http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lendingI was just browsing around on their website above link just to check it out.
Here
http://tinyurl.com/o33q32k it says:
Before you start, be sure to have this information with you for each applicant:
* U.S. permanent resident address
* Social Security number or Tax ID
*Driver's license number, state, and expiration date
*Employer's name and mailing address (if you have an employer)
*If you are not a U.S. resident, visit our Global site
http://tinyurl.com/nl3sk5dI'm not a U.S. permanent resident and or have a U.S. permanent address. I don't even have a U.S. driver license.
So, it may be difficult for me to apply for a Charles Schwab account.
I also noticed, they now do not deal or issue credit cards, but just ATM debit cards with a Visa Logo, which one has to have a linked Brokerage Account even with an ATM O balance in the account and they can not really say what the foreign conversion fee rates are or if any at all.
And they charge a $25 fee for international money wire transfers. So, there's no avoiding fees for money wire transfers!
It seems that we're still better off just doing what we've been doing all there years in the Philippines and just write out our U.S. personal checks for deposit into our RP local bank's USD account, no fees no nothing for deposit, but just to wait 25 days for our check to clear and post into our RP local bank's USD account. I really do not find any advantages to having a Charles Schwab account, unless someone can convince me otherwise.
Also some with HSBC accounts, swears by them, that it's the best banking system for expats, but that's another topic on it's own!