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Articles
No Fee Chequing Accounts Comparison
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First Posted: September 26, 2007
Last Updated: September 18, 2009
By Denis Agar
Chequing Accounts
ICICI HiVALUE Chequing Account
ICICI has also launched a very robust offering in 2008, with an Indian flavour. Free unlimited international ATM use, free bank drafts in rupees, and free unlimited money transfers to banks in India (as long as currency exchange is involved, so I assume they make their money on the exchange commission.) In Canada, you can use their card at Exchange ATMs for free, as well as at their branches in Toronto (also Brampton and Mississauga), Calgary, and Vancouver (also Surrey) where you can also bank the old fashioned way. There is a $5.00 monthly fee which can be avoided by keeping at least $500 in your account or by setting up a direct deposit from your employer. In the RFD forums, many have shared stories of substandard customer service with ICICI and it is certainly something to take into account.
President's Choice No-Fee Bank Account
This is the standard upon which all other accounts are judged. Simply put, nearly everything is free. For most Canadians, it had no competition up until 2007. But when ICICI launched HiVALUE, PC got seriously one-upped. They offer nearly the same thing, but with free international ATM use and other perks. But an important thing to note is that while you can use your ICICI card abroad for free, at home you still have to look for ATMs that are part of "The Exchange". They aren't all that difficult to find, but CIBC ATMs, which you can use for free with PC Financial, are everywhere.
Coast Capital Savings Free Chequing, Free Debit and More Account
Being in Southern Ontario, I'm used to getting deals that might not be available to the rest of the country. It is with great pain that I relay to you the awesomeness of these next two accounts, which are only available in British Columbia. Coast Capital's obnoxiously named free account is similar to PC Financial's, but is administered under a completely different philosophy. Instead of banking with a large, faceless, corporation which is responsible to its stockholders, Coast Capital is a credit union, which means that it is responsible to you. To sign up, you spend $5 on a share, giving you a say in the credit union's operations. If you decide to leave, the $5 is refunded.
Vancity Shared Growth Chequing Account
Everything I said about credit unions in the last blurb holds true for Vancity as well, but this account has a very interesting difference: your
entire balance at the bank will be put towards projects in BC that return "meaningful social, environmental and economic benefits to local
communities". I hope to see more banks and credit unions offer accounts like this in the future, but for now, if you're in BC, this is a great, cheap way of giving back to your neighbours.
A Word about using a line of credit as a chequing account
A number of people have seen the value in replacing their primary chequing account with a line of credit. In most cases, lines of credit have fewer fees than regular accounts, and certainly allow you more flexibility to borrow if necessary. LOCs are usually the only accounts offered by the big 5 banks that have free unlimited transactions. As discussed in this thread, some banks frown upon the practice, but Royal Bank is the only one to forbid you from having a balance above $0.
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