[quote=flu]Ok. I just opened another account at schwab.
I found out the following:
1)It’s just easier to open a new borkerage+checking account. You supposedly can have just a checking account only, but it has some drawbacks.
No fee, no minimum deposit on either brokerage account or banking account.
2)No fee for closing account.
3)You can use the ATM anywhere in the world. At the end of the month, if you had to pay any ATM fees, Schwab reimburses you.
4)Direct deposit and bill pay available.
5) There is no easy way to deposit a written check or cash at a local branch directly to the bank account. However, you can deposit it into a brokerage and transfer over to bank account from a local branch.
6) No fee-based overdraft protection from the brokerage account. (Not sure how to disable)
7) Money link allows you transfer between brokerages/bank accounts.
Goodbye wells fargo and us bank.[/quote]
You’re right, there is no easy way to deposit to Schwab (as is the case with most Internet-only banks). They will, however, send you free envelopes to mail in a check.
I kept my old Chase account so that I could use their iPhone app to make deposits (just take a picture of both sides of the check with the app) and transfer the balance to my Schwab account.
“Now, the only complaint I have here is that I want more. Specifically, why haven’t Internet-only banks jumped all over this? It’s great that Chase has this feature, but where I live, you can’t swing a cat and not hit a Chase branch. Where it would really make sense is with an online bank like Fidelity, where I do most of my day-to-day checking. Fidelity has no branches of its own (just like Charles Schwab’s bank, Everbank or a host of other online banks) — the only way you can deposit a check is to mail it in, which takes forever. Add something like mobile check deposits and you just knocked out one of the main obstacles people have to joining an online bank.”
