I had a Charles Schwab Checking Account. I was impressed with the quality of the checkbook cover they sent but that was it. Nothing special about their website for banking & it just became purely annoying with them constantly trying to push their brokerage services. I had no interest whatsoever because I am with Vanguard already so I really didn't need Schwab because even though they are about the same in a few funds, Vanguard has vastly more low cost options. Eventually it got to be too much so I just closed the account. I decided after this experience to never mix checking & brokerage accounts!

I made an account and was made to believe the application process was going smoothly, having my banking information confirmed and being able to log in to the website with my account credentials. Two days passed and I was unable to log in with no warning or notification as to why.

I had to ultimately contact customer service and found out they had decided to close my account, presumably because of one piece of negative information they found in my Equifax credit report.

If you have less than ideal credit like me, I'd recommend trying either Fidelity or TD Ameritrade. I've trialed both for a month now, and everything has been running smoothly with my banking information tied to both accounts and subsequent transfers made very easily. I've ultimately chosen to stick solely with Fidelity because of personal preference for their web and mobile interfaces.

I've been with schwab for about 1.5 months now, and I've been extremely impressed.

I was reluctant to go with such a large corporate institution, but my experience has only been positive. I don't know what a guy has to do to get charged a fee at schwab, but, I haven't been charged one yet. In addition to the niceties you'd expect from a well rated online bank (free atm use at any atm, no maintenance fees, free online billpay, etc.) there are things here you simply can't find anywhere else:

1) Free checks. I don't mean you get your first 100 checks free. I mean free checks. Always.

2) ATM fee reimbursements. I don't mean, reimbursement of the first $5 per month. I don't mean only in your state, or even your country. I mean, reimbursement of ALL ATM fees, everywhere in the world. That's right. I can take money out of an ATM in Thailand and they'll reimburse the fee.

3) Speaking of Thailand, no currency conversion fees. Other banks, in addition to not reimbursing international ATM fees will also charge you a percentage of your withdrawal just for 'converting' it to the local currency. Schwab does not charge this fee.

Aside from that, I've had to call customer service a few times. Awesome. It's not farmed out to India. It's not some stoner playing angry birds while he's talking to you. I'd swear I was talking to a real bank manager everytime. I generally hate calling customer support but, everytime I've hung up the phone with a schwab representative, I'm downright ecstatic that they are my bank.

You know, the concept of a bank fails without depositor accounts. I don't mean they'd do less business or make less money. I mean there simply would not be banks without depositor accounts. So, it's really nice to finally find a bank that 'gets' that and treats depositors as they should. Which is to say: grateful to have your money in their bank.

-Joe

I have an investor checking account with them, along with a savings account which I split with Ally for the better rate.

So far, I've had nothing to complain about, which says a lot given some other reviews on this site. Their mobile app works great on my tablet for depositing checks; the money appears the next day in most cases.

The few times I've spoken with customer service, the reps have been professional and taken care of my issues quickly, so no complaints there, either.

I've been happy so far and would recommend Charles Schwab. It's a bit strange having to open the brokerage account in order to have the checking account; it just sits there empty for me as I have no interest in using them for that.

Having had a Schwab brokerage account for over 30 years, I thought that borrowing from Schwab Bank for the construction of our new house would be an exercise in