Yes, but they don't require you to do anything with it- IIRC you don't have to fund it, and you certainly don't have to use it or maintain any kind of balance in it.

That's right, I set up my account with them with just $25 in the banking account. The rep I talked to when I signed up verified you aren't required to use the brokerage acct at all, it merely has to exist.

I'm in the process of bank shopping, so I looked into it just now. If you set up automatic deposits into a checking account, they waive the $1000 minimum for the brokerage account.

Oh, that must be new- when I signed up a couple of years ago there weren't any requirements like that. Thanks for looking into it.

For whatever it's worth, it is a really, really, really great checking account. And their online and mobile tools have gotten pretty good in recent years. Not anywhere near the level of, say, BankSimple, but certainly more than usable.

Actually, it looks like the automatic deposits/$1000 minimum are for a investment account without the checking account.

There's no minimum on either account. I've got a whopping $187 in my Schwab checking account and nothing in the brokerage account.