Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is the brokerage-and-banking name people reach for when investing, cash management and low-friction trading matter more than a traditional branch network. By our assessment, its real strength is the combination of brokerage accounts, investing tools, bank services and the thinkorswim platform, which gives active and self-directed users a lot to work with. The downside is that its center of gravity is still investing, so someone mainly hunting for a neighborhood bank feel may find it more platform than hometown institution. In practice it feels built around screens, transfers and portfolio work, with cash and trading living close together instead of in separate silos. Compared with plain retail banks, it sits on the investing side of the line, and compared with pure brokerages it offers more banking around the edges. The catalogue records Charles Schwab as American, which fits its place in the U.S. financial market.