Personal Finance

Best Free Chequing account

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  • May 4th, 2012 2:45 am
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Newbie
Dec 5, 2011
29 posts
1 upvote
Markham, Ontario

Best Free Chequing account

I am looking for a New Chequing account, my student program with Scotiabank is going to expire soon and they are going to charge me $11.95 a month. I am not going to ditch Scotia completely as I have been banking with them for years and have multiple products with them and I really like their scene movie rewards program. My plan is to go on their Power Chequing account and leave $1000 there to waive the fee, but still need a unlimited account for my daily needs.

There are a few that I know of.

PC Financial
BMO Sobeys account
ING Direct Thrive account.

Which one would be the best for everyday use?
35 replies
Deal Fanatic
May 13, 2005
5148 posts
5848 upvotes
Montreal
I have ING Direct and it is very good... They give me 50 free cheque and I haven't use one because you can pay most of the bill online... You can print the VOID cheque and use it to setup preauthorize payment.

I don't use ATM much because I use credit card, debit card as much as possible...

If you need to use ATM a lot then may be you can sign up also the free BMO Sobeys, etc so you can withdraw money free from BMO ATM machine with your BMO card.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Mar 23, 2008
4059 posts
452 upvotes
Toronto
Pc financial is my choice because of the abundance of cibc atms
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 2, 2012
4596 posts
3099 upvotes
Toronto
I've been using PC now around a decade. Great chequing account, no problems at all. Unlimited free cheques, free unlimited use of any CIBC or PC (loblaws) ATM, email money transfers, higher interest savings account with no fees to transfer money to/from chequing, you get PC points to spend on groceries, and lots more features. No complaints whatsoever.

And any request that normally requires in-bank service (such as getting a certified chqeue) you can order over the phone and pick up at your nearest CIBC.
Deal Addict
May 26, 2011
1804 posts
476 upvotes
Vancouver
I have a free BMO chequing account. I have my savings account at ING Direct, and I like ING better because of its ability to electronically transfer funds to and from other banks, for free. However, there's no Exchange ATM near where I live. If there was, I would use ING exclusively.
Sr. Member
Jan 31, 2009
626 posts
29 upvotes
Been with ING for several years it's a great bank.

- No Fees. Unlimited Debit Transactions.
- Pays interest in your Chequing Account
- Free Email Money Transfer (takes 2-3 days) or Interac EMT (30 min) costs you a $1.50
- $250 Free Overdraft Protection
- Email Alerts
- Great Customer Service

Sometimes they have promos where they will give you $100 for joining and switching over your payroll.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Oct 29, 2006
917 posts
632 upvotes
You'll need a decent credit score, but using a LOC at TD as your chequing account is free with unlimited transactions and you have access to the TD ATM and Interac network.

Just keep a positive balance on it, and it'll cost you nothing.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Mar 30, 2004
5302 posts
2996 upvotes
Durham Region
I'm very happy with ING Direct and have no desire to switch my Chequing away from them, although I keep a second account at RBC in the event I ever need teller service, although not one with a minimum monthly balance like $1000.

That being said, if I was starting out fresh, I would likely choose to open a BMO Sobeys Free Chequing Account, simply because you still have access to the branch should you ever need it, say to make a deposit in cash that you don't want to leave in a machine, get a money order, bank draft, foreign currency, etc. Things that ING and PC make difficult or outright impossible.

That being said, if you're planning on keeping your Scotiabank account, then go for ING if you prefer customer service, free overdraft and free emts, or PC if you prefer free paper cheques (ING charges you a small fee after your first 50 free cheques to order more) and a larger ATM network.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 2, 2012
4596 posts
3099 upvotes
Toronto
CorSter wrote: That being said, if I was starting out fresh, I would likely choose to open a BMO Sobeys Free Chequing Account, simply because you still have access to the branch should you ever need it, say to make a deposit in cash that you don't want to leave in a machine, get a money order, bank draft, foreign currency, etc. Things that ING and PC make difficult or outright impossible.

That being said, if you're planning on keeping your Scotiabank account, then go for ING if you prefer customer service, free overdraft and free emts, or PC if you prefer free paper cheques (ING charges you a small fee after your first 50 free cheques to order more) and a larger ATM network.

Very true... with PC their interaction with CIBC is limited. Sometimes i've gotten money orders that have been delivered to CIBC the same day... other times i've had to wait a day. There is something to be said for in-person service, just depends no how often you need it. I believe BMO Sobeys charges a minimal transaction fee each time you use a BMO branch (I heard only $1 so pretty insignificant).

A big issue for me would be the unlimited free cheques at PC vs paying for cheques at BMO Sobeys. After your first 25 free ones, they charge i think $10 for a new book. I actually use more cheques than expected in this electronic age, 1 big reason being my condo corporation still takes their maintenance fees the old fashioned way with giving them 12 post dated cheques each year!

Few other issues i noticed with BMO Sobeys is the interest rate is lower in the savings acct (though all savings acct are tiny interest anyways), and you only get 1 free transfer from savings to chequing per month (all as of last time i checked several months ago... could have changed by now). Oh and of course as mentioned, there are more CIBC ATMs around.

I'm not sure which has a better rewards program to get more $$ for your day to day banking, but that could be a good reason to pick one over the other also. Depending on specific needs, can make a case for either option!
Member
User avatar
Jan 26, 2009
420 posts
204 upvotes
I was in the same boat as you, so I recently opened up a Thrive Chequing Account from ING. I'm also opening a BMO Club Sobeyes account solely because of the fact that I have access to a teller, so in that case if I receive a cheque, I can go to a teller and deposit the cheque and then push the funds to my ING account instead of depositing the cheque into an EXCHANGE atm and waiting the 5 business days.

My advice would be to just open all 3 accounts and see which one you like the most since there are no monthly fees. That's what I'm doing.
Newbie
Dec 5, 2011
29 posts
1 upvote
Markham, Ontario
So I have decided it be either ING direct of BMO sobeys account.

As soon as I heard of PC Finiancial was part of CIBC, and how it is a pain to get things done with them, and more importantly how they screwed my gf over a few years ago, I decided to avoid them like the plague.

BMO sobeys: I like this one because there is an ATM near my house (Promendade Mall) and theres easy access to a branch if I ever need it.
ING: I have heard many good things about them, excellent service, low fees, good rates, and I get free money if I sign up with them, the only downfall is there is no ATM's in my area, the closest one is like 5km away, which is a hassle to get to.

Also with ING direct, if you loose your debit card, how do you get a new one? goto the branch or do they mail it to you?
Newbie
Dec 5, 2011
29 posts
1 upvote
Markham, Ontario
ChampUz wrote: I was in the same boat as you, so I recently opened up a Thrive Chequing Account from ING. I'm also opening a BMO Club Sobeyes account solely because of the fact that I have access to a teller, so in that case if I receive a cheque, I can go to a teller and deposit the cheque and then push the funds to my ING account instead of depositing the cheque into an EXCHANGE atm and waiting the 5 business days.

My advice would be to just open all 3 accounts and see which one you like the most since there are no monthly fees. That's what I'm doing.

How did you sign up for it? Did you go to a branch or did you sign up online?
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Mar 30, 2004
5302 posts
2996 upvotes
Durham Region
muffinx3 wrote:
BMO sobeys: I like this one because there is an ATM near my house (Promendade Mall) and theres easy access to a branch if I ever need it.
ING: I have heard many good things about them, excellent service, low fees, good rates, and I get free money if I sign up with them, the only downfall is there is no ATM's in my area, the closest one is like 5km away, which is a hassle to get to.

The two closest Exchange ATMs to the Promenade Mall are Bathurst and Steeles (inside a credit union) and Yonge and Clark (inside the HSBC), but yeah, it's a pretty poor area for Exchange Network, which is one of the reasons why I keep them plus my RBC account.

With ING right now, if you lose your card you have to wait for one to come by mail, although you MAY be able to get a new one at one of their Cafes, but i'm not 100% sure on that.

The BMO Sobeys account, to the best of my knowledge, has to be opened online. http://www.bmosobeys.com/en/Chequing/Fe ... efits.aspx
Jr. Member
Nov 12, 2010
178 posts
35 upvotes
Montreal
As a full-time student I had the privilege to open FREE chequeing accounts at almost every major Canadian banks. Over the past few years, I experienced most, listed below:

1)TD: FREE chequeing account comes with $8.95 fee features, all free as long as you remain a student. 25 debit transactions (more than sufficient for me). No strings attached. Awesome customer service, and personalized responses. Also got my first credit card from them that helped me build my credit much faster.

2) BMO: Liked it only because I was getting FREE SPC card. Other than that, extremely poor service (was in MTL once. Stepped into branch to withdraw $1000 with access card. They asked me to provide ID. Didn't accept ON driver's license, and asked if I had another. I showed my university ID, obvious NO. ON Health card is almost unacceptable piece of ID anywhere. How many carry other IDs, like passport? I asked if she had her passport on her, though I knew her answer already). Walked across the street, and withdrew $1000, no IDs or questions asked. Had difficulty getting USD money order, providing updated class schedule every fall, and much more. Worse was when they said they changed their policies and now I cannot use their BMO SPC mastercard as an international student, after 1 year of using it. It could just be me, but I doubt.

3)RBC: Better than BMO. But worse at 1 point. Walked in 2 years ago when they were promoting their free practice investment accounts, to know a bit about the features. Realizing it wouldn't cost me a penny, I signed up. This was supposed to be simply a practice account, with no real trading. Ann Marie Koo, at Humbertown Plaza (Toronto) signed me up for real trading account instead, never mentioning she changed the account type in the process. I signed away happily. Activated the account few weeks later, and I saw $100,000 in my account (fake money for practice), assuring this was a practice account. Few months later, when I pulled up my credit report for annual review, I saw a hard hit from RBC, so when I called in RBC they mentioned I applied for margin account. How the hell can someone mix practice account with margin account? I asked to talk to branch manager, and she pointed me to the documents I signed for margin account. Not convinced, I terminated all my banking relations with RBC.

4)CIBC & Scotia: Never liked reviews about CIBC, but if I had to start again, I might would have replaced BMO with Scotia. No personal experience yet though.

5) PC: Liked it because I used to earn pc points even with their debit cards. But now that I have MBNA Smartcash, I would care less for pc points. Only good thing, FREE unlimited cheques (but I haven't even used my TD or BMO cheques. They provided 4 cheques each, when I opened the account, not sure if they still do). Access to CIBC ATMs was a plus, but didn't like CIBC in the first place.

6)ING: Signed up 1.5 years ago, and received a total of $185 for simply opening a Thrive chequeing account, and having my paychecks deposited (did the same for my wife too, $370 total). Since I signed up with their automatic savings program, earning me another $25, earned multiple $50 credits for referrals. I never had difficulty finding an Exchange Network ATM in vicinity, but that could vary. I also love their "OOPS" feature (very few people know this), that allows you to pay upto $250 of your bills without having sufficient funds in your account. This came in very handy at many times, and saved me from all the possible late/missed credit card payments. Email money transfer, and transferring money with external bank accounts are prompt too. Lowest transaction fees on international transactions, among all my accounts. I have found this to be the BEST account so far.

7)BMO Sobeys: Their association with BMO keeps me away, although I hear some good features. But probably not as good as ING.

8)HSBC: Never had this, but I am considering getting one for their NO ATM FEE (They claim they will reimburse you any fees you incur for ATM withdrawals). This would come in handy when I travel to US/Asia, which I often do.

Currently, I have only TD & ING, and I do not intend to close either or. Hope this helps OP, and everyone else out for switching their accounts. ING is currently offering $125 for opening new Thrive chequeing account, and another $25 for ASP. Good luck everyone! PM me should you require ING orange key (Disclosure: this would earn me $25 too).
Member
User avatar
Jan 26, 2009
420 posts
204 upvotes
mundra wrote: As a full-time student I had the privilege to open FREE chequeing accounts at almost every major Canadian banks. Over the past few years, I experienced most, listed below:

1)TD: FREE chequeing account comes with $8.95 fee features, all free as long as you remain a student. 25 debit transactions (more than sufficient for me). No strings attached. Awesome customer service, and personalized responses. Also got my first credit card from them that helped me build my credit much faster.

2) BMO: Liked it only because I was getting FREE SPC card. Other than that, extremely poor service (was in MTL once. Stepped into branch to withdraw $1000 with access card. They asked me to provide ID. Didn't accept ON driver's license, and asked if I had another. I showed my university ID, obvious NO. ON Health card is almost unacceptable piece of ID anywhere. How many carry other IDs, like passport? I asked if she had her passport on her, though I knew her answer already). Walked across the street, and withdrew $1000, no IDs or questions asked. Had difficulty getting USD money order, providing updated class schedule every fall, and much more. Worse was when they said they changed their policies and now I cannot use their BMO SPC mastercard as an international student, after 1 year of using it. It could just be me, but I doubt.

3)RBC: Better than BMO. But worse at 1 point. Walked in 2 years ago when they were promoting their free practice investment accounts, to know a bit about the features. Realizing it wouldn't cost me a penny, I signed up. This was supposed to be simply a practice account, with no real trading. Ann Marie Koo, at Humbertown Plaza (Toronto) signed me up for real trading account instead, never mentioning she changed the account type in the process. I signed away happily. Activated the account few weeks later, and I saw $100,000 in my account (fake money for practice), assuring this was a practice account. Few months later, when I pulled up my credit report for annual review, I saw a hard hit from RBC, so when I called in RBC they mentioned I applied for margin account. How the hell can someone mix practice account with margin account? I asked to talk to branch manager, and she pointed me to the documents I signed for margin account. Not convinced, I terminated all my banking relations with RBC.

4)CIBC & Scotia: Never liked reviews about CIBC, but if I had to start again, I might would have replaced BMO with Scotia. No personal experience yet though.

5) PC: Liked it because I used to earn pc points even with their debit cards. But now that I have MBNA Smartcash, I would care less for pc points. Only good thing, FREE unlimited cheques (but I haven't even used my TD or BMO cheques. They provided 4 cheques each, when I opened the account, not sure if they still do). Access to CIBC ATMs was a plus, but didn't like CIBC in the first place.

6)ING: Signed up 1.5 years ago, and received a total of $185 for simply opening a Thrive chequeing account, and having my paychecks deposited (did the same for my wife too, $370 total). Since I signed up with their automatic savings program, earning me another $25, earned multiple $50 credits for referrals. I never had difficulty finding an Exchange Network ATM in vicinity, but that could vary. I also love their "OOPS" feature (very few people know this), that allows you to pay upto $250 of your bills without having sufficient funds in your account. This came in very handy at many times, and saved me from all the possible late/missed credit card payments. Email money transfer, and transferring money with external bank accounts are prompt too. Lowest transaction fees on international transactions, among all my accounts. I have found this to be the BEST account so far.

7)BMO Sobeys: Their association with BMO keeps me away, although I hear some good features. But probably not as good as ING.

8)HSBC: Never had this, but I am considering getting one for their NO ATM FEE (They claim they will reimburse you any fees you incur for ATM withdrawals). This would come in handy when I travel to US/Asia, which I often do.

Currently, I have only TD & ING, and I do not intend to close either or. Hope this helps OP, and everyone else out for switching their accounts. ING is currently offering $125 for opening new Thrive chequeing account, and another $25 for ASP. Good luck everyone! PM me should you require ING orange key (Disclosure: this would earn me $25 too).

Isn't there a $10.95/month fee for TD student value plus account?
Newbie
Jul 27, 2006
1 posts
Scarborough
Back in the 90's I had worked at one of the major bank data center which did the cheques clearing function. Whenever a cheque was deposited at the branch, the branch forwarded the cheque to their data center for clearing. Therefore the bank knew by the next day whether the cheque is good or NSF.

With TD, they hold your funds for 5 business days for no good reason when depositing a cheque. I can't use the money for 5 business days, I was forced to let the bank use my money free for 4 business days. It can add up to millions of dollars for the bank to make money without cost.

I have good experience with ING THRIVE, my account have 50.00 balance. I deposited a 1500.00 cheque drawn from my PC account on a Saturday on ATM. I immediately withdrawn 500.00, I haven't tried to withdraw further, then on the following Tuesday, I withdrawn another 500.00.

I have't looked up their amount hold policy when depositing cheques but I am very please as I can have immediate access to my funds.
Sr. Member
Feb 21, 2003
779 posts
211 upvotes
CIBC has a $8.95/month account, but if you have a savings account with them (just keep a dollar in the account) and use one of their credit cards for $1000/year they give you $100 per year. So essentially you are paying $107.40 (12*8.95) - $100 or $7.40/year. I personally don't like PC or ING. I want a real bank, which is what CIBC offers me.
Member
Jun 17, 2009
491 posts
34 upvotes
Vancouver
Having too many bank accounts can sometimes be complicated. I have two chequing accounts: PCF and ING. Both are great, very convenient for me as there are tons of ATMs around where I live.

BMO Club Sobeys Chequing and Savings... I always see this mentioned as a top contender for free chequing. Can this be open in Vancouver? or is it only valid in Ontario?
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Deal Addict
Feb 24, 2007
1371 posts
55 upvotes
hostlead wrote: CIBC has a $8.95/month account, but if you have a savings account with them (just keep a dollar in the account) and use one of their credit cards for $1000/year they give you $100 per year. So essentially you are paying $107.40 (12*8.95) - $100 or $7.40/year. I personally don't like PC or ING. I want a real bank, which is what CIBC offers me.

I don't see that offer, all I see is 50% off if have savings. I wouldn't even pay $7.4 for something that can be had for free, "real bank" or not, basic banking costs nothing, so going to pay nothing.
Deal Addict
Apr 9, 2010
3793 posts
2617 upvotes
Montreal
I don't understand you guys who aren't with BMO, they offer a free account with unlimited everything almost.

You can even deposit large sums of cash for free at the teller. Personally, I don't trust ATM deposits and i don't want to wait to have access to my cash.

Also in the event that you need to withdraw say 3000$.. you can do so by paying only 1$.

Why even consider other accounts? Things like 0.25% of interest are irrelevant for a checking account since you'd be using it to withdraw and pay all the time.

I guess pcf is better for people stuck in the 90s using checks but other than that, do yourself a favor and get the BMO IGA account while it lasts.

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