Discussions

Some things have changed so looking for recommendations on your favourite financial institution. Going to be leaving my current banking place.

Preference is the RBC. Easy online banking and decent fees. They don’t do much for me other than my day to day banking. I used to go to TD at one time in a different province and they were really good as well. I have banked at Scotia, nice people downtown and very accommodating. My favourite would be Scotia downtown( only).

I to am looking at different financial institution as mine was charging way to much services fees and interest rate for a mortgage which let me lose a deal on some property back in springtime so I was told to go to a mortgage broker on another piece of property I found with much lower interest rate than is at my institution even now im still at now so I would like to change but was looking at scotia in mall but looks like above says downtown is better and thats a rough area down there thanks for any opinions

My issue with a particular institution is trying to redeem money. Apparently the board of governors has to decide when I can take my money out. That’s enough for me to move on there are plenty of other institutions around. Another institution that I was with only took 3 to 4 days business days and the money was in my account. Not months! Oh well lesson learned.

Been my bank for 40 years. Always had great service and you can get everything you need there.

been with for 30+ years always been good been alot changes over last 10 years not for good so I hope to change institutions to

I have been with them for almost 20 years (opened my account when I was 17). I have done car loans, line of credit and visa with them and am very happy with the service.  
 
Their fees are minimal once you get set up on the right plan for you, no fees for eTransfers, online banking is easy to use and navigate, payments to/from Visa and Line of Credit are instant (no lag/wait time for them to go through). I have transferred balances while standing in a store and swiped my card a minute later and had it go through.  
 
I have dealt with several banks both on a business and personal basis and Scotia has been my favorite by far. Also if you do travel to the US they are partners with Bank of America so you can use them down there with no additional fees as well.

My issue with some credit unions have been with the seemingly ever-increasing fees.  
 
I prefer going with the bigger players - seems to be more benefits associated with my account (particularly, less fees). Been with TD past 15 years and never had an issue

How about you just recommend a bank like the OP asked.  
 
We use RBC. Always been Happy with them. We switched to them from CIBC and never looked back. Keep an eye out. Sometimes they offer an iPad to new customers

Like Big Mack says about. Decide what you need for banking services first.  
 
Simplii Financial (PC Financial/CIBC) and Tangerine are no fee accounts if interested. Tangerine uses Scotia Bank machines. There are zero fees ever to use these cards to make purchases, payments or etransfers.  
 
Additionally, I use a KOHO Visa Card which is reloadable using e-transfer from my Tangerine account.  
 
Its like cash on the card, but you get cash back and can spend anywhere online or in person where VISA is taken. It takes minutes to sign up and they give you a virtual number to use while your card comes in the mail. Its free to own, free to use, free to load. (not like the Canada post reloadable Mastercard. They charge fees to own, use, and load.)  
This one is ZERO fees, and you can add funds with e-transfer and the money is there fast (like 5 -30 mins) like right in the card account and in real time you can track your spending and saving using the app.  
You can lock your card out using the app if not using or you suspect unusual spending.  
Foreign exchange rate is only 2.5%! Less, if you have premium account.  
Everyone I know loves it. No more bank fees or CC fees! I load mine with a no fee Tangerine account --> KOHO VISA and never paid fees in almost a year! I am saving over $200 a year in fees.  
 
I paid my bills, bought stuff online like Walmart, Expedia, Westjet, eBay...you can link it to your bank accounts, Paypal, Transferwise, Moneygram, Western Union, etc. etc.  
 
Now... its perfect for anyone who hates to carry cash and/or does not have good credit like me. You can load up to $20,000 on it, and withdraw about $2-5000 a day. Read up! I think you just need to confirm your identity is all and you get a card in the mail.  
 
If you want, check it out here and using my referral will get new sign on customers more cash back for 90 days. Go here... https://web.koho.ca/referral/D4N9NERU  
 
If you are interested in Tangerine, message me. I can send a link and I think the new customer gets $100 bonus.  
 
I liked Scotia ( I took their $300 for sign up bonus), then I closed account after 6 months when the fees increased. Then found no fee banking to fit my budget perfectly. Naturally.  
 
Anyone can msg me for more info. Cheers.

TD - is absolutley best bank, if you follow the trend, they were the fist bank that cared about customers, early opening hours, open on Saturday, finaly the rest including credt unions had to follow suit or no business,  
the writing was on the wall

Many will prefer/need a physical bank because they run a business, or have mortgage or investments, so be it.  
 
Sometimes just speaking to a live person is more a comfort or a way you like to deal.  
 
However in this new world, much is done online anyways.

Seriously?? Well with a little more info I likely could suggest one. Depending on what services you might use and what you want and need there are a few different recommendations. You want a high interest account? Basic savings or chequing? TFSA?  
 
Asking random strangers to recommend a bank is as pointless as your reply. You gave no info other then that is your bank. What's so special about RBC?? Why do you recommend?  
 
Now if you are comfortable doing most of your banking online you can use EQ, Tangerine, Simplii Financial which are all free and offer different services. However if you need to go into a physical bank that aren't going to be the best for you.  
 
But instead ranndomly naming banks we all use you could simply do some comparisons and pick yourself what you think would be the best fit. So since you asked I will recommend some reading which will help make your own informed decision.  
 
https://youngandthrifty.ca/complete-guide-canadas-best-online-banks/  
 
https://www.greedyrates.ca/blog/best-banks-in-canada/

All major banks are basically the same. I've been in business 25 years and I can say without a doubt that I never would have made it without Sunrise Credit union. We never had a bad year, had consistently shown revenues in the millions but dealing with the TD/BMO/CIBC and especially RBC was like banging my head against the wall.

The OP isn't asking you to give her the low down on all the banks out there. Anyone can go online and find out the key features of each banks chequing/savings/credit accounts.  
They're asking what YOUR favorite bank is and why.  
 
Hearing people's opinions on all of the banks will let them make a more informed decision based on other peoples experiences.  
 
They don't need to give you the ins and outs of what and why they're looking for a new bank just tell them your favorite from your experience...

Been with this bank for over 40 years. Great service and staff.

Lol at td being the best bank. If the writing is on the wall that they ‘are the first bank to care about customers’ why do they routinely leave small towns leaving them with no bank after decades of being a customer??  
 
Don’t think it’s good customer service to increase people’s travel times by 2-3 hours?? I’ve also had to wait at least twenty minutes any time I’ve been to Brandon TD (I’m not a customer, I’m doing banking for another person who can’t do their own banking since td closed the bank!).

as far as im concerned you should not pay any fees, keep the minimum amount they request an save the rest to retire , i personally feel people like to pay fees , then complain about their situation

Let's not pretend other banks don't do this - even the smaller ones. How many branches has Westoba credit union closed in the past few years, for example?  
 
Shilo, bruxelles, onanole, 10th street here in Brandon, etc.  
 
And god forbid you have to wait a few minutes at TD, right? Chances are anything you had to do you could have done online anyways.

Simplii is the only bank I'd ever recommend. I've never understood the Canadian loyalty to the big 5, they will nickel and dime you to death. I've banked with Simplii since they were PC Financial (20 years) and never paid a service fee. Excellent service by phone if you need to talk to someone in person too.

Not sure why you’re so argumentative.. I just said my experience with td.  
 
Lol and it’s more than a few minutes. I have more important things to do than wait *at least* twenty minutes to do banking.. Then factor in the time it takes to complete the transactions. It takes an hour to do anything at td where my bank I can be in and out in under 15 minutes nearly every time.  
 
So if someone says td is the best I’m going to disagree with them.

The only thing I didn't like about Simplii was that transfers between your own accounts would take until the next day. I understand they've stopped that now. In the meantime we went with Tangerine and are quite happy!

Open a Tangerine account with my Orange Key 39499355S1 and get a $50 bonus!  
Open a checking account with $100 deposit and they will give you $50 and wait for them to send you an email probably 3 months into your business there to transfer your payroll deposit to that account and they will give you another $75 and they have the lowest fees of any Bank I've ever dealt with they are not a brick and mortar Bank everything is done online you'll get a Visa debit card. Anything you can do with the brick and mortar Bank you can do here I've been a member for probably 11 years now when it was still called ING Bank. www.tangerine.ca  
Be well.

Years ago I opened an account at Scotia and took out a car loan. It wasn't long before they were putting my payment against some one else's account. ( I don't under stand how they can do that ) They did this TWICE and each time I had to take time off work to go down and PROVE that I made my payment on time. I don't know how this affected my credit rating,  
Then, years later, I opened a Line of Credit with them. BIG MISTAKE! First off the guy opening the account tried to convince me it was a great interest rate...when it obviously wasn't. Two years later I wanted to close the account so I went in to the Rosser Avenue branch. The woman manager was very unprofessional and disrespectful. The dummy would just keep asking WHY. ( I no longer required the Line of Credit ) When I answered she just smile and refuse to close the account. That evening I had to phone the corp head office and get it closed that way.  
Save yourself the Headache and DON'T use Scotia!

I used to be RBC, but I decided to switch to Westoba. Partly because the branches were more convenient, and partly to bring my money closer to home. Though I didn't really have any issues with RBC, I started to suspect their motives when a financial advisor that had cautioned me away from a certain tract in a meeting, was upselling it to me on the phone a few months later.  
 
The only Westoba annoyance I had was when I wanted to cancel the tap functionality on my debit card for security reasons (the fee was $72 since the cards are managed by a 3ed party). Though I've since temporarily embraced tap as a COVID measure, the functionality is easy enough to disable anyway. All you need is a youtube tutorial, boxcutter, a cellphone light, and a sharpie.  
 
Though I had initially thought that going Credit Union would severely limit my access to ATMs outside of Brandon, the reality has proved the opposite. Since most of the credit unions in Canada seem to be partnered up with one another, you have full access to even more machines than with any 1 big bank. Even in Brandon, using a Crocus machine is the same as using a Westoba machine.  
 
I've heard mixed reviews of Westoba here and elsewhere, but I've yet to have any problems with them. And even if not Westoba, there are 2 other credit unions in town. Both of which have aparently changed names since I've last checked.  
 
Edited by Simonwalcal, 2021-02-02 12:10:16

I've come to learn not one criminal organization is any better than the other. Of the three major banks I've been with (Westoba, TD, and Scotia) they all have poor service and powerful deception skills.