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moneysense.ca, 18/08/10
THRiVE: A New No-Fee Chequing Account from ING Direct
It has been long speculated that ING Direct will introduce a no-fee chequing account to complement its existing high-interest savings accounts and Streetwise mutual funds. The announcement today that ING Direct is launching THRiVE, a new no-fee chequing account makes that speculation a reality. THRiVE, which ING Direct is hoping to have up and running in early 2011 has the following features:
- No-Fee Daily Chequing: No monthly fees. No deposit, withdrawal or transfer fees. Unlimited bill payments and Interac transactions. First chequebook is free. Account will pay a modest 0.25% interest on balances of less than $50,000 (Hey, it’s at least better than the big fat zero that TD Canada Trust pays).
- ABM Access through the Exchange Network.
- Free e-mail Money Transfers.
- Free Overdraft Protection up to $250. No fees or interest on overdrawn funds up to $250 provided it is paid back within 30 days. Accounts that remain overdrawn for more than 30 days attract a $2.50 fee for every 30 days the balance is negative. A NSF fee of $25 kicks in for overdrawn funds above $250.
- Bank drafts can be ordered online and delivered to your home for a fee of $10.
While we have plenty of choice when it comes to high-interest savings accounts, President’s Choice Financial still remains the only major game in town when it comes to no-fee chequing accounts (Citizens Bank briefly offered a no-fee chequing account but shut it down in less than a year). Consumers who already have a PC Financial account will see very little reason to switch because though ING Direct’s fees are lower for some features, the savings may not be substantial. For instance, e-mail money transfers cost $1.50 at PC Financial. Quebec residents will be pleased to know that unlike PC Financial products, the ING Direct no-fee chequing account will be available to them. Current clients of ING Direct can register for a preview of THRiVE through their online account or register through your185.ca.
Update 1: Reader Michael pointed out that the Exchange ATM network isn’t as extensive as CIBC’s (PC Financial clients have free access to the CIBC ATM network). A quick check revealed that while I can find just 5 ATM machines within a 5-km radius of where I live, I can find 42 CIBC ATM machines.
Update 2: Rob Carrick in The Globe and Mail – ING jumps into no-fee chequing fray.
The Star – ING Direct offers no-fee chequing.
moneysense.ca, 18/08/10
Wowwowwow! Love it. Signed up for the preview.
On top of being awesome, there are perks. Love. It.
Good to see more competition in the marketplace. I agree that existing PC Financial users won’t see many reasons to change. I’ve been a PC Financial customer for years and have no complaints.
I’m a recent new ING customer and have been impressed so far (although it was the higher interest rate that attracted me).
Although having another no-fee chequing account option in Canada is great, only having access to bank machines on the Exchange network is quite limiting.
Great news! As for PC Financial, I think that you also earn PC Points each month if you carry $1000 balance. Tough to beat a free chequing account AND free groceries!
@ Tiny Potato, if it’s a higher interest rate you’re interested in there are better options than ING. http://forums.redflagdeals.com/official-rfd-thread-savings-accounts-698055/
People’s Trust, Ally and CDF all have CDIC coverage. Many of the others towards the top are credit unions so no CDIC coverage(they have their own coverage but not as safe IMO).
What I’d like to see is a no-fee, no minimum USD chequing (or checking) account. It would be great if I could deposit US money, or convert CAD to USD for a one reasonable fee, then make use of my broker’s USD account. I could then move money back and forth as needed, including USD dividends, without incurring currency conversion fees to buy and sell US stocks.
I already use ING Direct for savings. I signed up within 2 minutes of receiving the email announcement from ING. Very happy about this.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Canadian Capitalist and Preet Banerjee, bigcajunman. bigcajunman said: RT @CCapitalist New Blog Post: THRiVE: A New No-Fee Chequing Account from ING Direct http://bit.ly/9rdijQ stayin with PC Fin For now [...]
It’s about time the banks had some competition in this area… I think it is criminal what the average person has to pay now (or keep as a balance to avoid fees). I’ll definitely check into this one!
I had a brief flirtation with PC Financial, but I shut it down because the closest bank machine was a 2 hour drive away (PC or CIBC). There are Credit Union machines on the exchange network in town, so I’m very tempted this time.
I’m not sure if it’s worth the hassle, though… We went through the misery of changing our paycheques and automatic payments last year when we got married and blended our finances . Plus, we don’t pay fees at RBC since we have RRSPs, a mortgage and Visa cards with them. Not sure if the hassle is worth the .25% interest at this point.
@Michael: Good point. I did a quick check. I can find 5 Exchange Bank machines within a 10 km radius of where I live in Ottawa. By comparison, I can find 42 CIBC bank machines within a 10 km radius. That’s quite a difference.
@Tiny Potato: Ally is my favourite for high-interest savings as well. They offer some of the top rates for CDIC insured accounts.
@fersure: RBC used to offer a no-monthly fee USD chequing account with pay-as-you-go transactions. Sadly, it now has a $2 / month fee (last time I checked).
@Melanie: I’ve consolidated all our banking with TD Canada Trust simply for the convenience of keeping everything in one place. It was a bit of a hassle, so I hear you. If you tend to keep some cash around and you get banking fees waived, I wouldn’t bother switching either.
This looks like a good product – at least on paper. We’ll see if it pans out. Too late for me though. After Citizens Bank closed, I rearranged my finances quite a bit. Now I have only one CAD chq/sav account.
I used to have an account at PC Financial couple years ago but I closed it. Their customer service is the pits. Like fersure above, I wish there was a similar USD chequing account. There are lots of exchange ATMs in my area. You only need one really. I bet this product will be very popular with Canadians willing to go through the hassle!
I took advantage of the $250 sign up bonus offer TD Canada Trust had just recently. I deposited $5000 for the Select Service Chequing account so there’s no fees to speak of. Along with that, I got the Gold Elite Visa, $USD Borderless Chequing account, a $USD Visa and a safety deposit box. True that the account pays no interest, but what’s 0.25% on $5000? $13 a year? BFD!!
@Sean: I see tremendous value is just going with one chequing account. With TD CT linked to Waterhouse, I don’t even need a high-interest savings account. I can simply park cash in ATL5000 or an equivalent savings account product.
@Justin: That was a tongue-in-cheek comment because I have the exact same arrangement and I’m not going to switch to a Thrive account for 0.25% either. Also, the convenience of having everything in one place is worth the opportunity cost of keeping $3K or $5K around.
[...] and fees, most especially bank fees. Good news posted from the Canadian Capitalist is that there is a new no-fee chequing account from ING Direct. 7. Who says ING Direct is the only one offering no-fee chequing accounts? Check out this post from [...]
Great perks for the active day to day banking… no fees a bonus!
[...] Canadian Capitalist [...]
@Canadian Capitalist
Within 10km of where you “live” there are over 30 THE EXCHANGE ATM locations. There are over 62 THE EXCHANGE locations within 15 km of downtown Ottawa.
http://www.the-exchange.ca/default.aspx?PageID=1006&LangID=en
I switched from PC to ING recently because ING’s free email alert. PCF sucks
tell you the truth, with PCF, I really use their ATM.
rarely use their ATM, I only use their free checks and online payment.