I switched from Wells to Schwab Bank five years ago and have never looked back. We are "Pinnacle," which is $1-10M assets there, but I don't know if that affects the bank service. All ATM fees worldwide are reimbursed, no FTF, very difficult to overdraft because we have specified that our cash brokerage account is the overdraft backup. With Pinnacle we have a dedicated rep and, even though the bank is not the same corporate entity, he willingly helps with the rare administrivia issues. Biggest problem we have had in five years is getting the check blanks printed correctly because we are nonstandard with two home addresses listed but their vendor is to blame for that.
A Schwab weakness is their card is Amex, which is often refused outside the US due to its high merchant fees. So I have a USBank Visa, also no FTF.
I also like Schwab's fraud protection: "Schwab will cover 100% of any losses in any of your Schwab accounts due to unauthorized activity."
That said DW is staying at Wells. That gives us local teller lines for cash transactions and a second debit card/different bank for backup when traveling. Our rare $ transfers between Wells and Schwab are just a couple of mouse clicks and IIRC one business day.
I have included the entire Schwab policy regarding fraud protection. It has several "holes" and not as all inclusive as you may believe.
Schwab will cover 100% of any losses in any of your Schwab accounts due to unauthorized activity.
The highest levels of security are only possible when we work together. To ensure your protection under this guarantee, it is your responsibility to:
Safeguard your account access information.1
If you share this information with anyone, we’ll consider their activities to have been authorized by you.
Report any unauthorized transactions to us as quickly as possible.2
If you suspect you are a victim of fraud, please contact us immediately at 888-3-SCHWAB.
There may be other individuals to whom you grant authority in your account. Their activities in your account will also be considered authorized.3
1. "Account access information" includes your login ID, password, or any other information used by Schwab to authenticate you; as well as payment devices such as credit cards, debit cards and checks. We may hold you responsible if we determine that you shared this information, or unauthorized activity was caused by your fraudulent conduct or gross negligence.
2. Reimbursement under the guarantee requires your timely reporting of unauthorized activity to Schwab. Schwab will not be liable for additional or increased losses resulting from a failure to report unauthorized activity in a timely manner. Different transactions have different reporting deadlines. More details are available in your account agreements, statements and trade confirmations.
3. "Authorized" refers to transactions and other activity initiated by third parties (who are not Schwab employees or Schwab companies), you have given permission to access your account. This includes any authority you have granted to manage your account, to act under any other power of attorney, or to access your account information for any reason. "Authorized" also includes the employees or agents of your authorized persons (whether individuals or businesses) and their actions. This includes activity initiated by your employer, your plan trustee (other than Schwab Bank), your third party plan administrator (other than Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc.) and their employees, representatives or agents that have access to your Employee Benefit Plan Account. Schwab will also not be liable for the failure of those third parties to safeguard your information or for any actions they take in connection with accessing your account.