Bank fees

[Dynamic]

I go through ATB and pay 18 bucks a month for unlimited transactions I think. I went with them cause they have branches in all the towns around me so I can do my business anywhere, though now I do all my banking online so I haven't been to the physical bank in ages.

[Johnny Canuck]

My wife is highish up on the Scotiabank corporate ladder, which means I pay zero dollars in banking fees; which is terrific because we have quite a few accounts, and make about 20-25 transactions a month.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by Dynamic

I go through ATB and pay 18 bucks a month for unlimited transactions I think. I went with them cause they have branches in all the towns around me so I can do my business anywhere, though now I do all my banking online so I haven't been to the physical bank in ages.

Sounds like it is time to reevaluate your banking needs. I would suggest you take a look around all the towns you frequent and see which branch has the most ATMs in convenient areas (branches, gas stations, grocery stores, etc).

While it may have appeared ATB was the best bank for you at one time, I can guarantee that is no longer the case.

[HeartsOfFire]

I have an unlimited banking plan through BMO. Unlimited transactions, unlimited online banking, unlimited interac swipes, unlimited everything.

Costs me $15.95 a month, unless I maintain a minimum balance. Needless to say, I always keep said minimum balance, so I pay $0.00 in fees.

Then through Manulife Bank I have another account that I save away Emergency Money into. No fees in that one either, and no minimum balance requirement. I keep a minimum balance in there as a personal objective. Every two weeks when I get paid, I take the surplus from each paycheque and put it in the Manulife account. When it grows a comfortable amount, I make a lump sum payment down on my mortgage.

[Jimmy Stang]

I used to work for CIBC (many moons ago), and when my staff benefit of no-fee banking ran out, I was shocked at the amount of fees my wife and I were now paying. We're pretty low maintenance customers: we do everything online or at an ATM, we haven't stood in a queue in a branch in years, we probably write about one cheque every five years and only when there is no other option, etc. We have our investments elsewhere, and our mortgage is also elsewhere.

PC Financial is the ideal solution for daily banking for me. We have a few different accounts for various things, never pay any fees, never need a branch for anything, and we have access to all of CIBC's machines (which is pressy essential - they're everywhere). Essentially, I have changed nothing about how I bank (when compared with being with CIBC), and the only difference is that I don't have to pay fees, which were getting towards $30/month between my wife and myself, for the exact same level of service.

I suppose that I could keep a high enough balance to have my fees waived at one of the big banks, but I'd rather keep any extra "cash" elsewhere (like ING, for example) where it can gain slightly higher interest rates yet still be relatively accessible.

Edit: And to answer your question more specifically - we use debit for virtually every purchase. Likely to the order of 50 transactions a month. All of our bills (15?) are paid online. We transfer money a couple of times a month between our PC accounts, and we also have some automatic EFT transfers going to some accounts at ING. An emergency fund for the dogs, for example, in lieu of what we were paying for pet insurance previously. I prefer these EFTs to be weekly (as with my mortgage) as there is a slight benefit with interest, but it also psychologically easier to have these little weekly monthly "micro payments" as opposed to a big chunk coming out monthly.

[Montana Moe]

This is fascinating, I've never heard of a bank charging for the number of transactions. I have accounts at two banks and one credit union.

These institutions have fees for falling below minimum balances at the end of the month (less than $100 = $2 fee for savings, $5 for checking). The other two checking accounts are free. Perhaps American banks make enough money from credit/loan interest?

[8sPOT]

I have had several clients relocate from the US to Canada, and they all said the same thing. They don't pay for bank accounts in the US. So they are quite shocked when they see that aside from interest charges, NSF charges, money order/draft charges, cheque charges, they have to pay a monthly fee based on the number of transactions each month.

Honestly, I think bank fees are ridiculous. Every quarter my employer proudly emails me saying great job we earned over $1 Billion in net income! Yet we continue to nickel and dime people on the smallest of things. The rich get richer.

[Jing]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

Sounds like it is time to reevaluate your banking needs. I would suggest you take a look around all the towns you frequent and see which branch has the most ATMs in convenient areas (branches, gas stations, grocery stores, etc).

While it may have appeared ATB was the best bank for you at one time, I can guarantee that is no longer the case.

What is your reasoning behind your guarantee? Is it because of the price?

I am also through ATB, but I pay $0/month for unlimited transactions. I would have switched to TD but you have to keep a higher balance for the fees to be waived (and even then it wasn't unlimited). Then again, not sure if I really need unlimited transactions as I rarely ever use the ATM, and pay my bills online.

[Jimmy Stang]

Not to derail the thread, but I have an honest question: why do so many people still use the traditional banks and pay for services that they can get for free elsewhere? Is it the stigma of using the Superstore bank? Or is it one of those intangible things like being able to talk to someone in person when/if you need to?

I personally find investments and mortgages more that way, but I don't see the point of paying for "service" that I'm not really getting as I don't ever need it. I'm not trying to sound like one way is better than the other, but I'm honestly curious why people will spend $10 or $15 a month to use a bunch of automated services at machines and online.