I'm not sure what has changed but the wait time has certainly increased by a lot when I tried to call them today. I also enjoyed Schwab's considerate e-mail notification so I never missed a payment. I'm not so sure about the current situation with FIA as I've already missed my 1st payment with the not-so-informed transition. Certainly hope that Schwab will come up with a new credit card soon.

I have the Penfed credit union Amex rewards card and the formerly Schwab card.

Both do not have foreign exchange fees. I've used the Schwab card and have no problem with it.

I've never used the Penfed card in other countries because a lot of merchants in Asia only take Visa or Mastercard.

However, the Penfed Card is very useful. It gives you 5 points per dollar spent on airfares, 3x for dinning and hotels. I've racked up lots of points for my air tickets (it cannot be a vacation package etc) I believe you need to join their credit union to apply for the card (troublesome but not difficult). They also offer other benefits to be part of their CU. They have great rates: current home equity is prime plus 0% (3.75% is the minimum rate). I went thru the whole procedure, a little troublesome but worth the rate for me. Closing cost is $0 if account not closed within 2 years.

I am thinking of applying for the PenFed Promise card, but I have a few questions.

I realize that you have to join the credit union in order to get this card or the American Express Travel Rewards Card, but do you have to pay your balance from a Pentagon credit union account (such as a savings or a checking account)? I have a Visa card through my local credit union and the only 2 options I have to pay it are through my credit union accounts. I cannot pay it through another checking account (like the Charles Schwab account).

I want to avoid keeping funds in a bunch of different checking accounts while abroad. I will be sticking to the Charles Schwab account due to the refunded ATM fee policy. I just want to know if I can pay the Pen Fed card via the Charles Schwab checking account or from another bank or credit union.

Thanks!

Many ATMs outside of the US do not charge fees for withdrawals and of those that do charge, some do not actually report the charge as such but merely include it as an increase to the amount withdrawn. For example, a withdrawal of 100 in local currency might be charged as 105. Schwab does not refund the disguised fee when this happens, but you're still better off with Schwab than most other cards as they would add 3% more for a total of 108. The main advantage to the Schwab debit card is the fact that there is no fee for use outside of the US, such as a foreign exchange fee or foreign use fee. It is, in fact, more advantageous to use the former Schwab VISA credit card, as it also has no foreign fee and gives a 2% rebate. So, in the example, rather than paying 105 (or 108) you would effectively pay only 98. Since the Schwab card is no longer available, the best card now seems to be the CapitalOne VISA.

I would double check your math that Schwab doesn't refund for fees lumped in withdrawal amounts. The few times I've been charged money for overseas withdrawals Schwab has always caught it. They also explicitly stated they cover those when I've called and asked, so you should call and get your money back.

I am aware that Capital One does not charge any foreign exchange fees, but I am not a big fan of them. I have had problems with them in the past. That's why I was asking about the PenFed Promise card. Too bad the Charles Schwab Visa isn't still available, otherwise I would just get that.

Schwab quit refunding ATM fees that are not seperately stated a few years ago. The call and ask routine ended then too.

News to me! Thanks for the update.

That's strange! The last couple of times I used Schwab ATM card were in June and July. They refunded the fees both times.

I just got a not from Chase, my BA card no longer charges foreign exchange fees. I used it so little that I forgot if it is Visa or master card. It is the one I got early this year for the 100K mile promotion. My husband who has the same card did not get the notice.

Capital One application experience
 

Just wanted to offer my experience in the ap process w/ Cap One as a tip to anyone thinking of applying with them. I travel internationally frequently and wanted to avoid those forex fees so decided to go with Cap One's 0% interest on transferred balances until Nov '11. Our credit is excellent.

After waiting 3 weeks, I called them to find out they "say" there was an error in the entering of my ss#. This caused the entire ap to enter into a mandatory 3-week review stage. (???). So, it would be another 2 weeks before they have an answer. No notification to me at all along the way that there was a problem.

I have no way of proving I did not enter my SS wrong, but I know I went over every field as I applied very carefully. My personal belief is this is a standard excuse for delaying an application - especially one offering 0% interest until a specific month. For every month they delay, they're saving a month of 0% interest.

I canceled the application, my international trip I'd wanted it for will be over before I get it. Hopefully you learn from my mistake: Make a copy if you can of your application. Get a confirmation # when you complete it - which I did not receive either. It will help you when you call to verify status.

I read over and over how awful Cap One treats customers, but thought I would really be a low-maintenance customer who won't need to bother them w/ anything. Just pay my balance on time and avoid forex fees. But with the way the ap process has gone, I think this was the red flag I needed to pull the plug before it got worse. I know going through the process hasn't done anything to help my credit (and may have even hurt it), but I just can't see doing business with them.

Just checked my Schwab account and I had $5 in ATM fees refunded (actually says "rebate") for 2 ATM withdraws.

The ATM banks had added the fees to the withdraws so the fees themselves weren't separated out from the transactions but they added the fees for the transactions correctly.

That's great to know that Schwab refunded ATM fees that were not broken out. Two questions: What country were the ATM withdrawals made in? What phone number did you call to get Schwab?

Welcome to FT, 35,000'!

I've been treated very well by them, and now have a Master Card, checking account, and two savings accounts there.

I've been treated very well too, that is, after they reduced my credit line by about $20,000 a while back. :)

I too would love to know how you did this. Please look at my post nol. 1732 in this thread and you will see that in April of this year a Schwab representative stated to me in no uncertain terms that Schwab would not refund bundled ATM fees.

I'm also curious about the MasterCard. Does it have any good features? All my cards from Schwab are VISA.