How Do I Activate My Charles Schwab Card?

With your Charles Schwab debit card, you can purchase items worldwide and get cash from ATM machines all over the world and get the best exchange rates with no international ATM fees. When you get your new Charles Schwab debit card, you will receive instructions with a number to call to activate it or you can click the link above.

Adam Goldkamp is the editor / author responsible for this content.
Dec 9, 2022

If you want to know how to activate your Charles Schwab card, this article can help. It has a lot of important information about your Charles Schwab card.

What Is a Charles Schwab Debit Card?

A Charles Schwab debit card allows users to purchase items worldwide and get cash from ATM machines all over the world. With a Charles Schwab debit card, you will get the best exchange rates and will get prompt refunds for any ATM withdrawal fees charged to you since there are no international ATM fees.

Getting Started

You must have a checking or savings account with Charles Schwab to be eligible for a debit card, and those with multiple deposit accounts will receive multiple cards for each account holder. When you receive your debit card, you will need to activate it and select a PIN before you will be able to use it. Currently, you can only activate your card by phone.

Click here to activate your card now and select a PIN. Make sure you choose a PIN that you will easily remember as you will need it to access your account, to pay for your purchases when using a point-of-sale (POS) debit, and when using ATMs. However, there are certain POS transactions that will require your signature rather than your PIN.

About Your Charles Schwab Debit Card

Your debit card is linked to your Interest Checking Plus bank account, your High Yield Investor Checking Account, or your Schwab High Yield Investor savings account. If you would like to link additional accounts to your card, you can do so at a later time. All of the bank accounts attached to your Schwab debit card are known as linked accounts. They can be accessed at any Schwab ATM machine.

Those who open a High Yield Investor savings account with Schwab will be issued a Visa Platinum card upon requesting a debit card. If you opened a High Yield Checking Account and were already issued a Visa Platinum debit card through your investor account, your High Yield Savings Account will be linked to your Visa Platinum debit card.

A few things you should know about your Charles Schwab debit card:

  • Your Charles Schwab debit card is not a credit card; it does not offer overdraft or credit protection.
  • Your Schwab debit card does not provide a check guarantee feature.
  • If you are sent a Schwab debit card that gets sent back as undeliverable, its use may be restricted for your protection.

Using Your Charles Schwab Debit Card

To use your Schwab debit card at ATMs other than Schwab's, or to make a POS purchase, you will need to designate a primary checking account if you have multiple accounts. Otherwise, if you only have one account attached to your Schwab debit card, it will automatically be designated as your primary checking account. You can also designate a primary savings account to use at other ATMs. Note: if you don't have a Charles Schwab checking account, you can designate your savings account as your primary account.

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How Do I Activate My Charles Schwab Card?

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