Schwab Investor Card^® from American Express Review [2024]: Solid Cash Back, But With Restrictions

Card basics

Who should get the Schwab Investor Card^® from American Express?

You’re only eligible for the Schwab Investor Card if you have an eligible Schwab account, including a Schwab One or Schwab General Brokerage Account or a Schwab Traditional, Roth, or Rollover IRA. If you don’t already have an eligible Schwab account, you can open one for the purposes of qualifying for the card.

The Schwab Investor Card is only a good choice if you specifically want to earn cash back to be deposited into your linked Schwab account. So, if you want a card to help boost your investments, this one is a great option.

However, if you don’t invest primarily with Schwab or you’re looking for an account to help pay for travel, this one probably isn’t right for you. In those cases, a different rewards credit card is probably a better fit.

Benefits and perks

The Schwab Investor Card has a few benefits that could make it a good option if you’re a Schwab investor. Here are some benefits to consider:

• Welcome offer: Earn $300 cash back (in the form of a statement credit) after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months (offer ends 1/8/25). While this welcome offer isn’t as high as what you could earn on other cards, it’s not bad for a no-frills, fee-free cash back card.
• $0 annual fee: With a $0 annual fee, there’s not much of a downside to having this card in your wallet.
• 0% intro APR: This card offers 0% intro APR on purchases for 6 months, then 18.24% to 29.24% (variable). It’s a great option if you’re planning a big purchase and want to spread the payment out.
• Unlimited cash back: Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases. No, this rate isn’t as high as what you can earn on some cards, especially those with bonus categories. However, it’s still competitive with some of our favorite cash back credit cards.
• Schwab partnership: All the cash back you earn is automatically deposited into your linked Schwab account, which helps you to grow your investments. This benefit is uniquely appealing to Schwab investors who want to earn extra money to invest.
• Amex dining and entertainment benefits: This card comes with perks you would expect on other Amex cards, including access to the American Express Venue Collection, Amex Presale Tickets, Amex Reserved Tickets, complimentary ShopRunner membership, and more.
• Other Amex protections: This card offers car rental loss and damage insurance, extended warranty protection, and purchase protection.¹ <p>Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply.</p><p></p><ul><li>Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. </li><li>Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. </li><li>Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.</li></ul><p></p> ² <p>When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase to an Eligible Card, Extended Warranty§ can provide up to one extra year added to the Original Manufacturer’s Warranty. Applies to warranties of five (5) years or less. Coverage is up to the actual amount charged to your Card for the item up to a maximum of $10,000; not to exceed $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.</p><p></p><ul><li>Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. </li><li>Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. </li><li>Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.</li></ul><p></p> ³ <p>When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase with their Eligible Card, Purchase Protection can help protect their Covered Purchases for up to 90 days from the Covered Purchase date if it is stolen or accidentally damaged. The coverage is limited up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.</p><p></p><ul><li>Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. </li><li>Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.</li><li>Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.</li></ul><p></p> Just remember that these apply solely to items you pay for with your Schwab Investor card.

Earning and redeeming your cash back

Potential earnings in years one and two

Here's a look at how your cash back can add up with the Schwab Investor Card from American Express.

Remember, this is an estimation. The actual value will be determined by how much you spend and in which categories you spend.

Year one earnings: $863

Year two earnings: $563

These values are based on the FinanceBuzz Credit Card Rewards Valuation Model, which looks at cash back earned via spending and the welcome bonus.

Best ways to earn

The Schwab Investors Card offers a flat cash-back rate rather than bonus categories. That means the best way to maximize your rewards is to use it for as many purchases as possible.

This is a good catch-all card, similar to the Chase Freedom Unlimited^® or the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card. Many people choose to pair these flat-rate cards with ones with bonus categories. The benefit of this strategy is that you can maximize certain bonus categories while earning a slightly higher flat rate on your other spending.

Of course, that strategy would maximize your rewards on your spending, but reduce the amount of cash back going directly into your Schwab account. It’s up to you to decide what to do with the points or cash back you earn on your other card.

The other strategy is to use the Schwab card for all of your purchases. You may be limiting the amount you could earn in points and cash back overall, but you’d be maximizing the amount that goes directly into your Schwab account.

Maximizing your redemptions

Whenever you earn cash back on the Schwab Investor Card from American Express, it’s automatically deposited into your linked Schwab account. Because this is your only redemption option, you’ll want to earn as much cash back as possible to maximize your deposits into your investment account.

According to the card terms, it can take between eight and 12 weeks for your cash back to be deposited into your eligible Schwab account. Just keep that in mind if you’re expecting to start seeing deposits into your Schwab investment account after the first month.

Alternatives to the Schwab Investor Card

If you aren’t sure if the Schwab Investor Card is right for you, you have some other options to consider. First, American Express offers another card for Schwab investors: The American Express Platinum Card^® for Schwab. It’s almost the same as Amex’s traditional Platinum Card, but it has a Schwab Appreciation Bonus where you can earn:

• $100 statement credit with qualifying Schwab holdings between $250,000 and $1 million
• $200 statement credit with qualifying Schwab holdings between $1 million and $10 million
• $1,000 statement credit with qualifying Schwab holdings greater than $10 million

Keep in mind that you’ll only get the appreciation bonus if you have holdings of more than a quarter of a million dollars. Plus, the card has an annual fee of $695.

Another option to consider is a different card that offers a cash back rate on all your spending. One of the most popular options is the Chase Freedom Unlimited^®. You can earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) and 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and 3% cash back on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

The big difference is you aren’t committed to depositing all of your earnings into your Schwab account (though you could certainly still choose to do so). That added flexibility is probably a better option for most cardholders.

Another key benefit of the Freedom Unlimited is the ability to combine perks with other Chase cards, including those that use Ultimate Rewards points for Chase travel benefits.

FAQs

Unlimited Cash Back

Chase Freedom Unlimited^®

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Chase Freedom Unlimited^®

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Current Offer

Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.

Annual Fee

$0

Rewards Rate

6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and 3% cash back on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• High base rewards rate of 1.5%
• $0 annual fee
• Valuable welcome bonus for new cardholders
• Intro APR offers for purchases and balance transfers

Drawbacks

• Has a foreign transaction fee of 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars
• No bonus categories for gas or groceries

Card Details

• INTRO OFFER: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!
• Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year).
• After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
• No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
• Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 19.74% - 28.49%.
• No annual fee – You won't have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Unlimited® card
• Keep tabs on your credit health, Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more.
• Member FDIC