How to Use the Charles Schwab App to Manage Investments and Banking in One Place

Charles Schwab offers a combination that is hard to find anywhere else: a full-featured investment brokerage and a free checking account with unlimited ATM fee reimbursements worldwide, both accessible through a single mobile app. That means you can manage your retirement savings, your stock investments, and your everyday bank account without switching between apps or financial institutions.

The Schwab app is clean and organized. Your different accounts — brokerage, IRA, and checking — all appear on the home screen with current balances. Tapping on any account shows your holdings, recent transactions, and account details. The app works on both iPhone and Android and is free to download.

On the investment side, Schwab charges no commission on stock and ETF trades, similar to other major brokerages. They offer a wide range of investment options including individual stocks, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, bonds, and options. For beginners who want a managed approach, Schwab offers an automated investing service called "Schwab Intelligent Portfolios" that builds and rebalances a diversified portfolio for you based on your goals — with no management fee above the expense ratios of the underlying funds.

The checking account — called the Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking account — pays interest on your balance and reimburses any ATM fees charged by other banks, anywhere in the world. This makes it popular with frequent travelers who do not want to search for in-network ATMs. There is no minimum balance and no monthly fee.

For people who have scattered their financial accounts across multiple banks and brokerages over the years, Schwab's combination is a practical option for consolidating and simplifying.