Immigration Forum / Canada / November 2003

Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia) and Royal Bank both work fine for me for online banking and paying bills. I haven't had a
chequebook for years. I happen to be in Calgary but the same would be true anywhere in Canada with internet. I don't know about the
low fee possibilities of sending money from a Canadian bank to US. Perhaps you don't know that you can have a US dollar account at a
Canadian bank and transfer funds online from your Canadian dollar account to it very easily. But you'll have to do your own research
to see if this is useful to you and if you can transfer to US accounts from it with low fees. Check out the websites of the various
Canadian banks to decide which online banking suits your needs best.

I would recommend Presidents Choice financial
(www.preschoicefinancial.com) for your banking needs, this is
the only NO FEE bank account in canada that I know of.  Services are
provided by the CIBC, but no fees are charged on regular transactions,
with no minimum balance restrictions. This can save hundreds of dollars
in charges each year:).

As far as wire transfers go, their website says charges vary depending
on how much you want to transfer.  I transfered $10000 from the uk, and
it cost ~$80, if my memory serves.  I suspect that the less you
transfer, the less cost effective it becomes.

I am not sure there is any cheap way to transfer funds, but the cheapest
way may be if it is possible to cash CDN cheques on a US account, if
there is anyone in the states to do this for you.  I was pleasantly
surprised to be able to deposit a $US cheque in a canadian bank ATM and
get credited the correct $CDN amount (at the usual bank exchange mark
up), but I suspect cashing US cheques in canada is a lot more common
than cashing canadian cheques in the US,(except in Florida between
November and April;))  Ask your bank if this is possible.

Another simple approach is to use money (postal) orders, which
would be relatively cheap, but not very convenient compared to an
online transfer.

This would cost a few dollars, plus whatever the bank makes on the
exchange rate.

If the money in the US account is to pay a certain bill, it may be
possible to pay bills automatically on a credit card, assuming you can
arrange to get one as a new resident (not always easy with no canadian
credit history, although some banks will do this if certain assurances
are met...lots of other threads in the lifestyle forums)

Another option suggested by others is to use a canadian US dollar
account to transfer to a partner account in the states, but monthly
charges for the accounts may outweigh the cost of other transfer methods
from a free account elsewhere.  I guess it depends on how often and how
much money is to be transfered.

If you are planing staying in Canada for any length of time I would
recommend the PC financial account for day to day banking needs
anyway, but then I am originally from the UK, where free banking
services are the rule rather than the exception, so I guess I have
been spoiled up till now.

Good Luck

Iain

p.s.  No, I dont work for PC financial!

Originally posted by Mm

Canadian banks to decide which online banking suits your needs
best.

This has not been my experience at all.  There are kiosks with regular
staff who know me and my circumstances at my local supermarket, and who
have been courteous and helpfull everytime I have worked with them (more
than I can say for TD).  It seems the same as a bank to me in terms of
the information, advice and services available, except they do not
handle cash, so there is no expensive infrastructure.

If I need foreign currency I withdraw it locally on my mastercard,
rather than travel with it for security reasons.  Travellers cheques and
drafts can be arranged by phone, and picked up at my local CIBC branch.
I dont need the teller to know me to pick up a draft, and I certainly
dont want to pay $100 or more a year so that they do.

If I wanted another expensive "relationship" I would start to see other
women, and wait for my wife to divorce me, rather than open a fee paying
account at a bank:).

In three years with Canada Trust I saw an adviser three times, and on no
occasions was the fact that I was a customer in good standing, with a
good income, of any influence in getting a competitive deal on a loan,
mortgage, or obtaining a credit card when I needed one.  Some
relationship.

I dont care how "modest" the fees are, there is no need to charge them.
Banks in the UK turn a profit without gouging there customers for fees.
The banks more than cover there expenses by charging interest on loaning
money to others and by shrewd investment, its not like the banks here
are keeping all the money in the chequing accounts under lock and key,
waiting for the customer to come and get it, they make $$$ from it, and
still feel the need to charge customers for the privelidge.

So far there have been no problems with my accounts, and I would hope
that there would not be any, so I cant comment on their service in that
respect, but based on my experience with other "big" banks, I am not too
optimistic about their level of service either.  Why should I pay a bank
for the reassurance that if they mess up, they will take care of me?  I
would expect that as a matter of course from a reputable company.

The original poster was interested in online services and simple bill
payment, and for that PC is good.  I seldom need counter service, do
most of my banking on line, and dont need or want printed statements, so
why should I subsidise those that still need that paper reassurance?

Iain

Originally posted by Nick B.