Canada’s Best Chequing Accounts

Are You Still Paying Banking Fees?

First Published Date: December 15, 2008

Today, I am going to review chequing accounts offered by Canadian banks. I have researched most of the banks offering chequing accounts in Canada; however, I was able to find only two institutions worth mentioning. I am not going to review any products offered by big players like Royal Bank, TD Bank, CIBC and so on, as they do not offer any free chequing accounts. My objective is to review products and services that make perfect personal finance sense, and if you are looking for chequing accounts with lots of features and no fees whatsoever – you have come to the right place.

My First Pick

President Choice No Fee Bank Account

Where on earth you will get free banking + free cheques? Yes, President Choice Financial offers that. Let’s look at some features they offer:

·    Free online and telephone (automated and live) banking.

·    Unlimited free transactions at CIBC or PCF bank machines.

·    Unlimited cheques come with free chequing account

·    Unlimited free Interac® direct payments

·    Earn points towards free groceries

My second Pick

Citizen’s Bank of Canada Global Chequing Account

·    Withdraw money globally without paying fees (terms and conditions apply. Visit their website for more info)

·    Free online and telephone (automated and live) banking.

·    No fees debit card purchases in Canada and US.

·    Free access to over 2500 ATMs in Canada

·    Overdraft protection up to $1000 if qualified

My Take

The only thing you have to give up to do free banking is the service of a brick and mortar branch. PCF offers Pavilion at Loblaws where you can meet a live person but it’s not like going to a branch. Citizen Bank does not have anything like Pavilion. Do you really need to meet a live person to do your banking? I have been with PCF for ten years and I never needed help from a live person to do any transactions.

if you travel a lot and use your bank card outside the country, you should consider Global Chequing Account. If you do not travel often and don’t need to use your bank card outside Canada, PCF No Fee Bank Account is what you should consider. PCF lets you use CIBC’s ATMs for free – which I find is very convenient.

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 Dec 15, 2008.

$100 BANK NSF FEE?

Banks Can Charge As Much NSF Fees As They Want

I wrote an article about how banks are charging ridiculous NSF fees. This article became very popular and generated lots of traffic. Recently, after reading this article, one reader wanted to know if there is a maximum allowable NSF fee banks can charge. I could not answer this question because I did not know the answer by myself. So I wanted to find an answer and I ended up calling Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).

FCAC is a federal government regulatory agency that ensures financial institutions comply with federal consumer protection laws and regulations. On Thursday I called them to find out if there is limit on how much banks can charge NFS Fee. I was totally blown away by their answers. NSF Fees have no limits. In simple words, In Canada, banks can charge as much NSF fees as they want. What it means? If banks keep increasing NSF fees every year, there is nothing you can do. Remember those days when NFS fees were like $10 or $15? Well, in the future, don’t be surprised if you get hit by $100 NSF fee. It may not happen in a couple of years or so; however; the way banks keep increasing NSF Fees, I would not be surprised if it reaches $100 someday. Right now, NFS fees are still below $50, but this may not last too long. What you can do not to pay NSF fees? Find your answers here: Banks Are Charging Ridiculous NSF Fees

President’s Choice to CIBC – Are You on Board?

PC Financial Free Banking Ends

On August 16, 2017 the news broke that CIBC is ending its almost 20-year relationship with President’s Choice Financial and will offer free banking through its own Simplii Financial. This news put 2 million PC Financial (PCF) customers in limbo as everyone is trying to make sense of this breakup.

The main reason people signed up with online banking provider PCF was to avoid big banks like CIBC (and pay no banking fees for basic banking) and now customers are all back under the same giant. CIBC mentioned there will be no change in anything such as account information or fees and business will be as usual under CIBC’s new free banking division Simplii, but confusion and uncertainty remain palpable.

There are talks about CIBC’s cutting some features customers have been enjoying for free with PCF and also declining in customer service satisfaction. PCF offered excellent customer service provided by call centres located in Canada. So it will be interesting to see if it starts to move over to India or somewhere else. A PCF representative mentioned to me that CIBC is moving over all PCF reps under its wing and customer service will be provided by the same group of people as before.

For now, customers remain cautious and will wait and see how the transformation plays out. There are other free online banking providers out there and if things go downhill, CIBC will definitely lose a good chunk of loyal customers who have been with PCF for years.

I have a video on this and you can watch by clicking the link below or on the picture at the top right.

The End of President’s Choice Financial

Banks Are Charging Ridiculous NSF Fees

Bank Has No Limits for Fees

Just received a Notice of Changes flyer in my mailbox from TD Bank. The flyer is full of as usual information. That is, fees are going up on some services. One fee increase made my eyes pop out in wonder.

New NSF (Non Sufficient Funds) fee will be $42.50 starting May 1, 2008. Paying $42.50 NSF fee is way too much and absolutely ridiculous. We all know that banks are only interested in making money, and they don’t care about their customers. Average bank clients are not valued or respected by these banks. We tend to be loyal to our banks, and they are taking advantage of this. Most of us do not research and shop for a better bank. What you can do to get a better deal and treated as a valued customer by your bank? Follow these simple tips below:

• Banks basically measure your value by looking at your bank balance. If you have accounts with many banks, you may want to think about consolidate them into one account in one bank. This will give you more money in one bank and hence more value.
   
• Have an overdraft protection attached to your bank account. An overdraft protection will protect you from NSF situation because this feature will pay extra money if your account falls short. There is a charge involved with this option but it’s not as ridiculous as NSF fee.
   
• A decent overdraft protection fee should be somewhere around $5. You should pay this only when you use it. If your bank charges monthly recurring fees to have this option, change your bank. A good example is President Choice Financial. Their overdraft protection fee is $4.95, and you pay only when you use it. You will also be paying an interest charge on overdraft balances but still it’s a lot better than paying $42.50.

• And last but not least - never write a cheque if you don't have money in your account (I know you all know this).
  First Published: ADawnJournal.com Mar 16, 2008

Still paying banking fees?

Stop Paying Bank Fees

Are you still paying banking fees? If you are, you should look at free banking options. A monthly fee of $12 or $15 can trun into a considerable amount over the years. Follow these steps to eliminate banking fess.

A. Consider banking online with a finanicial institution who gives you lots of value added services. An example is President Choice Financial. I get free checks (which TD, CIBC would never give) and earn at least $100 in free groceries just for using their services. It's like a double-dip bonus. I am banking free and getting free money for free banking.

B. If you are not comfortable with online banking, find out what is the threshold to avoid bank fees at you local branch. Usually this threshold level is $1000 but it can vary bank to bank. Shop for the best deal and never pay any transaction,ABM or checking fees.

C. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) provides interactive tools, cost of banking guide and information about different types of accounts and banking service packages available in Canada on their website. Click on the above link and then click on For Consumers and it will take you to a page where you can do your research on banking and other financial products and services.
First Published: June 22, 2007 ADawnJournal.com