Charles Schwab is an American financial company that offers banking, investing, commercial banking, and related services, such as consulting and wealth management services, to retail and institutional clients. The company has over 360 branches in U.S. and U.K. financial centers. It is the 7th largest financial institution in the U.S., with over US$8.5 trillion in client assets. You will learn how to open a Charles Schwab checking account later.
A checking account allows you to keep money for your everyday usage. You can keep finances for your daily expenditure such as buying food, transport, medication, etc. The funds in a checking account are accessible any time of the day. Most financial companies allow you to access your account online via an app whereby you can send money online, buy items online, and so on. You can also access your money at an ATM using your debit card.
Charles Schwab started its operations in San Francisco, California, in 1971. However, its headquarters are in Westlake, Texas. The financial company allows you to open your account online in this digital era. Apart from checking, you can open a savings account, a brokerage account, and so on. It is, therefore, a diverse financial company with numerous products.
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How To Open A Charles Schwab Checking Account
Charles Schwab Bank has a checking account known as the High Yield Investor Checking account. You can open an account online using your smartphone or computer. To get started with your account opening, you only need to visit the bank’s website and navigate to the open accounts tab and choose to open a checking account.
Once you tap the ‘Open a Checking Account”, you will land on another page whereby you will need to choose whether to open an individual or a joint account. An individual checking account is yours alone, while a joint account involves another party.
For example, a family can open a checking accountopen a checking account to help them fund their family issues. Account members can include father, mother, and children. Let us look at the process of opening each of the accounts.
1. Individual checking account
The company allows you to open a Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking® account plus a Schwab One® Brokerage account. Therefore, you can kill two birds with one stone. The brokerage account links to your checking account. With the two accounts, you can conveniently fund your investments, manage your day-to-day cash, enjoy free online bill pay, get unlimited ATM fee rebates, and deposit checks with Schwab Mobile.
There are zero costs for opening a checking account. We have the $0 monthly service fees, zero account minimum, and no foreign transaction fees. Again, there are various documents you need to open your account. They include the following:
- Social Security Number or Tax Identification Number
- The name of your employer plus their mailing address (if applicable)
- Your email address
- Mobile phone number
On the next page, you need to give information about who you are. You should enter your first name, middle name (optional), and the last name on the given form. You may even enter the suffix if you like. After that, you will need to tick Yes or No on whether your current home address is in Puerto Rico, the United States, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Next, enter your date of birth and your Social security Number.
The next step needs you to provide your contact details. These include your phone number and email address. You agree to receive Schwab account communications by providing your email address. You may also receive emails before opening your Schwab account for some instructions. You may opt out of receiving particular emails after opening your account.
Once you have provided your personal information, you can tap the Continue button to proceed.
2. Joint checking account
If you share the account with someone else, you must choose the joint checking account. The platform allows you to open a joint Schwab One® brokerage account plus a linked Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking account online. You only need to visit the website of the bank to get started. In the checking account section, you should choose the Joint Checking account. The process takes around 10 minutes to complete as long as you have everything.
To open a joint checking account, you need the following:
- Social Security Number or Tax Identification Number
- U.S. permanent resident address
- The name of your employer and mailing address (if applicable)
You can proceed with your account opening if you have the above requirements. You will need to choose the checking account you are opening. There are three types of checking accounts that you can open from the company. They include the following.
3. Joint Tenancy With Rights of Survivorship
Your account share will pass to the surviving member in the event of your death.
4. Tenants in Common
For a two-tenant account, your share of the account passes to your estate in the event of your death.
5. Community Property
The account is suitable for married couples. Each spouse has a half interest in the account’s assets. Your share of the account passes to your estate if you die. Unfortunately, this account type is only available in AK., NM, NV, PR, AZ, CA, ID, LA, TX, WA, and WI.
After that, you can tap the button ‘No, I’m new to Schwab’ to proceed. The first applicant should provide details such as their first, middle, and last names on the open page. You can also include your Suffix. Next, enter your email address, Social Security Number, and date of birth.
By providing your contact details, you agree to receive marketing and other communications from Schwab even if you do not open an account. You can read more about privacy at Schwab to know how your details may be used and how you can limit specific uses.
After entering the above details, you can then tap Next to continue. The second applicant will also need to enter their details to create an account successfully.
Reasons To Open A Charles Schwab Checking Account
There are various reasons why you should open a Charles Schwab checking account. They include the following:
1. Online access
You can open your checking account online using your smartphone or computer instead of walking to a branch. That way, you can save a lot of time you could have wasted in the process. You can also manage your account using a mobile app. Also, you can deposit checks from anywhere using the mobile app.
2. Ability to open either an individual account or joint account
The institution allows you to open an individual or joint account. Therefore, it makes it possible for couples and other groups of people with common financial goals to open a joint account.
3. Ability to open a checking and brokerage account
When opening a Charles Schwab checking account, you can get an automatic brokerage account to do your trading. That rarely happens with most financial companies.
4. There are no costs for opening the checking accounts.
Most financial companies require a particular opening deposit in your account when you open. Furthermore, you may need to pay monthly fees, foreign transaction fees, etc. At Charles Schwab, you will not need any opening deposit. Furthermore, you do not need to pay monthly or foreign transaction fees.
5. Free ATM access
You will get a free debit card when you open your checking account. You can use the card to withdraw money at ATMs for free. That is because the bank gives you unlimited ATM fee rebates, thus allowing you to save good money.
6. Free online bill pay
Most financial companies charge you to pay bills such as electricity, water, internet, and so on. However, Charles Schwab checking accounts allow you to pay online bills for free. Therefore, you can save money for your next bill payment through the free service.
Final Thought
Charles Schwab is an American financial company that offers banking, investing, commercial banking, and related services, such as consulting and wealth management services, to retail and institutional clients. The company allows you to access your account online using your smartphone or computer.
You can open a joint or individual checking account at the company for free. You automatically get a free brokerage account when you open a checking account.