Charles Schwab vs MyInvestor — which broker is better?

Pros

• USD 0 commission on every online listed US stock and ETF order, with no share cap and no proprietary-fund restrictions
• thinkorswim desktop, web and mobile are included free — full options chains, thinkScript, backtesting and paperMoney simulation
• Options at USD 0.65 per contract, with the fee waived on buy-to-close orders at USD 0.05 or less
• More than 4,000 no-load, no-transaction-fee mutual funds, including Mutual Fund OneSource, plus USD 0 online Treasuries at auction and on the secondary market
• 24/7 phone and chat support backed by close to 400 physical branches — an unusual combination for a discount broker
• SEC/FINRA-regulated with SIPC cover and an affiliated FDIC-insured bank; parent company SCHW is NYSE-listed and reports publicly
• Schwab Global Account gives online access to 12 foreign markets in local currency from the same login

Cons

• Spot crypto is limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum in a separate Schwab Crypto account at 0.75% per trade, open only to US residents outside New York and Louisiana — fewer coins than Fidelity and far fewer than Robinhood
• The default uninvested cash sweep pays close to nothing (0.01% at the time of writing); you have to manually move idle cash into a money market fund
• Transaction-fee mutual funds cost up to USD 49.95 per purchase, with a USD 74.95 ceiling for some fund families
• Margin rates sit near the top of the US market — roughly 12.1% below USD 25,000, versus mid-single digits at Robinhood
• Fractional shares cannot be transferred to another broker — when the account moves, the fractions are sold at market price
• Trading foreign stocks through a broker costs the greater of USD 100 or 0.75% of principal, which makes ad-hoc international orders expensive
• Currency conversion adds a percentage charge on top of the commission: 1% of principal per conversion below USD 100,000 in the Schwab Global Account, tapering to 0.2% from USD 1,000,000 — USD 100 on a USD 10,000 conversion. Except on small orders, the conversion charge is larger than the online commission. Outside the Global Account, Schwab's pricing guide allows a markup of up to 300 basis points (3%) on USD/foreign-currency conversions

Pros

• More than 2,400 funds with no MyInvestor purchase, custody, redemption or transfer fee, and tax-neutral fund switches
• Shares and ETFs at 0.12% per order (EUR 3 minimum on shares, EUR 1 on ETFs, EUR 25 maximum) with no custody, inactivity or dividend-collection fee
• Spanish bank licence (Banco de España code 1544, CNMV) with FGD cover of EUR 100,000 for cash and a separate EUR 100,000 for securities
• Reports clients' operations to the AEAT; MyInvestor states that holdings kept there need no modelo 720
• Index robo-advisor portfolios from EUR 150 at 0.15% management plus 0.15% custody a year, with weekly to half-yearly contributions
• More than 100 pension plans, including MyInvestor's own indexed plans, in the same app
• Free current account with SEPA transfers, Bizum and free cards; accounts opened from 1 September 2026 earn 2.50% AER for six months on up to EUR 70,000 (terms read 02.11.2026)
• Handles the W-8BEN form, so US dividends are withheld at 15% instead of 30%

Cons

• Only for residents of Spain and Spanish nationals living in another EU country or the UK, and an existing account at another Spanish bank is required
• Quotes in the app are delayed 15 minutes; only limit and market orders, and stop-losses only on NYSE, Nasdaq and Xetra
• 0.30% currency fee on foreign trades and dividends; Premium (EUR 7.99 a month) waives it only for US-dollar trades and dividends in its USD account and charges 0.25% on other currencies
• No fractional shares, and options and futures do not appear in the broker's product list
• Under the terms for accounts opened from 1 September 2026 (read 02.11.2026), idle cash earns 0.30% AER after the six-month welcome rate unless you invest EUR 300 to EUR 900 a month in selected products or hold an AXA policy taken out through MyInvestor
• Corporate actions, takeover offers and FIFO lots run through a separate Inversis website, and account activation can take up to a month