I've had a Schwab Visa for the past 4 months. An excellent card, in my opinion. Like clockwork, 2% cashback is deposited into my Schwab One brokerage account on the 4th-5th of every month. I don't have to call them to request the reward.
You have up to 5 years to open the brokerage account to get your rewards. They will stay "banked" until then (unless something changes).
The other major perk of the Schwab Visa is that they do not charge FOREX fees for foreign transactions. Since I travel overseas a lot, this is a huge bonus. (Amex was ripping me off with 2.5% on my Delta Platinum card.) The exchange rates for Schwab are pretty good too.
I ended up opening a Schwab Visa, Schwab One brokerage, Schwab checking (0.75% APY, was 1% when I opened), and Schwab savings account (1.5% APY, was 2% when opened). Their customer service has been top notch and unlike any other bank/brokerage I've dealt with. I'm an Apex client of TD Ameritrade, and I still don't get as good of customer service as from Schwab. They are friendly, promptly respond to emails, and are available 24/7 and have always been courteous and helpful (even with a foreign wire transfer where I screwed up the account number; they called me to confirm it was for me and fixed everything!).
Their ATM card for their checking/savings has no FOREX fees and any ATM charges are reimbursed to you at the end of the month. The only drawback to their checking/savings is that you can't deposit cash (still require a brick and mortar bank for that), and any external account transfers (i.e., BoA to Schwab, Wachovia to Schwab, etc.) you must call them to perform. They hold your money for 3 days during the transfer, but unlike most banks, you start earning interest on it immediately. The Schwab One brokerage account you can transfer to/from external accounts online, which is supposed to be available for checking/savings account in the next two-three months according to a Schwab rep. Any transfer from Schwab checking to/from your brokerage account is instantly available.
Overall an excellent deal. One of the best I've came across. Just hope they don't reduce the cashback rewards at a later date.
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