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Official DUCA Credit Union Thread

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Official DUCA Credit Union Thread

Thought it'd be time to kick-start a DUCA credit union thread. Will keep thread updated with relevant info. This is not a promo's thread (the promo interest deals can go in their own threads). There's an old thread here on DUCA as well.

FAQ
  1. Who is eligible? Any resident of Ontario. Non-Ontarians who are already members can retain membership with DUCA.
  2. What's involved? One hard credit check (afaik no one gets turned down)
  3. What's the first step? Register via DUgood first for the $50 credit and the $50 to charity, plus $20 to the one who referred you. DUgood link here. This can also be done "after the fact". Update: looks like DUCA's referral program ended in 2019.
  4. What's the cost? Minimum $1 into membership share. This will automatically link the account you use to write the $1+ cheque as an external account.
  5. Any other fees? $20 inactivity fee after no activity for 2 years.
  6. Any benefits over Simplii or Tangerine? faster external account linking, different promo's, and potentially better ABM locations for some. Their US dollar exchange rate is also better than other banks. DUCA is ~1.62% forex on USD, Ting is ~1.79% forex on USD, and RBC is 2.77% forex on USD. TD is ~2.94% forex (non-cash) or 3.24% forex (cash) on USD. Tangerine has a 3 external account cap, whereas DUCA has no cap.
  7. Any other benefits? user friendly layout, pay bills via savings account, do external account transfers to and from multiple accounts, thanks @Manatus. Also worthy mention is that Simplii doesn't offer USD accounts.
  8. Where can I go to a branch? Only in GTA. Most of us don't need branches
  9. How come I can't move money to certain accounts online? Customers must call in to move money to Park, USD and EUR accounts
  10. Can I link DUCA accounts to Simplii, Tangerine, EQ, etc.? Yes you can! Here's how to link it to Simplii account (note it'll appear as "Other Financial Institution"). Note that DUCA will only provide you (in branch or via snail-mail) a PAD for chequing or savings account. Users have reported successfully linking any accounts at DUCA (at least savings Park account) via Tangerine's micro-deposits. EQ also links via micro-deposits.
  11. Any transfer limits? $100k transaction limit, unlimited transactions. Thank you @andrew4321
  12. How to load Stack MC from DUCA? since DUCA charges a PPU fee for e-transfer and doesn't offer VISA debit, you can bill pay to load Stack MC at no fee. Search payee "Stack Fintech Inc".

Once signed up, you get:
  1. Basic savings account, from here no fee to pay bills
  2. Earn more savings account, higher interest rate
  3. Park savings account, for promo interest rates

Optional accounts: free chequing (unlimited debit, unlimited use of ABM's on The Exchange, e-transfers and cheques cost fee), chequing account bundles, US and Euro savings accounts. Worthy mention while USD forex fee is 1.62%, their forex fee on Euro's is 3.3%. Probably not the best place to buy or sell Euro's, but at least they offer the option of stashing them in an account. TFSA is also available, but rates are closer to Meridian, CTFS, a little higher than Simplii/Tang, but lower than SCU, Hubert, Achieva, Motive, etc. For TFSA's, your money will grow faster in Steinbach, Manitoba.


How to link external accounts for transfers:
  1. download and fill out "me to me account" PDF
  2. grab void cheque or PAD from external account
  3. send both via fax or snail-mail
  4. DUCA will add external accounts for transfers to and from chequing and savings (basic and earn more) accounts with external accounts. They're quick to add them

What are my account numbers?
You'll get a six digit member number. That will be followed by four (or two) digits for complete the account number.

  1. Transit number: 21962
  2. Institution number: 828
  3. Chequing account: xxxxxx1001
  4. Basic savings account: xxxxxx0001
  5. Earn more savings account: xxxxxx6001
  6. Park savings account: xxxxxx9001
  7. USD savings account: xxxxxx10
  8. EUR savings account: xxxxxx12

Note: from experience, USD and EUR accounts are not linkable for external transfers due to credit union network.

Edit: added info for bill pay to Stack MC
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Thread Summary
Note: soliciting referrals in thread is against forum rules.

Link back to savings accounts mega thread or TFSA official thread.

Past deals threads:
Link to linking external accounts to Simplii or the external account linking thread.


If you would like to compare to Motive Financial...
DUCA vs. Motive:
  1. WB - DUCA wins (though neither are much)
  2. No fee chq account - Motive wins. The real chq account has first chequebook free, and the lesser savings account can be used for unlimited debits (same as DUCA but probably better rate)
  3. HISA - DUCA wins for musical chairs, Motive wins for daily rates
  4. TFSA - Motive wins
  5. Branch access - DUCA wins, but branches limited to GTA
  6. Eligibility - Motive wins (everyone no-QC vs. ON only)
  7. ATM access - same
  8. Business accounts - DUCA wins. No business accounts at Motive (CWB subby)
  9. USD/forex accounts - DUCA offers it, but not useful without branch access
  10. External account linking - DUCA wins (unlimited, vs. five at Motive)
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I'm really enjoying banking with Duca (well, as much as you can enjoy banking, I suppose), so thanks to Tux and Jacnel for getting the Duca ball rolling on these forums so to speak. Just a few things based on my experience so far:
titaniumtux wrote:
  • Any benefits over Simplii or Tangerine? faster external account linking, different promo's, and potentially better ABM locations for some. Their US dollar exchange rate is also better than other banks. DUCA is ~1.62% forex on USD, Ting is ~1.79% forex on USD, and RBC is 2.77% forex on USD. Tangerine has a 3 external account cap, whereas DUCA has no cap.
  • Where can I go to a branch? Only in GTA. Most of us don't need branches
  • How come I can't move money to certain accounts online? Customers must call in to move money to Park, USD and EUR accounts

Once signed up, you get:
  1. Basic savings account, from here no fee to pay bills
  2. Earn more savings account, higher interest rate
  3. Park savings account, for promo interest rates
A big benefit to me (vs. Tangerine) is the layout of the website. The home page shows you a snapshot of everything, including scheduled bill payments, transfers etc. without all the 'fluff' that Tangerine has. Generally I find it easier to navigate.

Another big benefit is that you can pay a bill directly from any account, rather than only Chequing with Tangerine. This saves a bunch of clicks as you don't have to keep transferring money from savings into chequing before paying a bill, and means that you always benefit from the high interest right up until the bill is paid. You can also pay bills for free directly from the Earn More Savings account (and by extension, the Earn More Park account) as these offer unlimited free online transactions - no need to use a regular savings account to do this.

You can also set up a link from an external bank account (in Tangerine at least) to transfer money directly to/from the various savings accounts, including the Park account, using the numbering format in OP, this avoids having to call in to transfer money into Park.
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Manatus wrote: I'm really enjoying banking with Duca (well, as much as you can enjoy banking, I suppose), so thanks to Tux and Jacnel for getting the Duca ball rolling on these forums so to speak. Just a few things based on my experience so far:



A big benefit to me (vs. Tangerine) is the layout of the website. The home page shows you a snapshot of everything, including scheduled bill payments, transfers etc. without all the 'fluff' that Tangerine has. Generally I find it easier to navigate.

Another big benefit is that you can pay a bill directly from any account, rather than only Chequing with Tangerine. This saves a bunch of clicks as you don't have to keep transferring money from savings into chequing before paying a bill, and means that you always benefit from the high interest right up until the bill is paid. You can also pay bills for free directly from the Earn More Savings account (and by extension, the Earn More Park account) as these offer unlimited free online transactions - no need to use a regular savings account to do this.

You can also set up a link from an external bank account (in Tangerine at least) to transfer money directly to/from the various savings accounts, including the Park account, using the numbering format in OP, this avoids having to call in to transfer money into Park.
+1

@Manatus added info in OP and referenced you.

@jacnel is probably one of the bigger pioneers of DUCA here on RedFlagDeals. I'm a recent member and gathered enough info to whip up a long needed thread :D

Anyone try linking DUCA USD account on Ting side? I'm working on that, since I like their forex rate on USD.
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Keep in mind there is a $5/ year membership fee charged at DUCA
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours. If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with :|
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professionaldude wrote: Keep in mind there is a $5/ year membership fee charged at DUCA
I thought they dropped that.

Also, i heard they pay out member share money apparently. I'm not too knowledgeable on this since I'm a relatively new member.
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professionaldude wrote: Keep in mind there is a $5/ year membership fee charged at DUCA
Not since last year I believe, when I signed up for an account at the Orangeville branch I specifically asked about this and they said it was eliminated (and interestingly they gave all their members the fee back).
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titaniumtux wrote: +1

@Manatus added info in OP and referenced you.

@jacnel is probably one of the bigger pioneers of DUCA here on RedFlagDeals. I'm a recent member and gathered enough info to whip up a long needed thread :D

Anyone try linking DUCA USD account on Ting side? I'm working on that, since I like their forex rate on USD.
Aww thank you! Glad I could help, and just to be clear I’m not a DUCA employee or anything, just a normal member, so all these views are my own. So far duca has treated me much better than CIBC or TD ever did.
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Manatus wrote: I'm really enjoying banking with Duca (well, as much as you can enjoy banking, I suppose), so thanks to Tux and Jacnel for getting the Duca ball rolling on these forums so to speak. Just a few things based on my experience so far:



A big benefit to me (vs. Tangerine) is the layout of the website. The home page shows you a snapshot of everything, including scheduled bill payments, transfers etc. without all the 'fluff' that Tangerine has. Generally I find it easier to navigate.

Another big benefit is that you can pay a bill directly from any account, rather than only Chequing with Tangerine. This saves a bunch of clicks as you don't have to keep transferring money from savings into chequing before paying a bill, and means that you always benefit from the high interest right up until the bill is paid. You can also pay bills for free directly from the Earn More Savings account (and by extension, the Earn More Park account) as these offer unlimited free online transactions - no need to use a regular savings account to do this.

You can also set up a link from an external bank account (in Tangerine at least) to transfer money directly to/from the various savings accounts, including the Park account, using the numbering format in OP, this avoids having to call in to transfer money into Park.
I’ve said before that DUCA’s website is ugly, but very functional. Personally I like it since it’s easy to use and well layed out it also has qTrade integration if you use them (I don’t think I will, their MERs are high). I will admit however, CIBC has the best online portal out of the banks. Also just FYI DUCA just uses MemberConnect which the other credit unions use too, so if you’re familiar with Alterna you won’t be confused.
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jacnel wrote: Aww thank you! Glad I could help, and just to be clear I’m not a DUCA employee or anything, just a normal member, so all these views are my own. So far duca has treated me much better than CIBC or TD ever did.
Finally you caught onto this thread.

@jacnel please provide any input if any info is missing or incorrect in OP.

I think CIBC and TD are good for different things. They offer a plethora of products and can be a good deal for those who like to take what's good from each financial institution. There are pro's and con's of dealing with multiple banks & CU's, but focus on RFD the pro's usually outweigh the cons.

I still wonder why the big five are so uncompetitive on day to day chequing accounts.

Pitfall of DUCA IMO is their limited mobile app (they probably jumped on a generic one for credit unions and just re-branded it), cheques aren't free, no micro-deposits for external account linking, lack of branches province-wide, the need to call in (during limited hours) to conduct certain transactions, but for the most part I'd take that over big five any day.
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titaniumtux wrote: Finally you caught onto this thread.

@jacnel please provide any input if any info is missing or incorrect in OP.

I think CIBC and TD are good for different things. They offer a plethora of products and can be a good deal for those who like to take what's good from each financial institution. There are pro's and con's of dealing with multiple banks & CU's, but focus on RFD the pro's usually outweigh the cons.

I still wonder why the big five are so uncompetitive on day to day chequing accounts.

Pitfall of DUCA IMO is their limited mobile app (they probably jumped on a generic one for credit unions and just re-branded it), cheques aren't free, no micro-deposits for external account linking, lack of branches province-wide, the need to call in (during limited hours) to conduct certain transactions, but for the most part I'd take that over big five any day.
The OP looks good to me, nothing I can think of to add yet but if I think of something I’ll tell you!
And yeah there are pros and cons to every bank but imho the big five look all the same to me, the same poor products, the same high costs, at least they have tons of branches. And I think the reason why the big five don’t do anything exciting with day to day banking is that they don’t have to, Canadians are risk adverse and rarely switch banks, this lets the big five charge what they want and refuse to innovate, whereas the credit unions need to distinguish themselves to get members, and therefore they have to offer unique accounts.

And yeah DUCAs app is kinda limited, it’s just the same app that every credit union uses (and alterna bank too) but imho it’s not that bad, clunky yes, but it works so well, I’ve seen plenty of buggy bank apps but this one has been largely bug free, plus it lets you do everything you can do online (and mobile cheque deposit too which BMO thinks is pointless). Free cheques would be nice but it’s not a big issue these days as most money transfers are digital, they need to add free interact e transfers though.
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jacnel wrote: The OP looks good to me, nothing I can think of to add yet but if I think of something I’ll tell you!
And yeah there are pros and cons to every bank but imho the big five look all the same to me, the same poor products, the same high costs, at least they have tons of branches. And I think the reason why the big five don’t do anything exciting with day to day banking is that they don’t have to, Canadians are risk adverse and rarely switch banks, this lets the big five charge what they want and refuse to innovate, whereas the credit unions need to distinguish themselves to get members, and therefore they have to offer unique accounts.

And yeah DUCAs app is kinda limited, it’s just the same app that every credit union uses (and alterna bank too) but imho it’s not that bad, clunky yes, but it works so well, I’ve seen plenty of buggy bank apps but this one has been largely bug free, plus it lets you do everything you can do online (and mobile cheque deposit too which BMO thinks is pointless). Free cheques would be nice but it’s not a big issue these days as most money transfers are digital, they need to add free interact e transfers though.
Yes, I got hooked on free e-transfers since it's been made free on Simplii. I'm certainly not going to give that up!

The credit union app is ok. I get that they don't have the budget to make their own app from scratch. Not complaining about functionality, but I think it's only useful for mobile cheque deposits.

I'm surprisingly impressed they allow external account linking forms to be sent via fax. I prefer Simplii's secured email method (since I don't need access to a fax machine to do it) but Simplii takes their sweet time to add it.
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titaniumtux wrote: Yes, I got hooked on free e-transfers since it's been made free on Simplii. I'm certainly not going to give that up!

The credit union app is ok. I get that they don't have the budget to make their own app from scratch. Not complaining about functionality, but I think it's only useful for mobile cheque deposits.

I'm surprisingly impressed they allow external account linking forms to be sent via fax. I prefer Simplii's secured email method (since I don't need access to a fax machine to do it) but Simplii takes their sweet time to add it.
Yeah DUCA is kinda old like that, interestingly Alterna Bank lets you send out the account link forms using email, although I question the security of this.
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Can you put Ontario Only in the title?
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jacnel wrote: Yeah DUCA is kinda old like that, interestingly Alterna Bank lets you send out the account link forms using email, although I question the security of this.
Regular email? Simplii uses server-side secure email for that purpose.

Exp315 wrote: Can you put Ontario Only in the title?
It's in the FAQ, and existing non-Ontarian members can keep their DUCA accounts.
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titaniumtux wrote: Regular email? Simplii uses server-side secure email for that purpose.
Yep when I linked accounts at alterna Bank they said to just send the forms in over regular email :/
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jacnel wrote: Yep when I linked accounts at alterna Bank they said to just send the forms in over regular email :/
Gotcha, that's certainly questionable.

Does Alterna offer a fax or snail-mail option? I'd hate to snail-mail, but would rather do that than do unsecured email.

@jacnel since you're a DUCA member, why bother with Alterna?
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titaniumtux wrote: Gotcha, that's certainly questionable.

Does Alterna offer a fax or snail-mail option? I'd hate to snail-mail, but would rather do that than do unsecured email.

@jacnel since you're a DUCA member, why bother with Alterna?
Yeah I think there was an option to mail it in too. And honestly I don't know why I even still have a alterna Bank account, I got it when I was switching from CIBC and trying to think of where to go next. Originally I was going to go with simplii, so I signed up for an account with them but then I heard about alterna Bank who had much higher rates at the time (1.95% for savings compared to 1% with simplii) so I also signed up with an account with them too. Eventually I decided that I was going to move back home next year, and then I saw DUCA who offered me the best rates and bank access so I just moved everything to them and kept the alterna account open since I already took the hard credit hit.
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Has DUCA always consistently paid better interest than the Tangerine promos? Thinking if it's worth moving to.
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Shadow Rider wrote: Has DUCA always consistently paid better interest than the Tangerine promos? Thinking if it's worth moving to.
They seem to do a 3% promo every spring (like right now with 3.1% on new deposits) and they have the Earn More Park Account that lets you save money to add to a TFSA in the new year, this account earns high interest but is only available in the fall I think.
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jacnel wrote: They seem to do a 3% promo every spring (like right now with 3.1% on new deposits) and they have the Earn More Park Account that lets you save money to add to a TFSA in the new year, this account earns high interest but is only available in the fall I think.
I'll watch out for that. A TFSA might be good for some short hauls, too.
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