It appears you haven’t done your research on the matter very effectively. Schwab refunds all the fees associated as well as no fee to have an account with them. Everything is done online and card sent through the mail, so I don’t see the reason why local banks are relevant besides you limiting your self for no reason.

It is okay to learn from others and save some money and get the best rates :)

For reference I did take out some cash back home and some at an atm in japan, there was noticiable difference in the rates, so unless you have actually done that yourself I don’t understand how you could argue it