No foreign transaction fee (for ATM withdrawal) debit cards.
I'd always considered the Fidelity and Schwab debit cards about equal when it comes to foreign travel. So I was really surprised when I called Fidelity about opening one of their "Cash Management" accounts to hear the rep downplay their card.
The Fidelity rep told me there's a 1% foreign transaction fee, which I expected. That fee is officially documented in their literature. It's just when you read the message boards that you hear people say it's never charged.
Then the Fidelity rep pointed out something I'd never noticed before. He said that ATM fees charged by the ATM owner are only reimbursed by Fidelity when the machine has a Visa, Plus, or Star logo on them. He said these logos are very common on American ATM machines, but as you leave the country, they get more and more sparse.
Do ATM machines in many foreign countries really not have the Visa logo on them? I would assume they don't if they don't accept Visa. But they accept Visa and don't have this Visa logo on them? That's how the Fidelity rep made it sound, but I don't know how much of a world traveller he is.
That issue, plus the minor advantage that the Schwab card is a chip and pin card, makes it sound to me like the Schwab card is the much better debit card for foreign travel...