i wouldn't wait for a letter in the mail with their decision,
just call the backdoor numbers
BofA/FIA: 888-831-4181; 866-421-8071 (Credit analyst)
your app could either just need someone to look at it, or a discrepancy in their system etc.
gl

I called yesterday, but the phone rep said the people who approve the cards don't work weekends so I'll try back tomorrow. I have no use for my current FIA card with $9300 CL and they've been begging me to convert it to something else since BofA bought them anyway b/c I had a Wachovia CC. I used the card for the first time in 2 years the other day to prevent it from being shutdown, but other than that I've used Citi cards.

The lady from FIA told me to call 888-297-7538 to get to the approvers.

Great summary. I am also thinking do 1 and 2 with my next "round" credit card applications.

One question for my friend since his credit history is less than 1 year and FACO is around 650~680. Did anyone apply and get denid for this card? I searched here and also on the internet but I did not find anyone was declined for this card.

go to http://www.creditboards.com/forums and check out their Credit Pulls database. Only denial listed is someone with a collection, but it's from a couple years ago. Any other FIA card to reallocate limit from? Looks like there was someone else ~680 who took credit from another card.

You do need number 3 if you want the best deal on ATM withdrawals while travelling overseas.

I'd also add a #4:

4) Why get the Schwab Savings account?
Interest rate currently is at 1.75% (recently reduced from 2%) - which is the highest that I've seen anywhere in this economy - and presumably will go up once the Fed interest rates go up. Makes it an easy way to park some money and get something for it - as well as easy accessibility to transfer into/from checking/brokerage (will be much easier when they allow online transfers as they do with the checking - last I heard it will be in the next month or so). You also get a debit card for this account (although it's limited to 6 uses per month, with a max of 3 'debit' uses, but unlimted ATM withdrawals with fee refunded) - unfortunately it can't be linked to the checking debit card, but at least they're different colors for easy IDing in the wallet.

Apparently the credit analysts don't like high balances on other cards even with a high FICO. They don't understand that people can pay balances greater than their income can support if they get reimbursement for expenses. Not only did they decline my application, they also closed my other FIA card (that I didn't use, but still kept open).

If the friend has any other balances be careful applying.

They seem to have reduced it to 1.35%.

Try Capital One... Last I saw, they raised their Savings rate from 2.00 to 2.01% to say that they were the highest in the country. About the same time Schwab went down.

I called FIA to try to consolidate my credit limit (from a Bank of America WorldPoints card to my Schwab Visa). I was told they no longer allow this.

Capital One is currently 1.01% APY for balances 0-9,999, and 1.75% APY for above.

I just applied for this card and the brokerage account. Is there any way to sing up for electronic funds transfer online (without needing to fill out the 2 page PDF and mailing it in?)

I wish

Only way around this is by linking using another account as the primary account (eg go to AllyBank and add the schwab account to Ally). You will off course then have to use the other account to push/pull funds (in my example, Ally).

As of right now, for some reason Schwab bank uses Electronic Funds Transfer to transfer between banks, while Schwab Brokerage uses MoneyLink. They're not linked at all, and so even if one has a bank attached to it, the other one won't. I even called up and asked if they could just transfer the info over, and they said I'd need to fill out another form. IIRC, there's an online form you can fill out (with the test deposits and all) for MoneyLink though - just click on the "online" link next to MoneyLink, under Services, Forms. Also, as long as you initially funded your checking from your brokerage account, you can transfer between the 2 using MoneyLink. So, what I've been doing is using moneylink to transfer into the brokerage, and then moneylink to transfer from the brokerage to the checking. Another way obviously would be to push it from the external bank directly into the checking....or just give in and fill out the forms.

With most credit cards only certain ones can be consolidated. The credit analyst had no issue with the fact that I wanted to convert my old Wachovia FIA card to the Schwab card, he just had issues with issuing me the card at all.