Schwab Credit Card Review
by Mr Credit Card
In an effort to lure and attract more new accounts, Schwab has recently come up with a cash rebate credit card where your rebates are automatically debited into your dSchwab account. So how does this card stack up? Let’s take a look.
Rebate Formula – The Schwab credit card pays a 2% cash rebate for every dollar that you spend on the card. You can earn unlimited rebates. The rebates that you earn are automatically deposited into your schwab account at the end of every month.
Eligible Accounts – To actually get the 2% rebates. You need an eligible Schwab account. If you do not open a Schwab account, you will still accumulate rebates which Schwab will hold for 5 years. Eligible accounts include Individual, joint, or trust (living and revocable) Schwab One accounts are eligible to be linked to your Schwab Bank Invest First card to receive cash rewards. Ineligible accounts include: Schwab One organization accounts for corporations, limited liability corporations, non-incorporated associations, partnerships, investment clubs, DBA operations, nonprofits and charities, as well as general brokerage accounts, IRAs, and other retirement accounts.
Fees – There is no annual fee for this card. The APR is 13.74% and there is a 2.99% balance transfer offer for 6 months. Bear in mind that like most other cards these days, there is a 3% balance transfer fee charge, with a $10 minimum and no caps on the fee. The Schwab credit card also has the honor of being one of the rare credit cards which charges no foreign transaction fee.
Other Benefits – The Schwab credit card comes in either the Visa Signature version or the Platinum version. The Visa Signature card has additional benefits such as no preset spending limit,1 Visa Signature Dining and Visa Signature Access. To receive a Schwab Bank Invest First Visa Signature card, you must qualify for a credit line of $5,000 or more. If you are approved for a credit line less than $5,000, you will automatically be offered the Schwab Bank Invest First Platinum Plus Visa card.
Verdict – So here’s my verdict. 2% cash rebates is a great offer from Schwab. It is certainly better than most generic 1% cash back cards out there. But before you jump onto the bandwagon, make sure you have an eligible account because without one, your rebates cannot be deposited. For those looking to open a new Schwab, this card might just do the trick for you.
But is 2% the best for everyone? Not really. It depends on how much you spend? What you actually use your card for? To find out if this is the right card for you, fill in your monthly spending by categories in the calculator below. It will show you how much rebates you would get from the Schwab credit card and how much the best two other cards on the market will give you. Then, you can make an informed decision.
March 24th, 2009 at 06:52
I hear you have to have stellar credit to qualify. My score is around 730 so it’s not the top of the top. I wonder if I would get approved…
March 24th, 2009 at 11:37
I applied for this card a couple months ago after hearing about it on a lot of the blogs…so far I’ve been pretty pleased. My first bill came in this month so I can’t comment too much on how easily the rewards are deposited.
My only complaint so far is actually trying to pay my bill. I’m a stickler for paying them as soon as they come in, and I wasn’t able to because I have to set up my bank accounts with their bill paying service, which takes a few days to verify the accounts.
April 27th, 2009 at 08:56
The bottom line is that the Discover and American Express cards are not accepted everywhere. I’ve had the cards rejected from so many restaurants, online retailers, county/city municipalities, vacation resorts, utility companies, etc that I can’t stand the cards. Once you factor in acceptance of cards, Visa cash rewards ends up just as high. If you don’t like carrying around multiple cards (or risk hurting your credit with multiple cards), then just choose one – Visa.
May 26th, 2009 at 20:01
[...] in the store, but that doesn’t apply to most reward cards, except perhaps the phenomenal Schwab [...]
July 15th, 2009 at 14:05
I don’t see where “ask mr. credit card factored in Schwab’s no fee for using the card in other countries, where almost all others charge 3% for charges in other nations.
July 22nd, 2009 at 17:11
One other thing, this calculator assumes that you get the 5% cash back rewards for all 12 months when you actually only get each of the categories for 3 months out of the year. Also, you do not start collecting the full rewards amount until you reach $3,000 of annual credit card sales. I’m going with the Schwab account…way too many benefits to pass up. Also, I’m tired of the monitoring the points systems like the discover card. It’s annoying to keep track of what places qualify for each category. And, if I’m not mistaken, typically a department store like Wal-Mart is not included for the groceries category. Well, if you have to go somewhere else and you cost sensitive, then you’ll probably end up spending 5% more somewhere else that will activate your 5% cash back. Schwab is easy and clean.
September 8th, 2009 at 01:03
Very Sloppy and misleading calculator like Duke says.
I am thinking of getting the Schwab combined with AMex Blue Cash.
I put about 80-100k on cards each year.
I could give two $%^ about the prestige of the Platinum…I know what I make per year and can easily qualify but the idea of paying 450/yr for a card for an occasional benefit seems silly. why should I grab a 1% reward when there are better rewards out there.
Our family puts about 20G on the bill for groceries.
My planned strategy is to pay all groceries/gas on AMex Blue and take advantage of 5% back and then use Schwab at 2$ for everything else.
I Was looking at the Starwood versus Hilton AMex cards becasue I
I figure taking into account $6500 needed to get the 5% to kick in I will overall get about 2.2-2.4% back per year on the cards.