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There are a ton of “private client” programs that will reimburse your ATM fees when you use one out of network and will waive any foreign transaction fees. But… how about debit cards linked to checking accounts with no minimum deposit? There are 3 that I think are by far the best and are very handy to keep a smaller amount of money in when you travel ( This way if they get hacked, you’re not out your nestegg, but you’re still avoiding fees ).
Both Schwab and Fidelity are kind of no brainers since many people will have an IRA, 401K, Brokerage account, etc with one of the two institutions. Adding on one of the qualifying accounts is pretty easy and you can move money in/out of them after you link a bank account + you can monitor them within your existing login.
Charles Schwab Investor Checking Account: using the Schwab Bank Visa® Platinum Debit Card
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- Reimbursement of fees incurred by other banks/ATMs
- Unlimited ATM fee rebates for cash withdrawals worldwide
- Foreign Transaction Fees: None.
- Reimbursement of fees incurred by other banks/ATMs
Fidelity Cash Management Account: using the The Fidelity® Debit Card
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- Reimbursement of fees incurred by other banks/ATMs
- Unlimited global reimbursement on ATM withdrawals
- Foreign Transaction Fees: None.
- Reimbursement of fees incurred by other banks/ATMs
Betterment Visa® debit card for Betterment Checking
- Reimbursement of fees incurred by other banks/ATMs
- We’ll automatically reimburse ATM fees, which are known as operator surcharges, for any ATM worldwide.
- You can expect a credit to your Checking account by the following calendar day. Do you reimburse foreign ATM fees on Checking?
- If you’re traveling, make sure to notify us beforehand. We will automatically reimburse any operator surcharge fee from any ATM worldwide, including the Visa 1% transaction fee on foreign transactions, purchases, and ATM transactions.
- Foreign Transaction fees:
- None
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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