Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the largest brokerage firms in the United States, providing a comprehensive suite of financial services to both individual investors and institutions. Their offerings include investment accounts, trading solutions, banking services, and retirement planning, all designed to help clients achieve their financial goals. With a strong focus on innovation and customer service, Schwab empowers investors with the tools and resources needed for informed decision-making in today's dynamic market. Visit schwab.com to learn more about how they can support your investment journey.
Charles Schwab receives overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many customers expressing frustration over account management and service quality. Reviewers frequently mention feeling trapped or scammed, particularly regarding issues with account security and the handling of funds.
Read full summaryShow less
Complaints about bounced checks and confusing verification processes are common, leading to a perception of poor customer service. While some users appreciate Schwab's ThinkOrSwim platform and acknowledge the professionalism of certain staff members, these positives are overshadowed by the overall dissatisfaction. Many consumers advise against opening accounts, citing a lack of support and accountability. Overall, the sentiment is predominantly negative, reflecting significant concerns about the company's reliability and service.
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
Rating, volume, share of the score, six-month trend and fake-review risk for each source
Source
Rating
Reviews
Weight
6-mo
Fake risk
★
Trustpilot
Imported Trustpilot reviews
1.6
200
100%
-0.1
● Low
1.6 / 5 overall
=
200 reviews across 1 scored source
How fake risk works ⓘ
Reputation trend
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Jan 2026.
Last 3 months
1.5▼ 0.1
12-month avg
1.6
All-time
1.6
Category avg
3.5
Monthly averageCategory average
Monthly average rating and review count
Month
Average
Reviews
Feb 25
1.5
24
Mar 25
1.7
13
Apr 25
1.3
22
May 25
1.4
9
Jun 25
2.3
14
Jul 25
1.4
13
Aug 25
1.9
11
Sep 25
1.4
11
Oct 25
1.5
12
Nov 25
1.4
10
Dec 25
1.7
15
Jan 26
1.5
29
What people praise & complain about
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 200 most recent reviews.
Top praiseof 27 positive reviews
Customer service59%
16 mentions
Helpful support30%
8 mentions
Fast & efficient15%
4 mentions
Easy to use11%
3 mentions
“They have excellent online fillable PDF forms, extensive helpful information for new investors, good customer support...”
On “Customer service” · Jan 2, 2026
Top complaintsof 169 negative reviews
Account issues43%
73 mentions
Customer service38%
65 mentions
Payment issues11%
19 mentions
Fraud7%
11 mentions
“They lured me into opening account promising that as an European I will trade US ETFs through them”
On “Account issues” · Jan 21, 2026
How it compares
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Money & Insurance.
Overall rating and review count for this company and similar companies
27+ year trader and this is the worst brokerage ever. I was an ameritrade account holder. Schwab purchased ameritrade. Multiple times I had sent funds of 190k to credit into my account and, although they located it, they could not credit and sent it back multiple times. They could not even push forward a simple wire. This company is inept and caused me to lose over 100k due to their lack of ability to take care of customers. Highly recommend finding another brokerage if you want to make money and work with an efficient broker. I will be moving my money to another. I am a CEO myself and value my customers better and it's a shame they don't listen to their customers, or find ways of resolution, to better their process. They are losing a long time day trader and past loyal customer (more of ameritrade as I would never recommend Schwab!!).
They deserve minus stars. Martin Smith, a supervisor in the Indianapolis office said he would credit my account for $1200 because of an error I made in a trade causing me to lose a larger amount of money. The credit was not issued in my account.
I only buy stocks when downturns happen. Last Friday I put 10,000 in my swab account, it's Wednesday and I still don't have access to my money. Good buying options will be gone when I finally get my money.
What types of accounts can I open with Charles Schwab?
Charles Schwab offers a variety of account types including individual and joint brokerage accounts, retirement accounts such as Traditional and Roth IRAs, as well as checking and savings accounts. Each account type is designed to meet different financial goals, so it's important to review the features of each to determine which best suits your needs.
Are there any trading fees associated with Schwab brokerage accounts?
Charles Schwab offers $0 commission on online stock and ETF trades, which makes it a cost-effective option for investors. However, there may be fees associated with certain mutual funds, options trading, and other specialized services, so it’s advisable to review the specific fee schedule on their website.
How can I contact customer support at Charles Schwab?
You can reach Charles Schwab's customer support team via phone, chat, or secure messaging through your online account. They also have a comprehensive help center on their website, where you can find answers to common questions and access resources for account management.
Is there a mobile app for managing my Schwab accounts?
Yes, Charles Schwab offers a mobile app that allows you to manage your accounts conveniently from your smartphone or tablet. The app provides features such as trading stocks and ETFs, checking account balances, transferring funds, and accessing market updates and research tools.
All 10 questions →Show fewer questions
What research tools does Schwab provide for investors?
Charles Schwab offers a robust suite of research tools including market analysis, stock screeners, and third-party research reports. You can also access educational resources such as articles and webinars to enhance your investing knowledge and help you make informed decisions.
Can I transfer my existing brokerage account to Charles Schwab?
Yes, you can transfer your existing brokerage account to Charles Schwab through a process called an ACAT transfer. Schwab provides an online tool to guide you through the transfer process, and they can assist with the necessary paperwork to facilitate a smooth transition.
What are the tax implications of withdrawing from my Schwab IRA?
Withdrawals from a Traditional IRA are typically subject to income tax, and if you take a withdrawal before age 59½, you may incur a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Roth IRA withdrawals may be tax-free if certain conditions are met, including the account being open for at least five years. It's advisable to consult with a tax advisor for personalized guidance.
Anyone can write a CrowdTrust review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they'll be displayed as long as an account is active.
I am highly disappointed by what I've experienced with this company. They are unreliable and you will find it difficult to get your money out from them. Please, stay away from them if you don't want to lose your money. I've stayed with PAIVA. The experience is different because I've been getting my payout without any issues.
Like others have mentioned before me, constant updates breaking the platform and data interruptions. Usually while something big is happening in the market. If you are in to buy and hold for 50 years, this might work for you, but if you are trying to trade even every couple of days, too unreliable. Leaving Schwab.
Schwab is my number one bank. When it comes to banking, Schwab & Fidelity are incredible and every other bank is a distant third.
Let me give you a short history. About year 2000, I opened an account at thinkorswim (TOS). In those years, TOS was a stand-alone broker. TOS was certainly ok. Then TD Ameritrade (TDA) bought TOS. And the combo of TDA & TOS was ok. About that same time, I independently opened a checking account at Schwab. And Schwab was certainly ok. Later, Schwab merged with TDA, so now TOS is part of Schwab. For me, that merger went extremely smoothly. Everything carried over. Schwab deleted my Schwab One brokerage account (because it was redundant) and I continued along with my TDA brokerage accounts and my Schwab checking account. Everything was merged under one profile. I had zero problems resulting from the combo of the companies. I give the Information Systems Department at Schwab six stars out of five because everything continued perfectly post-merger.
Now, I have a few ETF’s at Schwab but I mostly use Schwab for checking. I pay a few bills using Schwab and do a tiny bit of trading at Schwab. Altogether, I have five figures $ at Schwab, so I am certainly ok with Schwab. I use Symantec VIP authenticator to log into Schwab and it works perfectly. Symantec VIP prevents an imposter from obtaining access to my Schwab accounts.
I have not experienced any outages at Schwab. My customer service experience at Schwab is always five out of five stars. The Schwab website always works perfectly for me. I have experienced only one problem (explained below). There are a LOT of negative Trust Pilot reviews of Schwab. I suspect a lot of those unhappy people are customers of Schwab Advisor Services - something I have zero experience with. Obviously, their entire relationship with Schwab is much different from my own. I am a self-directed trader, so I make 100% of my stock market decisions. I do not look to Schwab (or anyone else) for advice because I am very experienced in the financial markets.
If I had no knowledge of the market, and if my time horizon was long, I would invest in a diversified broad market ETF like "SCHB" or "VTI" and do something else with my time. I would not pay a lot of fees to an advisor. This is not investment advice, just what I would do.
I am not an employee of any brokerage firm. My review is strictly based on my experience as a customer of Schwab. I recommend that you give Schwab a try.
Post Script: Only one issue with Schwab. Their technology department has a offensive habit of rendering perfectly good hardware obsolete for installation of their mobile apps. In other words, without warning, one day when you attempt to use the Schwab mobile app, you will receive this type of message: ”Update application. The Schwab mobile app is no longer accessible on iOS devices with operating systems older than iOS 17. . . .” Or a similar message for Android users. I have a perfectly good iPad which runs everything I need except the Schwab mobile app's. Frankly, I do not wish to waste money on a new iPad only for the purpose of making the technology people at Schwab happy. If this is important to you & this bothers you, avoid Schwab because this kind of BS is SOP for the systems people at Schwab. You are immune from this if you never use any of the Schwab mobile apps. If you buy the newest hand-held technology every year or two, this will not be a concern for you. If you process all of your transactions on the Schwab website, this will not be a concern.
PPS: Tastytrade is my number one broker. IF you are an options trader, check out Tastytrade because I prefer trading on the Tasty trading platform (compared to Schwab’s thinkorswim). Just my opinion. I used thinkorswim for many years and it is certainly an ok options trading platform, but I prefer Tasty.
PPPS: The HUGE downside to both Tastytrade and Schwab => They have not figured out a way to stop ACATS fraud before the fact. They only thing they offer is => "if you are affected by ACATS fraud, be sure to notify us in a timely manner." In other words, Schwab and Tasty fix fraud after it has occurred. But only if you notify them right away. If you fail to notice the fraud immediately, then "too bad, so sad." If you are concerned about ACATS fraud, get an account at Fidelity (Fidelity knows how to stop fraud before it occurs).
The worst bank ever. After getting fraud alerts and declining transactions they still put them through and not once on several occasions. Making me call back and having to dispute the charges. Andre in the fraud department hasn’t gotten back to me in 2 months after leaving several messages and I am out 5k of my own money because Andrew closed the dispute in favor of the merchant! When the merchant claimed they wired transfer finds to my account and it was never received! Schwab can see I never received the funds and yet they side with the merchant??? I’m out 5k because of this. Worse bank ever never been hacked so much in my life and had a bank constant their client and never return calls
1) Constant outages. Never any advanced warning. It's out tonight (Friday night) and usually out most Saturday nights going into Sunday.
2) Hopelessly complicated and Education & Learning centers suck. Impossible to search for anything. Assistance has gotten worse since Schwab took it over.
3) Login is a pain in the butt since Schwab took over.
Tonight was the last straw. I'm going to Tastytrade. Good riddance.
Guess what? Charles Schwab doesn't want your deposit unless you go out and buy a new phone!!! They won't allow you to download the Schwab mobile app needed to deposit a check if you have an older phone!!!
I spent what seemed like hours yesterday trying to transfer a rollover IRA to another firm and it was extremely frustrating. I am not a banking person but I wanted to wire and or transfer the IRA so it would get to the new firm as quickly as possible. I finally had to talk to the receiving firm and they explained to me what I needed to do.
Then, today I received an email from the transferring firm saying it didn’t go through. I called them and after waiting in the queue for maybe five minutes rep answered and I explained the situation. I felt the frustration rising in me as the rep was reviewing the email and trying to figure out what was going on. I can’t see what he is looking at and feeling all that rage I felt the previous day rising up in me I thanked him and said I would go down to the local branch and talk with them. UGH!
Just opened account, was excited to work with Schwab. Took the time to link my two bank accounts so that I could easily transfer money into my Schwab account. Also was excited to try out their stock slices. In less than two weeks my account gets locked out, no explanation. Says there is a issue and they need to verify my identity. After two phone calls and verifying my information there was still no response. Also there is no way to directly contact their fraud department, THAT IS A RED FLAG RIGHT THERE. All of this and when I call again they tell me that they are closing the account for business reasons!! What business reasons, I AM A NEW CUSTOMER!! No explanation at all. This has to be the worst company I have ever had dealings with. The poor people that work for them and answer the phones were nice but the way the company is being run is straight TRASH!!
Never had any real issues since they took over my TD Ameritrade account, until now.
Just got a notification on my phone app. that in less than two days they will no longer support my Android 10 phone.
Spending even just a few hundred dollars to upgrade from a perfectly good phone for one lousy app is ridiculous at best.
Might be time to roll my account over to Vanguard.
Application process complicated.
I started half January 2025 an application at CS. I have uploaded much details and documents but after 2 months it is still not accepted en they ask again and again for documents. This had to stop. I withdrew my application.
Un gran banco de inversión, de los mayores y mejores de los EEUU. Atención y servicios inmejorables las 24 horas del día y los 7 días de la semana. La banca en Argentina es un verdadero desastre frente a este tipo de instituciones americanas. Servicio, seguridad y atención son sus mayores características. Muy recomendable.
Best experience I ever had with schwab as soon as you transfer money you can use it right away , the withdraw is 24 hour process , 24 hour customer service I don't understand how anyone leave a negative review with them only if they owe a balance and are crying to bad pay your bills!
Please stay away from this company because they are not straightforward and will only deceive you to add more funds. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. I recommend PAIVA. They do pay.
I recently opened a Schwab trading account and wanted to add Level 3 options and margin trading to my account profile. Although I'm primarily a day trader, I also have a lot of experience hedging my options trades using spreads, straddles, condors, conversions, reversals, boxes, etc.
I learned these strategies working on the CBOE trading floor for 5 years. I also set up the global hedge dept at Merrill lynch International Bank in London where I managed Billion-dollar options hedge portfolios for George Soros' Quantum Fund, and other major clients investing in Global Hedge Strategies using international options on international exchanges in multiple currencies.
I’m already approved for the highest level of Options trading and Margin in my account at Morgan Stanley but I considered moving to Schwab for their ToS charting and Fibonacci tools.
But… when I asked Schwab to approve an account for me with the same privileges — I was denied and told I didn't have enough experience and to apply again in 6 months!!
No thanks, Charlie. You were rude and dismissive of my experience after I spent a half hour on the phone trying to understand why I was denied. So, I am sticking with MS and TastyTrade. You werre not friendly to my business, and I recommend all other professional, SHE-traders avoid you as well.
First I have a significant amount of money with Schwab, north of $10,000,000 dollars and when I had a problem with a questionable withdrawal I went to customer service and was connected to a very arrogant Schwab support person named Blake Briscoe in the Houston office. The withdrawal from my account was significant amount so was concerned what it was for and why I couldn't find what it was and needed help. From there I was made to feel stupid and if I had not had this account for some 30 years I would have take my money and gone elsewhere. Though I found my answer I was left still not know how to find the email was very vague. Being irritated by his attitude and nebulous replies I asked him to give me his full name and that was like pulling teeth and extremely rude of him. Like I said I got my answer finally and he made me feel stupid not being able to find it myself. Not a great Schwab support person as having my account for so many years I've never had a Schwab person every make me feel stupid and going away with my question hardly answered. Very disappointed!
Incompetent. Ask a question and go in circles - answer a question with a question. Ask for simple instruction on where to find option charting. Employees don't understand the difference between an option and a stock. Give wrong information on where to find things on their website.
I'm angry TD sold to them. Now stuck with low level customer service that doesn't understand.
Your trades pay for the crappy attitude from incompetent staff. I'm paying for it.
Will be moving.
Does Schwab offer any tools for retirement planning?
Yes, Charles Schwab provides several tools for retirement planning, including retirement calculators and personalized retirement planning services. These resources can help you estimate how much you need to save, evaluate your current savings strategy, and determine the best investment options for your retirement goals.
What are the benefits of having a Schwab checking account?
A Schwab checking account offers benefits such as no monthly maintenance fees, unlimited ATM fee rebates worldwide, and access to online bill pay and mobile check deposit. Additionally, it seamlessly integrates with your investment accounts, making it easy to manage your finances in one place.
How can I access my Schwab account statements and tax documents?
You can access your Schwab account statements and tax documents through the online account portal or mobile app. All statements are available in a secure digital format, and you can choose to receive them via email or download them directly for your records.
About Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the largest brokerage firms in the United States, providing a comprehensive suite of financial services to both individual investors and institutions. Their offerings include investment accounts, trading solutions, banking services, and retirement planning, all designed to help clients achieve their financial goals. With a strong focus on innovation and customer service, Schwab empowers investors with the tools and resources needed for informed decision-making in today's dynamic market. Visit schwab.com to learn more about how they can support your investment journey.
