Bank Biznass

Finding a traveller friendly bank....

In my first google search the title "Best banks for travellers" quickly found millions of sites of people asking the same question. Most were outdated or unhelpful each responder suggesting a different bank. I began by comparing the names of three banks that came up the most frequent in all these sites; Chase, HSBC and Charles Scwab. There were downsides and upsides to all these as I found when I first searched the websites. I called each one asking for specifics and looking for someone to really tell me what would be best for my situation.

#1
I first called Chase: #713-262-1679
I would open the College Checking as it has no monthy service fee for students, yay!
FREE Chase Debit Card
• FREE Online Banking and Bill Pay
• FREE Chase MobileSM banking1
• FREE Account Alerts1
• FREE Access to more than 16,500 Chase ATMs and 5,300 branches nationwide
Minimum Deposit to Open
• $25
No Monthly Service Fee
• If enrolled in college for up to five years;
• OR, with monthly direct deposit
Otherwise a $6 monthly Service Fee
However, I found that they charge you extra when you don't use a Chase bank and they also charge extra fees on top of Visa fees when withdrawing and using your debit card abroad.

#2
I then called HSBC and found that there is an HSBC branch in Prague, wahoo! And as long as I withdraw from this bank, I won't get any fees. However, if I don't use this bank I'll get a charge of $2.50 no matter how much I pull out-there also might be additional charges from the bank I use that is not HSBC. ALSO, there is a 3% charge on daily transactions (just using the debit card at a coffee house for example). HSBC aslo uses Mastercard which has higher fees than visa in these daily transactions.

#3
Third times the charm-Charles Schwab Bank.
The trick to this is to open a Checking Account linked to Brokerage Account. Just a normal Checking account with incur charges abroad but the Checking Account liked to Brokerage Account (CABA, im calling it) offers no minimums to open and no monthly charges. The best part? You get reimbursed for those transaction fees when you withdraw from a bank other than Schwab AND they don't charge any thing on daily debit transactions (so you'll just pay the visa ones you can't avoid but nothing over that). Biggest Hurdle- because they give you checks (which i'd probably use on housing payments ect.) they do a credit check :[ I'm 20 and took out some student loans through fasfa but nothing more, meaning I don't have credit history. BUT- I was going to put my mom on my bank accounts and give her power of attorney (meaning she can put money in, take it out ect ect). I can avoid a credit check by opening up a joint account with my mom-which isn't a big deal since I was going to put her on my accounts. All I have to do know if fill out the paperwork and get it notarized by the bank location here in Reno. I'll have to move fast though so I get my card by the time I leave! Wish me luck!
Hope this info helped if you are looking into switching banks, leave comments if you've found a bank thats right for your travelling ;]