Canadian Banking – World’s Soundest Banking System

Canadian Banking System Gets A+

First Published Date: January 4, 2009

Good news if you do your banking in Canada – you are storing your money in what is accepted to be the safest banking system in the world, ahead, even of banking paradise Switzerland. This means that even in the current global financial crisis, there is no cause to worry about the safety of your banking deposits, and that putting your money into a Canadian bank is as close as you can get to a guarantee that it will be handled in the most efficient way imaginable. After the annual study by the World Economic Forum polled bankers worldwide, Canada came out on top – well ahead of near neighbours the United States, which came in 40th.

The World Economic Forum polls its members every year, asking them to award marks out of seven for the soundness of a countries banking system. Canada polled a remarkable 6.8 out of seven, ahead of the previous leader as well as other notables such as Sweden, Luxembourg and Denmark, all of which are known for unshakeable fiscal probity.

This is news worth shouting about, as banks in many other countries have had to rely on government bailouts while others have gone to the wall. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is a man with plenty of reasons to smile. As his counterparts in supposedly more prestigious economies flounder against a seemingly unstoppable wave of financial doom, Flaherty is presiding over a competitive economy with a lessening level of debt. As other governments borrow to escape the meltdown, Canada’s surefootedness is likely to reassure banking customers.

Canada has a progressive banking system too. It is a lot less stressful to try and get hold of your money here, with more Automated Bank Telling Machines per capita than any country in the world. Anybody who has ever spent time in a city or town with a dearth of ABMs can tell you that it’s a frustrating experience trying to withdraw money that you know you have. Sometimes it’s like they don’t WANT you to spend your money.

Electronic banking plays its own part in this most efficient bank system. Canada has the highest penetration levels worldwide of debit cards (enabling you to make use of your account even if you can’t find one of the country’s many branches or cash points), Internet banking (so if your bank doesn’t have one of the many branches nearby you can still conduct any transaction you care to name) and telephone banking. It’s a quite impressive story overall, to be honest. Knowing that your money is safe and that you face the fewest restrictions imaginable should you wish to make use of it means Canada should be in a position to ride out the crisis and come out the other side ready to compete.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Jan 4, 2009.