Anyone use Fidelity as their bank account? (2024)

I have a lot of accounts. I want to simplify, and get rid of some.
I just set up 2 factor authentication on my Fidelity account. I'm pleased that they offer that.
I've been looking at their cash management features, and wondering if I should give up my credit union checking account and use Fidelity instead as my day to day bank account.

I would still have my business account at a local bank, so, if the need arose, there is still a local bank I could walk into, if needed.

What do you think about using Fidelity as my main checking account?

I use Fidelity for all my financial accounts. I have my checking account and debit card through them and have nothing but great things to say.

The only downside is I can't walk in and make a deposit with physical cash nor can I go to them for a cashiers check or money order. If your maintaining a relationship with your credit union I think you've addressed both of these issues.

I'm a happy customer using Fidelity checking accounts. I even have my business account at Fidelity. I don't have a local bank. I have not needed one. With their debit card I can get cash withdrawals at any ATM. They cover any fees at the ATM. Checks are free. They even called me once when I was overdrawn on an account. They asked he if I wanted to cover the check from another account. Can you imagine a local bank doing that? No way, they want the fees!

Although there is a few things they could do to help their small business owners. I wish they had the cell phone deposit for business. I've been told they are rolling that out. I hope it is true.

BTW, Fido has cash back Amex and Visa cards, and you can direct the cash into your brokerage account or a 529.

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-managemen ... ress-cards

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-managemen ... ature-card

Fidelity offers best banking service.

no minimal balance, 2% credit card, no atm fee anywhere in the world, free in&out ach....

I use Fidelity Cash Management and the 2% Amex card.

I've been pleasantly surprised that Fidelity lets me keep the float on electronic bill play.

I used to use Wells Fargo billpay, but it was annoying that they would take the cash out of my account on the 28th for my rent check scheduled to be delivered to my landlord by the 4th.

Now with Fidelity the cash stays in my account until the landlord cashes the check.

I have for around 2 years. No issues whatsoever. Paychecks go in, billpay and automatic debits go out. I can get cash anywhere and they reimburse the fee. 2% amex card rebates me a few times a year (any time it accrues $50+). The same portal gets me to my 401k and ESPP account with fidelity.

I still have a small savings account with a local credit union, mostly because my kids have their bank accounts there.

sunspotzsz wrote:Fidelity offers best banking service.

no minimal balance, 2% credit card, no atm fee anywhere in the world, free in&out ach....

+1 and have be with fido for 30 yrs

bigred77 wrote:The only downside is I can't walk in and make a deposit with physical cash nor can I go to them for a cashiers check or money order. If your maintaining a relationship with your credit union I think you've addressed both of these issues.

They have offices in many areas where you can do these transactions. I have one a few blocks from my house although I seldom use it.

Hayden wrote:Thanks for all the feedback. I am going to set it up. Seems like it does everything I need it to do, and I feel more confident in Fidelity's security than in my little credit union's security. thanks

But who do you think would be a more likely target??

dual wrote:

bigred77 wrote:The only downside is I can't walk in and make a deposit with physical cash nor can I go to them for a cashiers check or money order.

They have offices in many areas where you can do these transactions. I have one a few blocks from my house although I seldom use it.

I'm pretty sure those Fidelity branches don't handle cash. They can help set up and change accounts plus answer questions, but I don't think they handle transactions like deposits/withdrawals. They'll probably refer you to their computer stations or their app, e.g., for mobile check deposit.

Calm Man wrote:I hate it beyond belief !!! I did it with Vanguard for years and stopped. I realized that if my checks were coming out of the brokerage account that any money there wsa potentially accessible to anybody who simply used the routing and account #s or even just printed checks. The money in the money market, well it was right out there for the world. I was assured that if there was theft I would be made whole, but no thank you. One ends up needing a local bank anyway even for just an occasional signature guarantee or whatever, so I use a checking account (and credit card) at Chase plus Vanguard for all else. And I sleep fine that way. Good luck whatever you do.

+1 but I use Vanguard and a local credit union. I am an owner at both. I like that.

harikaried wrote:

dual wrote:

bigred77 wrote:The only downside is I can't walk in and make a deposit with physical cash nor can I go to them for a cashiers check or money order.

They have offices in many areas where you can do these transactions. I have one a few blocks from my house although I seldom use it.

I'm pretty sure those Fidelity branches don't handle cash. They can help set up and change accounts plus answer questions, but I don't think they handle transactions like deposits/withdrawals. They'll probably refer you to their computer stations or their app, e.g., for mobile check deposit.

Indeed. I use Fidelity cash management.
But "cash" is one of the things it doesn't really do that well.

You cannot get cash from a Fidelity branch. You must go to an ATM, and Fidelity will not increase your ATM limit even for one day if you need more than $600.
You cannot get a cashier's check from a Fidelity branch.
You cannot make cash deposits to your Fidelity account, even at a branch.

Otherwise, the account works well.

Calm Man wrote:I hate it beyond belief !!! I did it with Vanguard for years and stopped. I realized that if my checks were coming out of the brokerage account that any money there wsa potentially accessible to anybody who simply used the routing and account #s or even just printed checks. The money in the money market, well it was right out there for the world. I was assured that if there was theft I would be made whole, but no thank you. One ends up needing a local bank anyway even for just an occasional signature guarantee or whatever, so I use a checking account (and credit card) at Chase plus Vanguard for all else. And I sleep fine that way. Good luck whatever you do.

That is a good point. However, I think that is true with any bank account you set up. That is why I have a separate transaction account from my investments accounts. But I think it takes more than just the routing and account number to get the money. In any case, with Fidelity you can add alerts to let you know if someone is trying to link to account for an ACH transfer.

Fidelity can provide a signature guarantee. They have done it for me a few times.

jjaster7 wrote:I have Fidelity cash account and it works fine. I have a very basic smartphone (Kyocera) and the camera is not the best, I tried a check deposit but it was illegible to the app. I had to mail them the check.
I bought a car last summer and realized I couldn't get a cashier check. I asked the dealer to let me write a personal check from the account, I let them talk to Fidelity customer service to verify my balance. That worked ok.

You might try it again against a black background with a nearby bright light source. Of course it also helps if you hold the phone still as you take the picture. Sometimes I need to try twice, but I've got it pretty well down now.

Leif wrote:

jjaster7 wrote:I have Fidelity cash account and it works fine. I have a very basic smartphone (Kyocera) and the camera is not the best, I tried a check deposit but it was illegible to the app. I had to mail them the check.
I bought a car last summer and realized I couldn't get a cashier check. I asked the dealer to let me write a personal check from the account, I let them talk to Fidelity customer service to verify my balance. That worked ok.

You might try it again against a black background with a nearby bright light source. Of course it also helps if you hold the phone still as you take the picture. Sometimes I need to try twice, but I've got it pretty well down now.

Yes, the Fidelity deposit app is a little fussy.
I think it has to do partially with shading, and partially with the shape.

What I do is turn off my LCD computer monitor, and set the check against the screen. Then I take the picture with the cell phone. There is no shade that way, and the shape is properly rectangular.
This works almost every time.

But I still prefer to use my scanner for checks with Everbank. Scanned checks have never failed to deposit. However, scanners are not supported with Fidelity.

rec7 wrote:

Calm Man wrote:I hate it beyond belief !!! I did it with Vanguard for years and stopped. I realized that if my checks were coming out of the brokerage account that any money there wsa potentially accessible to anybody who simply used the routing and account #s or even just printed checks. The money in the money market, well it was right out there for the world. I was assured that if there was theft I would be made whole, but no thank you. One ends up needing a local bank anyway even for just an occasional signature guarantee or whatever, so I use a checking account (and credit card) at Chase plus Vanguard for all else. And I sleep fine that way. Good luck whatever you do.

+1 but I use Vanguard and a local credit union. I am an owner at both. I like that.

that works too. Credit union equals Chase. I changed to Chase from my credit union because...... I moved and credit union went from 1/2 mile to 10 miles Chase went to 1/2 mile with branch in my super market (Shop Rite).

runner9 wrote:I just read more about it, with interest rate of 0.07 I'll look elsewhere. I thought my .195 at my brick and mortar bank was low.

Yeah but who's keeping large stash of cash in a checking account? Most people would link their Checking account to something like an Online Savings Account for higher yields (e.g. 1% APR). I use checking accounts just to funnel money in and out and to make payments - so doesn't really matter to me if it's paying 0.01% or 0.20%.

Also the Fidelity Cash Management Account is outside of your Brokerage Account - they are 2 separate accounts.

My question: I have gotten different answers on the following. What happens if you have a debit/credit retail transaction that goes into the negative or a check cashed that makes your Fidelity Cash Management account go negative? This is in the case if you didn't setup another linked account for Overdraft Protection.

Would Fidelity deny or bounce the transaction/check? Or will it go through and you sit in the red on your account until you bring it back to positive? We all know what happens normally at a regular Bank if you don't have overdraft protection setup - your transaction may or may not go thru depending on how much the transaction puts you in the red, and you get hit with a fee.

Just wondering 'cause Fidelity doesn't list any such related fees like Banks normally do when you inadvertently are short in your account.
And I have gotten 2 different answers from Fidelity reps.

Anyone have experience with this?

=

Second question - have you found that external transfers to your Fidelity CMA or transfer out takes a bit longer (extra day) compared to an actual regular Bank account or the same? How about check deposits via mobile phone and the availability to use the money? .

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Nice thing I like are the low fees - such as only $10 to make a domestic wire transfer if needed from the Fidelity CMA. Incoming wires are free.

Credit transaction, just like any other credit card. You will pay interest, over credit limit etc.

Debit or check transaction, will not go through at all and no charge when it happened to me one time.

Money Xfers are faster not slower than brick and mortar banks.

Kenster1 wrote:...
Second question - have you found that external transfers to your Fidelity CMA or transfer out takes a bit longer (extra day) compared to an actual regular Bank account or the same? How about check deposits via mobile phone and the availability to use the money? .

=

Nice thing I like are the low fees - such as only $10 to make a domestic wire transfer if needed from the Fidelity CMA. Incoming wires are free.

Electronic funds transfers/deposits are faster to my Fidelity CMA account than any other account I've had. I get my payroll direct deposit a day earlier with the Fidelity CMA. Outgoing debits/transfers seem to be same as everywhere else.
I've only deposited a few checks via the mobile phone app, I don't recall having any significant delays, but I wasn't paying that close attention to how long until it officially cleared either.

What I love about the account, is having ATM fees reimbursed, and not have any foreign transaction fees when using a non-U.S. ATM. The primary perk I opened the account for was the requirement to have a Fidelity account to deposit the cash back bonuses for their credit card.
The thing I find most annoying, is that they will not accept money orders for deposit. If you have cash you want to deposit it can become a real predicament if you don't have a brick and mortar bank to deposit at. You can mail in, or take a photo of a cashiers check, but they're typically more expensive and almost no bank will draft a cashiers check for you if you don't have an account with them. I could take cash to the post office or Walmart and get a money order for less than a dollar, but Fidelity won't accept money orders for deposits

Hayden wrote:I just set up 2 factor authentication on my Fidelity account. I'm pleased that they offer that.

I have been with Fidelity since 2006 and had no idea they offered 2 factor authentication. For others like me, here is the info from Fidelity's site. The only drawback is you have to call them to activate it. I'm used to playing online games where it was integrated seamlessly over the internet, maybe they are working on that.

Leif wrote:Fidelity is slow to process check deposits. I find it takes about 1 week from deposit until the check is fully processed and I'm able to xfer the funds (like to a high yield account). It does not matter if you take it to an investment center or you send in the check via a photo from your cell phone.

They state it takes two business days for withdrawal or to purchase securities online. I deposited a check 5 minutes ago and will see how long it really takes.

Perhaps you deposited it before the weekend and maybe even after the cut off time for the day. I can see it stretching to 5 days that way since it needs to be 2 business days to properly clear.

Ok thanks for all the follow-up info - sounds good that the ACH transfers from external linked accounts to Fidelity Cash Management Account (CMA) is fast!

You're right - I heard that Checks have a 2-4 day hold before you can cash it out or make a purchase from it. They may improve that lag in the future but not a big deal for me as I rarely get checks and when I do deposit a check, I don't need the money right away. My understanding is that during the holding period - you could transfer the money to your Fidelity Brokerage account to then add to a Mutual Fund/ETF/etc.

I found out from a knowledgeable Fidelity rep who also uses CMA that both answers were correct regarding my earlier question about going negative in the account. So it depends on the type of transaction. If you have $50 in the CMA and you try to do a $75 debit card purchase at a retail store then it will not go thru and be declined - similar to most regular checking accounts.

But similar to other Banks - other types of transactions can go thru such as a direct recurring gym membership payment for say $60/month - that could very well go thru even though it will put you in the negative. Most banks will hit you with a fee - Fidelity CMA will not.

Sounds like a cool offering:
- Domestic and International ATM fees are reimbursed immediately (or next day)
- Get free Checks
- Bill Pay
- No Overdraft fees
- Free mobile check deposits
- No minimum balance requirements - no monthly fees

JoMoney wrote:What I love about the account, is having ATM fees reimbursed, and not have any foreign transaction fees when using a non-U.S. ATM.

This is the second time I've read this online in the last two days and it got my interest piqued. I went over to the fidelity website and see this in the fine print:

• 1. All Fidelity ATM withdrawal fees will be waived for your Fidelity® Cash Management Account. In addition, your account will automatically be reimbursed for all ATM fees charged by other institutions while using a Fidelity® Visa® Gold Check Card linked to your account at any ATM displaying the Visa®, Plus®, or Star® logos. The reimbursem*nt will be credited to the account the same day the ATM fee is debited from the account. Please note, there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.

Am I missing something? Or do the transactions come across in a way that makes users think there is no fee when Fido is just changing the exchange rate by 1%?

chartcab3785 wrote:

JoMoney wrote:What I love about the account, is having ATM fees reimbursed, and not have any foreign transaction fees when using a non-U.S. ATM.

.
This is the second time I've read this online in the last two days and it got my interest is piqued. I went over to the fidelity website and see this in the fine print:

• 1. All Fidelity ATM withdrawal fees will be waived for your Fidelity® Cash Management Account. In addition, your account will automatically be reimbursed for all ATM fees charged by other institutions while using a Fidelity® Visa® Gold Check Card linked to your account at any ATM displaying the Visa®, Plus®, or Star® logos. The reimbursem*nt will be credited to the account the same day the ATM fee is debited from the account. Please note, there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.

Am I missing something? Or do the transactions come across in a way that makes users think there is no fee when Fido is just changing the exchange rate by 1%?

All I can say is I use the Fidelity CMA frequently at ATM's in Australia, any ATM fees are reimbursed (typically the next business day), there has been no additional fees, and I frequently check the exchange rate I'm getting and it's always right around what Visa posts for that day:
https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/t ... lator.html

I've also intentionally used my Capital One credit card, and Capital One 360 ATM card, (which all claim "no foreign transaction fee", and when used at the same time frame as the Fidelity withdrawl I've compared exchange rates and it's the same (certainly not 1% difference).

My guess, is that Fidelity is disclosing the unavoidable exchange rate spread that Visa builds into every foreign exchange rate transaction they process, and not some fee Fidelity or some other intermediary bank is tacking on... but that's just a guess.

chartcab3785 wrote:Thanks for the response and link to the Visa exchange rate calculator. I definitely should consider getting one of these accounts.

I have also read from a number of blogs and forums from international travelers using the Fidelity CMA - is that Fidelity does reimburses fees for international ATMs when getting cash, however, the Foreign Transaction Fee can come into play if you use your card for Credit Card transactions.

But everyone is saying that's not a problem because they don't use their debit card for credit purchases in foreign countries - good idea - use your No Foreign Transaction Fee credit card instead. And then just use your Fidelity CMA to get cash.

FIDELITY CASH MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT: WHY IT’S GREAT
http://outandout.boardingarea.com/fidel ... its-great/

Note: In practice, however, I’ve gotten ATM fees reimbursed globally. It’s not a stated benefit, but in action, it’s effectively world-wide.

Fidelity Cash Management ATM Review – Best ATM Card For International Use
http://romsdeals.com/2013/05/08/fidelit ... ional-use/

In Germany, I received 100 Euros for $125.84. The actual rate I received was therefore $125.84/100 or 1 Euro = $1.2584. As you can see, I only paid 0.00085 over the actual exchange rate, which is almost nothing.

In Italy, I received 210 Euros for $264.26. My actual exchange rate was again $125.84. There were no other additional fees after the fact.

Fidelity Check Card: No ATM Fee Worldwide
http://www.uscreditcardguide.com/fideli ... rdwide-en/

Kenster1 wrote:But everyone is saying that's not a problem because they don't use their debit card for credit purchases in foreign countries - good idea - use your No Foreign Transaction Fee credit card instead. And then just use your Fidelity CMA to get cash.

Yes, that works very well.

jjface wrote:

Leif wrote:Fidelity is slow to process check deposits. I find it takes about 1 week from deposit until the check is fully processed and I'm able to xfer the funds (like to a high yield account). It does not matter if you take it to an investment center or you send in the check via a photo from your cell phone.

They state it takes two business days for withdrawal or to purchase securities online. I deposited a check 5 minutes ago and will see how long it really takes.

Perhaps you deposited it before the weekend and maybe even after the cut off time for the day. I can see it stretching to 5 days that way since it needs to be 2 business days to properly clear.

Follow up #1 the funds are already available to trade within an hour of depositing the check. I cannot withdraw to another bank yet though.

jjface wrote:

Leif wrote:Fidelity is slow to process check deposits. I find it takes about 1 week from deposit until the check is fully processed and I'm able to xfer the funds (like to a high yield account). It does not matter if you take it to an investment center or you send in the check via a photo from your cell phone.

They state it takes two business days for withdrawal or to purchase securities online. I deposited a check 5 minutes ago and will see how long it really takes.

Perhaps you deposited it before the weekend and maybe even after the cut off time for the day. I can see it stretching to 5 days that way since it needs to be 2 business days to properly clear.

Their 2 day stated period is simply just wrong in my experience. I think I call them on that.

I usually deposit on Thursday night. The funds are available for withdrawal by Thursday the following week. In some cases on Wednesday, but that is rare. I watch it very closely since I transfer the funds to a high yield account ASAP. I'm not talking about funds available for trading. That happens much faster.

Leif wrote:

jjface wrote:

Leif wrote:Fidelity is slow to process check deposits. I find it takes about 1 week from deposit until the check is fully processed and I'm able to xfer the funds (like to a high yield account). It does not matter if you take it to an investment center or you send in the check via a photo from your cell phone.

They state it takes two business days for withdrawal or to purchase securities online. I deposited a check 5 minutes ago and will see how long it really takes.

Perhaps you deposited it before the weekend and maybe even after the cut off time for the day. I can see it stretching to 5 days that way since it needs to be 2 business days to properly clear.

Their 2 day stated period is simply just wrong in my experience. I think I call them on that.

I usually deposit on Thursday night. The funds are available for withdrawal by Thursday the following week. In some cases on Wednesday, but that is rare. I watch it very closely since I transfer the funds to a high yield account ASAP. I'm not talking about funds available for trading. That happens much faster.

Deposited Thursday at 3.30pm.

It is Saturday and my check is already ready for withdrawal as settled cash.

I'd check yours again to see if they have improved and if not I'd complain to Fidelity as something is not right with your account. Are you checks fairly large? Maybe how much you are depositing makes a difference.

Leif wrote:^^
Is your check deposit government? My is from a business. Check is around $5,000. Deposited Thursday at 5 PM. Friday rejected. Friday AM redeposited. Saturday accepted. Balance shows deposit with settled cash, but not included in "Cash available to Withdraw". I'll let you know when settled cash equals "Cash available to Withdraw".

Mine was from an insurance company. It was only $18 though.

Leif wrote:Now Settled cash = Cash Available to Withdraw. 6 days after deposit.

Wow something definitely not right with your account. I'd reach out to fidelity to see if they can sort it out.

Though we have taxable investment accounts at Fidelity and Schwab I wouldn't think of using either one for my day-to-day bank account. I think it's far safer to use a local brick-and-mortar bank for direct deposits, ATM services, and auto-pay/ACH/bill-pay services. Basically all the day-to-day banking transactions flow through the brick-and-mortar checking account and we generally keep the balance there under $10K.

We use investment accounts at Fidelity and Schwab for larger sitting balances but let our routine transactions run through a separate brick-and-mortar checking account. The purpose is to simply limit knowledge and circulation of our primary account custodians and account numbers of where we hold significant balances. We figure the account that is most widely known is the one most likely to be disrupted/hacked. We segregate it and limit our losses/inconvenience.

We could have a segregated banking account at Fidelity or Schwab for routine transactions but we prefer the privacy that a generic brick-and-mortar bank account provides. Really no one needs to know we've got assets at Fidelity, Schwab, or a few other places.

123 wrote:Though we have taxable investment accounts at Fidelity and Schwab I wouldn't think of using either one for my day-to-day bank account. I think it's far safer to use a local brick-and-mortar bank for direct deposits, ATM services, and auto-pay/ACH/bill-pay services. Basically all the day-to-day banking transactions flow through the brick-and-mortar checking account and we generally keep the balance there under $10K.

We use investment accounts at Fidelity and Schwab for larger sitting balances but let our routine transactions run through a separate brick-and-mortar checking account. The purpose is to simply limit knowledge and circulation of our primary account custodians and account numbers of where we hold significant balances. We figure the account that is most widely known is the one most likely to be disrupted/hacked. We segregate it and limit our losses/inconvenience.

We could have a segregated banking account at Fidelity or Schwab for routine transactions but we prefer the privacy that a generic brick-and-mortar bank account provides. Really no one needs to know we've got assets at Fidelity, Schwab, or a few other places.

Yeah I guess in your case since you use both Fidelity & Schwab for investments and want to keep banking separate then I can understand - but it's more of a psychological thing than anything. The Fidelity CMA and Schwab Checking accounts are 2 completely different accounts from the Brokerage side where you may hold your taxable investment account.

It's the same thing with those who are using Wells Fargo Banking + WellsTrade ...or... Bank of America + Merrill Edge --- where some users here say they've combined their banking plus investments there.

Now for those who don't use say the Fidelity Brokerage account for investing then they can just do the Fidelity CMA and many are also using the Fidelity 2% CASH BACK CREDIT CARD (now with Visa).

But again - it's more of a psychological comfort zone thing - you have many many people here with $15k, $20k, $35k, $50k or more total at the Banks including Checking, Savings, Bonds, CDs and maybe even ETFs/MFs if they are also using WellsTrade or Merrill Edge --- but to me this is no different than me having the same $15k - $50k at Fidelity using the CMA plus Brokerage investments (e.g. Muni Bond ETF). It's the same thing - just different savings/investment vehicles. I may prefer a Muni Bond ETF versus someone else who'd rather use CDs at the Bank.