name, address, and social security number.

Using Your Debit Card While Traveling

Before you close out of this page and sign up for your new Schwab debit card, here are some final pointers for using your card while you’re on your trip.

Use Your CREDIT Card Whenever You Can. Earn points/miles and avoid having your debit info hacked.

If you’re being smart about your air miles and using credit cards to save money, you’ll want to use your credit card over your debit card whenever possible. Your debit card does not earn you air miles or give you cash back.

Always Pay in the Foreign Currency

When you’re purchasing something in a foreign country you’ll often be asked if you want to pay in US dollars or in the foreign currency. Always select the foreign currency.

Just because Schwab won’t charge you a foreign transaction fee doesn’t mean these businesses won’t. If you choose US dollars these businesses can tack on an exchange rate percentage that the business gets to keep. Instead, just pay in the foreign currency and let your bank handle the exchange.

Don’t Take Out Too Much Cash

The Visa® card that comes with the Schwab High Yield Investor Checking account is the Visa® Platinum Debit Card. This card allows for a daily cash withdrawal limit of $1,000.

Just because you can take out $1,000 from your account, does not mean that you should. Be smart when you’re traveling and only carry on you the money that you need for the day.

Take out what you need and then split up your cash in different areas. Put some money in your shoes, put some in your wallet, some in your inside pockets, etc. This way if a pickpocket does get some of your money, they won’t get it all.

Bottom Line

If you have a US social security number you now know that the best debit card for traveling is the Schwab High Yield Investor Checking account card. It doesn’t charge you any crazy fees like other cards do and it will even reimburse you when you’re charged an ATM fee by another bank.

If you’re not a US citizen or don’t have a US social security number, look for the debit cards that are part of the Global ATM Alliance. This will increase your chances of finding an ATM that won’t charge you fees while you’re traveling.

Lastly, remember to let your bank know where and when you’ll be traveling so that they don’t flag your account and freeze transactions.

Get $100 for opening up a new account

Referral Code: REFER6ZFIQ

CLick the link

Do you use the Schwab debit card for traveling? What has your experience been?

David

David is the Author of Memoirs of Napoleon Streisand and the Founder of Wise Flys. He has been to 7 continents and loves to travel the world for cheap.

http://Wiseflys.com

7 Comments

Jackie says:

September 29, 2017 at 4:56 pm

THIS IS GENIUS!!!!!!

- David says:
  
  October 5, 2017 at 8:45 pm
  
  I love it
  
Ronny says:

October 4, 2017 at 7:40 am

I have never heard if no ATM fees. You are so nice for sharing. What other tricks you have up your sleeve?

- David says:
  
  October 5, 2017 at 8:47 pm
  
  Im surprised its not more well known. Plenty of tips and tricks to share, feel free to read more posts.
  
Ricky says:

October 11, 2017 at 3:37 pm

I think TD Bank does something like this

- David says:
  
  October 24, 2017 at 7:00 am
  
  Yes, TD Bank does offer to reimburse ATM Fees.
  
Marcy says:

June 15, 2018 at 5:38 am

This is truly useful, thanks.

No More ATM Fees With This Debit Card