Irritated at Schwab

[itsmyparty]

I was one of many, many people whose Schwab Signature Visa Card was discontinued and transferred to FIA with little notice, new card, or information..other than conditions,etc. would continue (supposedly even the 2% rebate according to a CSR at Schwab) until FIA contacts us to change anything. I always schedule online payment in full for due date on my acct. whenever I get the total owed...approx. 30 days before due. On this last month (due Oct.3) I had scheduled full payment for Oct. 3rd, from my bank checking acct., and had a Payment Confirmation #. This was done prior to notice from Schwab of any of change to their ownership. Anyway, checked the fia acct. page today (as change was effective 9/30) and no payment made...acct. overdue. I called fia...on hold for a long time (unlike Schwab customer service), but got things worked out. I guess I'm just expressing disappointment with Schwab for not providing detailed information to its customers. Thanks for letting me vent!!

[Zathras]

Funny, I got very detailed information from Schwab regarding the switch.
Sorry it didn't work as smoothly for you.

[Coach]

I was luckier, I schedule payments the same way you do. My mid-September payment made it on time, and I've scheduled the October payment on the FIA site and gotten an acknowledgment email. I trust they'll be posting your cashback reward? I'll feel better when I see that arrive.

Coach

[Mmm Rrr]

I just checked my outgoing payment (scheduled last month and executed on 10/1) from my Schwab Bank checking account...looked good on that side. Then I signed up for the FIA site's online access. There I saw the payment having been received.

I also saw that my 2% rebate is still hooked up to my Schwab brokerage account. You can arrange to have the rebate put into a checking account if you like. But their FAQs still say 2% back on all purchases. So for now at least, it still looks good.

[Bikerdude]

I use Schwab Bank bill pay. I would assume they will redirect the payment.

[smjsl]

FWIW, FIA CSR told me I can NOT deposit cash back to a different bank (or any other) account, only to Schwab account.

[lowflyer]

Had kind of an interesting phone conversation yesterday with a Schwab CSR. After taking care of some other business, I asked if they are getting alot of heat about eliminating the credit card. He basically went on to tell me that although some people are unhappy with the decision, most good, solid Schwab customers...those who have brokerage accounts and now bank accounts, etc., understand that this was a business decision by Schwab and must have been necessary. He also hinted that those who only had the credit card and no other accounts at Schwab were not their target customer anyway.

Not sure if that was just his opinion or the company line, but that was the message.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowflyer He also hinted that those who only had the credit card and no other accounts at Schwab were not their target customer anyway. Not sure if that was just his opinion or the company line, but that was the message.

My hunch is that Schwab didn't attract as much brokerage business as they wanted to with this offer, which was presumably a "loss leader" for them.

Still, if you think about it, people who seek out offers like this are more likely to be the kind of consumers who pay off their balances in full every month, making it even harder for generous offers to be sustainable.

[clifp]

I am not happy with Schwab decision here, but evidently it was costing them a lot of money. Here is a recent NY Times article

The good news is it was pretty straightforward to go to fiacardservices.com and do my online banking with them. I will probably drop the cards and go to PenFed when the cut the rewards on the card (I suspect this is only a question of when not if)

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp The good news is it was pretty straightforward to go to fiacardservices.com and do my online banking with them. I will probably drop the cards and go to PenFed when the cut the rewards on the card (I suspect this is only a question of when not if)

When I started using Fidelity's credit cards a few years ago, they were originally with some other company that changed its name to FIA Card Services. I figured the "F" stood for "Fidelity" but I guess they'll service anyone's credit card.

FWIW their billpay has been pretty convenient. My cc payments are due on the 1st of the month so that's when I schedule the transaction, but the actual deduction from my checking account doesn't happen until the 2nd or 3rd... plenty of time for the pension check and the rent check to clear first.