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.