Everyone knows travel can be extremely expensive. Not only do you have to pay for your transportation, lodging, food, and sight-seeing, but then there are currency conversions and ATM fees and foreign transaction fees to consider! As a budget traveler, I am committed to finding the best ways to save money in every area of travel.
I really did my research looking for a debit card with no foreign transaction fees. When I found out about the Charles Schwab debit card, it honestly sounded too good to be true. I did tons of research and asked Schwab customer service a whole bunch of questions, because I was looking for a catch.
And here’s what I found: there wasn’t one. Not a single catch!
There are no hidden fees or exceptions. I wish I’d started using this card way sooner, because it would have saved me a ton of money. But now I’ve used the Charles Schwab checking account and debit card, which has no foreign transaction fees and reimburses all ATM fees, exclusively for multiple trips!
Here’s what makes the Schwab Debit Card amazing (from their site):
Zero monthly or annual fees
No minimum balance requirements
No fees to open the account
Reimburses all ATM fees
No foreign transaction fees
Here’s a breakdown of what these things mean.
No Monthly or Annual Fees, No Minimum Balance, & No Fees to Open Account
Many accounts charge you a fee to open a new account. Then other banks also charge annual or monthly fees to keep your account open, especially if you don’t have a certain amount of money in your account.
The Schwab checking account is different! With the Schwab checking account, there’s no cost to open the account. You don’t have to keep any specific amount of money in the account. And, there are no annual or monthly fees, ever.
Reimbursed ATM Fees
When you’re traveling in another country and need cash, you’ll likely use an ATM. Oftentimes when you use a foreign ATM, your bank will charge you a fee, AND the ATM will charge you a fee. Both of those fees are often around $5! So that means you can easily get charged an extra $10 every time you make a cash withdrawal while abroad.
Schwab will reimburse every single fee ATM fee you get charged on the last business day of each month. Charles Schwab is an online bank, and they don’t have any of their own ATMs. So, instead of punishing you for using other ATMs, they reimburse all ATM fees.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
This Schwab account doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees, ever.
In comparison, many other debit cards charge a fee of 3% of every transaction you make while abroad. In other words, if you use your debit card to pay for a $100 souvenir, your bank will charge you an extra $3 on top of that – that’s the foreign transaction fee. That might not seem like a lot, but it can really add up!
How to Get a Scwab Checking Account and Debit Card
In order to have Schwab checking account (called a High Yield Investor Checking Account) and debit card, you also need to open a Schwab brokerage account. But don’t worry! Both accounts are totally free, and you never have to touch the brokerage account if you don’t want to. (I haven’t.)
Jackie from The Budget Minded Traveler has written an extremely helpful post outlining the process you need to go through to open the account. Rather than explain the process here, I’ll just link to her post: How to Set Up a Charles Schwab Bank Account.
Keep in mind that it will take a little bit for you to receive your debit card in the mail. Don’t wait until the last minute before your trip to set this up!
How to Set Travel Alerts with Schwab
You need to remember to set up travel alerts with Schwab before you leave for your trip. Travel alerts are your way of informing the bank that you’re going out of the country so that they don’t think your card got stolen and block your transactions from going through.
All you have to do to set up travel alerts on desktop is log in to your account on the Schwab site, scroll down a bit, and click “Debit Card Travel Notice” in the right sidebar under “Account Services.” It will have you enter the dates of your trip and your destination(s), as well as your phone number. Then you send the request, and you’ll receive a message when it’s been approved.
You can also set travel alerts in the Schwab app by going to “More” in the bottom right corner, then “Client Service,” and “Travel Notifications.”
Important Note: If you aren’t going to have the ability to receive texts or make phone calls while you travel, set up your travel alerts and log in to your Schwab account on your phone and/or computer before you leave home. Be sure to check the “Remember this device” box, and beware of clearing your cache. Schwab often requires you to receive a code through text or phone calls in order to get into your account or make any major changes. I’ve made the mistake before of waiting until I was abroad to set things up, then being unable to get the code to get in my account because I couldn’t receive texts or phone calls.
Let me know if you have any questions, I’m happy to help!
Want more travel hacks? Check out these posts!:
How We Got $200 Round-Trip Flights to Europe (from the U.S.)
5 Best Travel Apps You Won’t Want to Leave Home Without
How to Use Google Maps Offline for Travel
