Charles Schwab
Balance-sheet strength and a full-service platform. Routes order flow for payment like most US zero-commission brokers, and charges a full percent on currency conversion.
How the score is built
- Regulation & protection (40%)95
- Pricing transparency (25%)72
- Track record (20%)85
- Product breadth (15%)88
Weighted per the methodology. Affiliate status never affects the score.
The details that cost money
- Options
- $0.65 per contract
- Fractional shares
- Yes
- Account minimum
- $0
- Jurisdictions
- US, plus international accounts in select countries
- Investor protection
- SIPC $500k plus excess coverage
- Crypto access
- No
- Tokenized assets
- No
- Verified
- 2026-08-14
Source: published fee schedule
Incident history
- · 2022 SEC settlement, $187m, over robo-adviser cash allocation disclosures source
Charles Schwab, answered
+ − Is Charles Schwab safe?
Charles Schwab operates under the protection scheme listed as: SIPC $500k plus excess coverage. That covers the failure of the broker, not the performance of your investments. Check which legal entity holds your account — several brokers operate different entities with different coverage per region.
+ − What does Charles Schwab really charge?
Read three lines together: the commission, the currency conversion charge if you fund in a non-USD currency, and whether the broker sells order flow. For most international investors the conversion charge is the largest of the three.
Informational only, not financial advice. Terms, fees and availability change frequently — always verify on the provider's own site before committing funds. Some outbound links may be partner links; they never affect ranking or scoring.
Informational comparison only — not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.