About Harlan

Just a dude living in Memphis, traveling, and working toward financial independence.

More articles by Harlan »

Pingbacks

Comments

  1. I don’t think you mentioned it but another great thing about this account is that it doesn’t charge any foreign currency conversion fees on ATM withdraws abroad

    • Are you sure? I currently have Schwab and was contemplating a switch to the Fidelity CMA, so I called and spoke with them about this. They said over the phone (and it’s disclosed on the website) that there is a 1% conversion fee. There are no fees for using an ATM or foreign ATM, but they seemed to indicate there is a foreign conversion fee.

      • Yes, I’m sure. I know it’s against the official policy (and what a Fidelity agent will tell you), but in practice I’ve never paid a foreign conversion fee on ATM withdrawals.

        I’ve never used the cash to make a purchase internationally, but I’d think that would warrant the 1% fee.

  2. It is important to be aware that: “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”.
    I use this card when traveling internationally. If you add funds to the account from any source be aware that it can take three to four days for them to be available for withdrawal. Overall, I am happy with the card.

    • Correct. The foreign transaction fee is for purchases, not cash withdrawals (in my experience).

      And yup, it does take 3-4 from an outside institution, but that’s any bank.

      Same boat – very happy overall! 🙂

      • Here is the text from the web page you linked to:
        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 reimbursement 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. The Fidelity® Visa® Gold Check Card is issued by PNC Bank, N.A. and the check card program is administered by BNY Mellon Investment Servicing Trust Company. Those entities are not affiliated with each other or with Fidelity Investments. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association, and is used by PNC Bank pursuant to license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

        • I’m aware of the official policy. In my experience though, I’ve never been charged that foreign transaction fee. It just shows up as a cash advance at the current exchange rate – no extra fees added.

  3. Good stuff. I have accounts at both Schwab and Fidelity. Schwab is my walking around money/checking, while Fidelity is mostly investments. I like that Fidelity reimburses ATM fees immediately (or at least I think I’m remembering that correctly) vs statement close at Schwab.

    • Ah, I didn’t know about the reimbursement at statement close with Schwab. Thanks for sharing!

      I’m doing my investments with Fidelity (Roth IRA) and use the cash rewards from the AMEX Fidelity card to help top it off. It all adds up (then compounds)!

      Free is free, though, and they’re very comparable accounts/services. I know some people get hung up on the hard pull with Schwab. Still, it’s pretty apples to apples.

  4. One problem with Fidelity Cash management is that Fidelity does not issue the card, so if you ever have a problem you will not be dealing with Fidelity, where the service is good, but with some card issuer where the service will not be as good.

    • This hasn’t been my experience. Any time I’ve had an issue, I’ve called Fidelity directly and they’ve taken care of everything.

      The number on the back of the debit card is Fidelity. What’s been your experience?

  5. I believe the 3-4 days wait time to have the money available in your Fidelity CMA when there’s a transfer from an external linked bank account is a bit longer than usual. I have experience with this at other banks where the transfer is complete the next business day if the transfer is done in the morning and in other cases 2 business days. Most common is 2-3 business days from accounts I’ve seen.

    But also note that Schwab has its own actual FDIC insured Banking arm whereas Fidelity does not. Fidelity’s CMA is backed by FDIC insurance because the money is swept into an FDIC-insured bank account.

    Per Fidelity – “The Fidelity® Cash Management Account’s uninvested cash balance is swept to one or more program banks where it earns a variable rate of interest and is eligible for FDIC insurance. At a minimum, there are five banks available to accept these deposits, making customers eligible for nearly $1,250,000 of FDIC insurance.”

    “Customers may obtain the benefits of FDIC insurance eligibility* in a Fidelity® Cash Management Account through the FDIC-Insured Deposit Sweep Program and the Program Banks listed below. Once you open and fund your Fidelity® Cash Management Account, the available Cash Balance will be held on your behalf at one or more of the Program Banks assigned to your account. Once at a bank, your Cash Balance will be eligible for FDIC insurance coverage up to the applicable limits.

    Fidelity will assign a Program Bank List to your account. The banks on the list will be eligible to receive your Cash Balances. If you open your account online today then your account will be assigned the Program Bank List shown below. After your account is established, you will receive a New Account Profile confirming your account details, including the Program Bank List assigned to your account. If you open your account online, you will receive information about the Program Bank List that will be assigned to your account before you complete the account opening process. After your account is open, you may contact us to change to another Program Bank List if one is available.”

    “Program Bank List
    CITIBANK NA
    ASSOCIATED BANK NA
    THE PRIVATEBANK AND TRUST CO – unavailable
    THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON
    US BANK
    GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
    PEOPLES UNITED BANK
    BANK OF OKLAHOMA
    CITIZENS BANK NA
    PACIFIC WESTERN BANK
    HSBC BANK USA
    FIRSTMERIT BANK NA
    FIFTH THIRD BANK
    SUN TRUST BANK
    UNION BANK NA – unavailable
    WELLS FARGO NA”

    “Fidelity will manage the movement of money between Fidelity and the Program Banks assigned to your account; this will occur automatically whenever you make deposits, execute transactions or withdraw money from your Fidelity® Cash Management Account.”

  6. What has been your experience with ACH withdrawals to pay credit cards and such? I tried using this account once to my ACH rent payments, but I could not get the it to work, so I wen’t back to USAA. I’m in the process of consolidating accounts again, so I’m curious if ACH payments like credit cards, Home Owners Association dues, etc will work with the cash management account.

    • Hi Komrad!

      My experience with it has been as with any other banks. I use the account constantly to receive payments and to pay down cards from every bank. Usually, the withdrawal comes out 24 hours later – just as with most other banks.

      No complaints there.

      I’ve also used it for rent, and other ACH payments and all have gone through without a hitch!

      I’d recommend for you to give it a try for sure!

  7. As a financial planner, I totally understand where you’re coming from.

    I read your site fairly often and I enjoy your posts.
    I shared this on twitter and my followers enjoyed it too.

    Kepp up the good work!

Leave a Reply