No Monthly fee Chequings Account?

[tasamy]

Any bank has that?

It seems only PC financial does it!

[shahn2]

PC Financial (http://www.banking.pcfinancial.ca/a/products/chequingAccount.page?referid=leftnav_daily_banking )

And before the flaming starts, I am quite happy for my minimum transactions. :)

[mrwally]

I use PC...but I just recently opened a chequing account at BMO. There is no monthly fee as they charge for each transaction. I don't have the details on me, but I can put money in for no charge and get fees if I write cheques, use interac, send money through interac, etc. I haven't actually done any of this yet but got the account for the other types of services PC doesn't offer.

[fastlayne]

The Scotiabank waives all fees for its Powerchequing account if a minimum of $2000 is held in the account throughout the month. (Or if you have their Money Master savings account and maintain $10,000, the Powerchequing fees are waived.)

Obviously, this may not be practical for everyone, but I refuse to fork over $15-20 a month for transaction fees and use my "rainy day" savings to give me free banking.

[a_1_a]

Any bank has that?

It seems only PC financial does it!

Citizensbank's investment acct has no fee chequing & free order of cheques.

[jyeung]

Bank@Work with CIBC. That's the only other major one I know of. You're eligible depending on where you work.

- Jason

[Jucius Maximus]

If you keep a minimum balance then TD will waive the fees.

[Red_Army]

i think PC is the only bank that has absolutely no fees ever (minus the misc. stuff such as money orders)

(other banks have no fee accounts with stipulations to be met, such as minimum balance)

[jacksorbetta]

If you're in BC, Coast Capital Savings offer a "free chequing, debit and more" account. It comes with a no fee LOC ($1000). I have an account there just to qualify for the HYS account. I keep a buck in the chq, but a decent amount in the savings, because my employee account is only paying 1% on the PRS right now.

HTH!

[Thalo]

I use PC...but I just recently opened a chequing account at BMO. There is no monthly fee as they charge for each transaction. I don't have the details on me, but I can put money in for no charge and get fees if I write cheques, use interac, send money through interac, etc. I haven't actually done any of this yet but got the account for the other types of services PC doesn't offer.

That would be a savings account, not a checking account. Try making 50 transactions on that account in a month and see what they charge you. :)

No B&M bank offers free checking without certain stipulations (min balance, being a student, etc). Tellers make more than $15/hr, how could the banks make any money?

[jacksorbetta]

That would be a savings account, not a checking account. Try making 50 transactions on that account in a month and see what they charge you. :)

No B&M bank offers free checking without certain stipulations (min balance, being a student, etc). Tellers make more than $15/hr, how could the banks make any money?


I'm guessing he has the INA account (interest chq w/airmiles). You don't have to sign on for a plan with it, but you're definately right about the oodles of fees for anything but deposits.

[TeriyakiJack]

That would be a savings account, not a checking account. Try making 50 transactions on that account in a month and see what they charge you. :)

No B&M bank offers free checking without certain stipulations (min balance, being a student, etc). Tellers make more than $15/hr, how could the banks make any money?

Not TD Tellers:lol:

[mrwally]

That would be a savings account, not a checking account. Try making 50 transactions on that account in a month and see what they charge you. :)

No B&M bank offers free checking without certain stipulations (min balance, being a student, etc). Tellers make more than $15/hr, how could the banks make any money?


I think it's called the "Interest Chequing Account" - it's not a savings account but yes...there would be lots of fees if I made 50 transactions per month. The OP asked about MONTHLY fees...there is none.

[iluvmikeharris]

A line of credit account, with a target balance of zero, will usually accomplish this with no or very minimal (interest) fees.

[Thalo]

I think it's called the "Interest Chequing Account" - it's not a savings account but yes...there would be lots of fees if I made 50 transactions per month. The OP asked about MONTHLY fees...there is none.

In the banking world, regardless of what banks call the accounts, there are "chequing accounts" and "savings accounts". Chequing accounts are accounts that generally charge monthly fees and give you either unlimited or a pre-determined number of transactions (note: it has nothing to do with whether or not you write cheques on it). Savings accounts are accounts with no monthly fee, pay some interest (even if only .05%), no charge for deposit but generally charge per withdrawal (after one or two free ones).

Example: TD's US Daily Interest Checking Account, if you read the details it is actually a savings account, not a checking.

Not TD Tellers

Depends on where you live, I guess.

[UrbanPoet]

rbc has free banking for students.
For non-students, they give you a free checking account if you have a Rewards Visa + Investment with them. The investment could be $1000 in a GIC or a money market mutual fund (around 3.3% return these days). Or it could be a $25/bi-weekly automatic investment (RRSP eligible).
This way you dont have to park a HUGE amount of money in an non-interest checking account just to get free banking.

[DealGiver]

apart from PC, any other bank that offers free checking? I see Citizens does but you have to use certain ATM's offered.... No I'm not student or eligible for discounts at BnM banks.........

any advice appreciated.

[AllWheelDrift]

apart from PC, any other bank that offers free checking? I see Citizens does but you have to use certain ATM's offered.... No I'm not student or eligible for discounts at BnM banks.........

any advice appreciated.

President's Choice Financial - You need to use CIBC ATMs to be "ding free"
Citizens Bank - You need to use "Exchange" ATMs (HSBC, National Bank, Credit Unions) to be "ding free" in Canada and they don't charge for ATMs outside of Canada.

Personally I like the fact that there's a CIBC ATM in 7-11 stores and there's a 7-11 on every other block. On the other hand, Citizens Bank has made a better impression on me.

[tng11]

apart from PC, any other bank that offers free checking? I see Citizens does but you have to use certain ATM's offered.... No I'm not student or eligible for discounts at BnM banks.........

any advice appreciated.

You're pretty much SOL if you don't want to use PCF as all other banks have minimum balance requirements for a few transactions. I believe if you keep $1,500 at BMO you get 30 transactions, $1,000 at CIBC you get 10 transactions and RBC you get 10 free transactions if you have a Visa and an investment (could be GIC) with them.

Citizens offers free chequing but the problem is you have to use Exchange machines which can be a pain to find depending on your area.

Keep in mind as well, even if you get the monthly fees waived at BnM banks you still have to pay for the cheques themselves which will cost you $30 or so. At PCF and Citizens they're free.

I don't see any reason why someone who wants to bank for free wouldn't use PCF especially if they don't have student discounts. Free everything including cheques gives it a huge advantage.They have a high interest savings account and a good network of machines (there seems to be a CIBC machine on every corner!).

You could consider HSBC Direct, but they don't have cheques. At least you can use BMO ATMs.

[Z Tuned]

I have a grandfathered account with CIBC. I just need to have a minimum balance of $1000 and I get unlimited transactions. Teller/ATM/ABM/Interac

[DealGiver]

THANKS to all 3 posters above, tng, AllWheelDrift and ztuned.

I think i'll open PCF account at loblaws....(i have a TD account w. required $1000 min to waive fees but its a pita to use sometimes) I have LOC at RBC....maybe i can utilize that?

[mgronqui]

If I remember correctly, BMO is free provided you keep a couple thousand in there.

[gman]

The easiest way to get free chequing, free transaction, free full service, etc in major bank is to get a LOC (if you can get a LOC).

[tng11]

If I remember correctly, BMO is free provided you keep a couple thousand in there.

TD, BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank have free chequing accounts if you keep a few thousand in them, but then again is it really free if you're putting $3000 in a no-interest chequing account? Say you can get about 3% interest these days, so you're losing out on $90 worth of interest per year, assuming a 30% tax bracket you're still losing $60 a year worth of interest by going with BnM bank. Maybe it's not much, but why pay it when you can have 90% of the services free?

I would still recommend anyone going with PCF to keep a BnM account that allows 1 or 2 free transactions a month or a pay-as-you-go just in case you need some branch services.

THANKS to all 3 posters above, tng, AllWheelDrift and ztuned.

I think i'll open PCF account at loblaws....(i have a TD account w. required $1000 min to waive fees but its a pita to use sometimes) I have LOC at RBC....maybe i can utilize that?
Yeah you can use your LOC as a Chequing account. Put your payroll in there, always keep a positive balance. You will effectively have an unlimited chequing account for free, just don't have a negative balance or you'll pay the interest. Even then it's much cheaper than the regular overdraft @ 20+%

[DealGiver]

The easiest way to get free chequing, free transaction, free full service, etc in major bank is to get a LOC (if you can get a LOC).

TD, BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank have free chequing accounts if you keep a few thousand in them, but then again is it really free if you're putting $3000 in a no-interest chequing account? Say you can get about 3% interest these days, so you're losing out on $90 worth of interest per year, assuming a 30% tax bracket you're still losing $60 a year worth of interest by going with BnM bank. Maybe it's not much, but why pay it when you can have 90% of the services free?

I would still recommend anyone going with PCF to keep a BnM account that allows 1 or 2 free transactions a month or a pay-as-you-go just in case you need some branch services.


Yeah you can use your LOC as a Chequing account. Put your payroll in there, always keep a positive balance. You will effectively have an unlimited chequing account for free, just don't have a negative balance or you'll pay the interest. Even then it's much cheaper than the regular overdraft @ 20+%

gman/tng11: really can i give the info of loc to my payroll to deposit in LOC? Wow never knew it? what about if i use my debit card to make purchase and incase the merchant needs to return on it, can it be put back on LOC?

THANKS

[gman]

gman/tng11: really can i give the info of loc to my payroll to deposit in LOC? Wow never knew it? what about if i use my debit card to make purchase and incase the merchant needs to return on it, can it be put back on LOC?

THANKS

I would say yes but I did not do that myself. I am using CIBC. I have a great great grandfather chequing account that I used to get my payroll deposit to it. Transfer between CIBC product is free. I can transfer money among CIBC accounts without being charged.
I keep that chequing account just for the hack of it. I have not written a cheque from that chequing account for at least a decade.

I don't use debit card and I always advise people not to use it. I don't see why the money will not put back to LOC which is just an account. Consider that as a fancy chequing account.

[Octavius]

Question: Can the BMO LOC work in the same way as the TD LOC in that I can keep a positive balance without issue?

Also, does BMO give air miles for when you use their LOC via debit like they do with their regular checking account?

[iliveinmycantina]

BMO's LOC's are not like the other banks. You have to pay for cheques if you want them, you're not able to access the account directly from a bank card (e.g. deposit, interac purchase). BMO's LOC's are pretty much the equivalent to a credit card minus the high fees. You can add the air miles option to the LOC but it comes with a yearly fee.

[Octavius]

BMO's LOC's are not like the other banks. You have to pay for cheques if you want them, you're not able to access the account directly from a bank card (e.g. deposit, interac purchase). BMO's LOC's are pretty much the equivalent to a credit card minus the high fees. You can add the air miles option to the LOC but it comes with a yearly fee.

Wow, lame.

Guess the scratches BMO off the list.

It's too bad though, I've been with them for about 3 years now (student discount+grad discount). It appears as though I'll likely be moving over to TD and get a LOC when BMO finally starts charging me banking fees.

If it was 1k in the account with no fees, I wouldn't mind.

But $1500...come on. That's 60 bucks a year in interest I'm giving up and it's money I essentially have to pretend that I don't have just to get the fees waived...AND I still don't get any cheques.

Thanks for the reply btw.

[Thanh]

No one mentionned HSBC Direct ? I haven't read the whole thread but they offer free checking accounts.

[DealGiver]

No one mentionned HSBC Direct ? I haven't read the whole thread but they offer free checking accounts.

are you sure? i read each of their checking accounts has a monthly fee! i'd use hsbc in a heartbeat since you know you can use their card at BMO ABM's.

Oh well..for now...I'm thinking of utilizing my TD Bank account w. $1k min bal then openening a LOC soon :)

[angel_wing0]

No one mentionned HSBC Direct ? I haven't read the whole thread but they offer free checking accounts.

Their chequing account has a monthly fee or u have to maintain a min. balance.

The DSA can be functioned like a chequing account, but the downside is no cheques allowed.

[Thanh]

Their chequing account has a monthly fee or u have to maintain a min. balance. The DSA can be functioned like a chequing account, but the downside is no cheques allowed.

Ok, since I never write cheques, that was the part I was missing.

[angel_wing0]

Ok, since I never write cheques, that was the part I was missing.

well its called chequing account so...:D

[TorontoEh]

well its called chequing account so...:D

that is true apart from cheqing, you can do all that is avail with cheq.... they even sent void cheqs for linking....atm card works at BMO.... unlimited transactions...and they even up your limit to w/d from abm and holds if you call their branch office in vancouver....djino said in another forum i read.

So this could be a good option then using LOC....