Chip and PIN credit cards for Europe

[rodi]

Audrey - I don't think you have to open a Schwab brokerage to get use of Schwab banking. I have both - but I believe you can open schwab bank accounts without the brokerage. They have brick/mortar branches in many cities.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi Audrey - I don't think you have to open a Schwab brokerage to get use of Schwab banking. I have both - but I believe you can open schwab bank accounts without the brokerage. They have brick/mortar branches in many cities.

Their internet pages say you can't open an investor high yield checking without a brokerage account.

Quote:

Do I have to open a Schwab One® brokerage account with my High Yield Investor Checking account? Yes. Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking is only available when linked to a Schwab One brokerage account. There are no monthly or low-balance fees for either account.

from http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/...ecking_account under the "Related Questions" tab.

[Sarah in SC]

You can get a debit card on a regular brokerage account but I have both the brokerage and the investor checking account. There aren't any sort of minimums and they have free bill pay.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC You can get a debit card on a regular brokerage account but I have both the brokerage and the investor checking account. There aren't any sort of minimums and they have free bill pay. Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Yes. I don't want a debit card directly on any brokerage. So if I ever had a reason to open a Schwab brokerage account, I would definitely get the checking too.

[explanade]

Well 1/25/15 rate on Visa's site is still more than 1% higher than the "official" 1.12 rate if you use Google.

It's showing 1.137586.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Well 1/25/15 rate on Visa's site is still more than 1% higher than the "official" 1.12 rate if you use Google. It's showing 1.137586.

That's probably Thursday's rate. It's works something like this: they use the prior day's rate on the posting date for a transaction, and the rate doesn't change over the weekend.

[kcowan]

Our chase chip card can be used chipless at many restaurants here in PV MX. Even when they chip is entered they want a signature. Some require you to go to the cashier to enter your PIN. All grocery stores require the PIN and chip.

[Helen]

I just received my Chase Preferred VISA card last week, but I did not get a PIN with it. Did anyone get a PIN with their Chase Preferred VISA card?

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helen I just received my Chase Preferred VISA card last week, but I did not get a PIN with it. Did anyone get a PIN with their Chase Preferred VISA card?

Helen, I am not a Chase customer, but in my experience the PIN is usually sent to you in a separate mailing, for security purposes. It will probably show up within a week.

[explanade]

Chase doesn't issue chip and PIN cards.

Any PIN they give you now may be for cash advances.

[LoneAspen]

Chase recently replace my old MasterCard with a Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and it's a Chip & Signature, not a Chip & PIN.

As the previous poster replied, any PIN will be for cash advances from an ATM, but it's not a "Chip & PIN" PIN number.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helen I just received my Chase Preferred VISA card last week, but I did not get a PIN with it. Did anyone get a PIN with their Chase Preferred VISA card?

For some credit cards you have to call and request a PIN. As the other folks note - that PIN will only be for cash advances.

[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Their internet pages say you can't open an investor high yield checking without a brokerage account. from Online Checking Account with Free Checks and ATM Fee Rebates | Schwab Bank under the "Related Questions" tab.

I sit corrected. Thanks Audrey.

[audreyh1]

Here is a pretty good summary of ATM/debit cards and foreign use fees including foreign transaction fees. They have a lot of institutions listed, but not all as Fidelity and PenFed are both missing. Still, it gives you a good idea of the common fees when using an ATM card overseas.

Debit Card Foreign Transaction and International ATM Fees - NerdWallet

[RetireAge50]

My daughter has been using the PenFed visa for purchases and also cash at ATM's in Switzerland and Italy. No problems and no transaction fees. Interest accrues immediately for cash advances but was only 50 cents for the month as the card gets paid off weekly.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetireAge50 My daughter has been using the PenFed visa for purchases and also cash at ATM's in Switzerland and Italy. No problems and no transaction fees. Interest accrues immediately for cash advances but was only 50 cents for the month as the card gets paid off weekly.

If you didn't have a balance on the card already, then using it for cash advances and paying off weekly is probably an OK strategy.

But PenFed doesn't reimburse fees from other banks to use their ATMs, so that is a disadvantage.

[Sarah in SC]

One thing I just thought of, Audrey, regarding the debit on the brokerage account:
before we got the investor checking, we used the debit on our overseas trips. I, too, was freaked out about that so what I did was buy a money market mutual fund with all the cash in there except for a couple of thousand $ we planned to use on the trip. I then felt a bit safer that even if the card was compromised, I only had to worry about a smaller amount of loss.

I know you said you'd get the checking, but thought it was a FWIW idea to share with others.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC One thing I just thought of, Audrey, regarding the debit on the brokerage account: before we got the investor checking, we used the debit on our overseas trips. I, too, was freaked out about that so what I did was buy a money market mutual fund with all the cash in there except for a couple of thousand $ we planned to use on the trip. I then felt a bit safer that even if the card was compromised, I only had to worry about a smaller amount of loss. I know you said you'd get the checking, but thought it was a FWIW idea to share with others.

That's true - you can certainly put most of the cash in a separate mutual fund from your brokerage account cash balance.

I keep my spending separate from my brokerage which is another issue in terms of cash management. Being able to have only the funds I want available for ATM or paying credit cards in a separate checking works much better for me, as well as having a limited amount exposed to ATM fraud. I won't be turning on any self overdraft protection. In the event of unauthorized access I'd rather deal with the fees.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 That's probably Thursday's rate. It's works something like this: they use the prior day's rate on the posting date for a transaction, and the rate doesn't change over the weekend.

Interesting. I checked today, and they are still showing the 1.137 rate. I'll see what it says tomorrow.

[explanade]

I actually asked them why the difference in the rates and they came back and asked me for the first 6 digits of my card.

I guess they have different deals with different banks.

But Schwab specifically said they use the rates on the Visa site. When I've checked my other ATM cards, I didn't recall this noticeable a spread.