- Comments (23)
- Text Size: Down Up
moneysense.ca, 7/12/04
No-Fee Bank Accounts
I am writing this blog, partly to share some money-saving tips. For years, I’ve been sick of the big banks charging monthly fees, transaction fees, ATM fees and an arm and a leg for a cheque book. Recently, I took the plunge and opened an account with President’s Choice and found it to be a very good deal.
I had to go to the local Loblaws store to open the account and they sent me a free chequebook in the mail in a few weeks. So far, I haven’t paid a single penny in bank fees. There is no fees for using the debit card in stores, no fees for internet banking or paying bills and no ATM charges if you withdraw from CIBC or PC machines. They even give me PC Points for paying bills over the internet.
moneysense.ca, 7/12/04
Another capital commentary! I said the same thing in my BLOG, do you think people are going to listen? I hope so!
http://canajunfinances.blogspot.com/2005/04/vultures.html
I switched to President’s Choice Financial years ago. I was a bit leery of banking with a grocery brand, but figured if after 6 months I didn’t like it, I’d stay with CIBC. Ha! I never looked back and have spent the last 9+ years trying to convince everyone I know to switch. Most don’t. The most common excuse? Oh, but it’s such a pain to switch. I always say, “I guess you’ve got enough money then”. For maybe 1-2 hours of your time, you can save easily, $500 per year as a couple by switching. I’ve even had people accuse me of drumming of some secret commissions for myself! HA! I do not work for PC, CIBC or even Loblaw. I just hate to see people pay for nothing! Oh well, I guess my experience shows most people have more money than they have brains.
Steve: I am very happy with the PC Financial account. In over three years now, I haven’t paid a penny in fees. It’s one of the best banking deals out there.
We have been with the Cookie Bank (President’s Choice) since they started up years ago. We have our credit cards and mortgage with them. It was with great satisfaction that I left The Royal all those years ago. Banks use our money to make money and then charge us for the priveledge. The nerve. Forget that noise. Who can resist the amazing rates, lack of fees, and free groceries. Points from our debit and credit cards cover our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and then some. The down side is there’s no teller to take in my loose change. No biggie.
Don’t worry Smart Cookie, PC has your back on the small change as well. I just take a pocketful of change and shove it into one of their self checkouts. It’s one of my favorite things about self checkouts.
I’m listening! We’re paying $10/mth for each of our accounts x3 is $30/mth = $360/yr! Just because we wanted a Credit Union…not worth it. We’re switching!
What’s a “self-checkout”?
I can’t wait to see PC offering the no fee account to Quebec residents.
I think that No fee Bank is the best way to save money!!!
fees are not permitted in many religions including ISLAM,
Many economist says that 0% fee banks are recommanded at those hard moments…’me I think in all times.’
Thnks…
I tried PC Financial, but discovered they had a $1000 daily withdrawal limit that also applied to cheques being cashed. I bounced several rent cheques, car payments and pre-authed withdrawals because they all landed on the same day. After attempting to contest this limit being applied to cheques and pre-auths as well as withdrawals I make, I left the bank.
They are backed by CIBC too. . . the only thing that would draw me back is if they wouldn’t cap what can be withdrawn on a single day.
@ Marilynn: I don’t think that’s true about the cheques. I have cheques over $1000 go through monthly with no problem so far.
I also have had a PCF account since 2001. Never a single problem with PC. As far as daily banking, LoC and savings accounts, it can’t be beat!!
I also have had a Citizens Bank account since 1997 – when they started – no problems with that either, until yesterday when I received a notice that their banking operations are being sold to TD.
Anyone have any suggestions for an alternative to Citizens – other than PCF, of course?
TO JEAN:
You can open a PC bank account even if you live in Quebec. The thing is, you have to open your account it in a neighboring province If you live near the Ontario border, a weekend trip to Cornwall or Ottawa might be worth it.
That’s what I did back in 2005, and never regretted my move. I have access to ATMs through the CIBC network. THe drawback is no teller when you need one but there are ways around it.
I am also looking for a new bank because of Citizen’s Bank closing. What a shame – we have been very happy Citizen’s Bank customers since 1998. So now I’m looking at PC, and trying to figure out if there are any better alternatives. We have always liked the idea of a credit union (Citizen’s Bank was owned by VanCity credit union). We are in Winnipeg.
I have also been a great fan of Citizen’s Bank and am now looking for an alternative. We spent a year travelling the world and didn’t pay 1 cent for using bank machines in 14 difference countries. So far PC Financial seems to win for lowest cost but I’d love to hear any other comments or ideas.
@John: I don’t know of any alternative to PC Financial now. Other than the now defunct Citizen’s Bank Chequing account, PC Financial is the only game in town unfortunately.
icicibank.ca
doesn’t charge for international withdrawals.
i too used citizens extensively overseas
I am tired of PC financial my self, the minimum days I have to wait is 5 days for a deposit and because of that even if I have the cash to cover a part of my account I can not prevent a nsf by depositing my money in to my accont if I am short in the account.
@ Aaron yes there is a cap, it is daily so if you end up going over your cap that day you can have bounced cheques for that reason too. The caps and the wait times have made me wish to go somewhere else.
I have used PC Financial for several years and find them great, except for two issues. As has been mentioned, cheques that are not directly deposited, but deposited by ATM will have any amount over $1000 held for several days until cleared by the bank. If you have to deposite amounts over $1000 you can break it up, and do up to a thousand each day (PC Finance says every 24 hours). Not the best solution but workable. My other issue is since I live rurally, there are no CIBC ATMS or banks in my area and I need to travel 75 minutes to deposite any cheques. You would think with all the money PC is making they could afford to put some more ATMs. Especially the ones you can deposite to in more locations.
Two points:
1) Every 6 months you can up the limit of cash available via deposits… I went from 500 to 1000 to 1500 to 3000.
- All you have to do is ask to have your amount immediately available increased every six months
2) Occasionally I need to make a money order or bank draft. I do this via 2 methods.
- Go to my CIBC branch and do a bank draft based on my CIBC visa
- Have PCF wire the money to a CIBC branch
both cost about $10 but it is a lot cheaper than the monthly fees.
I like PCF except for the caps on money, I have plans for my money the moment I get paid and the fact that there is a daily withdrawl limit prevents me from doing such. My girlfriend had over 8,000 dollars in her account for over a year and they wouldn’t raise the amount for her to take out because “her credit wasn’t sufficient enough.” its completely stupid that once you prove yourself to the bank they still run it off of numbers with your OWN money. For now I have 2 PC accounts but cannot use them due to the fact of not being able to deposit money and have most of it readily available.
Sigh I will await for them to still have no fees but have the service of TD Canada Trust, I pay 12.95 a month at TD but all my other issues are taken care of.
PC has totally lost my respect and consequently my business. After more than 10 years as a loyal customer they have started charging me $30+ interest on my PC Mastercard over the last two months. I paid the bills online on the due date, but they claim they didn’t receive the funds until many days later. Hours over the phone have not managed to resolve this issue in my favour and I am fed up now. I will be opening our new accounts with icicibank.ca this weekend. They are handing out $40 bonuses for referring a friend to their no-fee savings account ($20 each for you and your friend)! I would not recommend PC to anyone at this point.
I have been with pc financial for 8 years and have never had a problem until now. I have found that they are stingy on how much then will lend me – mo other bank extends more credit. They also do not have a low-interest MC option, so be careful if you are looking for their credit card.
Last month I bounced a cheque and was charged a $40 NSF fee! Afrer talking to multiple people I find they will NOT remove or reduce any charges. I applied for an small ($100) overdraft for future cases. I also sent a letter to their VP telling them that I was not impressed with the way they treat long-time customers and have not received even a courtesy reply over a month later.
This week I wrote a post-dated cheque to a small business. They cashed my cheque in error, it was cleared by their bank and PC is again slapping me with another $40 NSF fee. I called and was told that the date on a cheque is irrelevant, as soon as it is written it can be cashed. I have to go after the other bank if I want to try and recoup the fees. THEN they had the nerve to try and upsell me a mortgage and/or line of credit!
I am seriously thinking about moving to another bank, but then the monthly services fees are not something I want to start paying again.
I guess PC is great is you are only doing basic banking and NEVER make mistakes! Daily banking is free but check out the other service fees – MUCH higher than other banks!