Personal Finance » Banking

No fee bank account gives a bonus

I don’t often promote specific products but a little creative marketing motivated me to share this promotion with you.

Last week, I got a box in the with an empty ice cream tub container, a plastic scoop and a press release with a coupon for a free tub of President’s Choice Ice Cream. President’s Choice is promoting their no-fee chequing account.

I’ve been a big fan of high interest, no-fee bank accounts for a long time. Here are some of my past articles on the topic:

I believe bank accounts are the heart and soul of your finances. Bank accounts are something you use every day of your life. Too many people are banking the conventional way where they are paying fees and earning interest which just contributes to the bank’s profitability.

I say turn those profits in your favor by changing the way you bank. The President’s Choice no-fee chequing account is an example of a bank account that helps you to be more profitable by turning your bank account into a profit center where you can actually earn interest on the money you save and pay no monthly fees at the same time.

High-interest bank accounts and ice cream

One might ask what ice cream has to do with bank accounts. Not much except that you could afford to buy more ice cream with the money you save from paying fees at the conventional banks. In fact, if you open up a no-fee bank account at a President’s Choice in-store pavilion across Canada before July 31st, you will receive a coupon for a FREE tub of President’s Choice ice cream.

Other bank account options

Both President’s Choice Financial and Tangerine have come out with new no-fee chequing accounts but their interest rates are not great. However, if you couple these accounts with high-interest savings accounts, then you can really take advantage of higher rates and no-fee banking. President’s Choice also links their banking into PC points that can be used at Superstores, Extra Foods or Loblaws.

Other options for bank accounts include Ally, which has really made a mark by offering really competitive rates. They do not have cheque options so you may need a chequing account somewhere to write cheques.

My two cents

Many people have asked me which account I use and I am never afraid to share. I have been banking with Manulife Bank using their Advantage Account since 2002 and I have never looked back. My bank account is a chequing account that pays high fees with no minimum balance requirement. I love my account and it’s the only account I have.

I also have a President’s choice savings account that we opened up a long time ago but we do not really use the account. If you find it easier for us to just use one account instead of two and I like that Manulife makes it easier to just use one bank account instead of having to separate a chequing account from a high-interest savings account.

Note: I do not get any financial kickbacks or commissions promoting these accounts. There are no affiliate links here. I do not sell or profit from these accounts so use this information for what it is worth. As much as I think high interest and no-fee bank accounts are great, do your homework to see if they fit with your finances.

Are you using a high interest or no-fee bank account? If so, please share with my readers so we can all benefit from the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to banking.

Comments

  1. Florence Ross

    I have to maintain a 5 thousand dollar balance in my TD canada trust chequing account to escape a monthly fee of 24.95. If it dips below for even a part of the day, I get charged. On occasion when that happens because an automatic charge hit the account just ahead of a deposit, I have asked to have it reversed and they have agreed, but it is a nuisance to have to go in to the bank to have it changed. It annoys me no end. I would think that a balance of a thousand bucks would be reasonable. However I don’t want the inconvenience of dealing with more than one bank for banking and trading.

  2. Greg

    My “main” bank is Royal Bank (RBC) which has a high interest account that currently pays 1.25%. I keep a small balance in that account for day to day transfers to my chequeing account there.

    I have an ING high interest account that pays 1.5% and I keep “working capital” cash there and can move money to RBC for “tomorrow” as long as I set up the transfer by about midnight “today”.

    I have an ING US$ high interest account for my US$ savings. Transfers occur as above to my RBC (Canadian based) US$ account.

    ING’s limit is 3 external accounts.

    When I purchase US$ there are days when ING has a better rate and days when RBC does. RBC has a really silly US$ purchasing policy – $0.01 – $1000.00 gets you one rate. Then $1000.01 – $100,000.00 gets you a better rate and $100,000.01 and above get you a better rate. I never expect to be buying in the top tier but have often purchased $1000 and a penny to get to the middle tier rate. The tellers think $1000 gets the good rate. Most RBC management think $1000 get the good rate.

    I have an ALLY high interest account that pays 2% and I keep “investment” funds there. It takes a little longer to get the money to RBC than ING does BUT I have also got transfer ability to ALL my bank accounts so I can use ALLY to move money from and to anywhere.

    I also have a Canadian Tire high interest account. They currently pay 1.75% interest so that account is sitting waiting for their rate to go up or ALLY’s to drop. Transfers take two days which is longer than I really want.

    I also have a PC Financial high interest account that pays 1.5% but their transfer times are ludicrous as one must set up a high interest to savings transfer that takes one to two days and then a savings transfer to external bank account which takes another one to two days.

    RBC charges me $4 per month and then rebates me $4 per month as I am over 60. I don’t use a debit card. EVERYTHING goes on MasterCard or VISA and those cards pay me CASH (I don’t want points, trips, merchandise, groceries – but really do like CASH).

    I also have a US based US$ bank account with RBC BAN USA and can transfer INSTANTLY between the Canadian and US domiciled accounts. I have to keep US$700 in the US account to preclude fees. Interest rates need to go to something like 8 or 9% before it would be advantageous for me to keep the $700 in a high interest account and pay the fee.

    This all may sound like a lot of work — but Quicken simplifies most of it and it is MY money and I appear to be the only one who really cares about it.

  3. Jim W

    I have a President’s Choice account but my favourite no-fee is Achieva Financial – a Winnipeg-based credit union. They pay 2% (compounded) checking/savings. The only restriction is only three free cheques a month. But, that suits me just fine.

  4. Yatti420

    I’m able to keep monthly balance for a TD… But all my savings goes to Hubert Financial – happysavings.ca .. 2.50% cdn..

    If you truly want the best all in one friendly chequing and live near credit unions or exchange networked machines definitely ING.. If you live near Zehrs/CIBC go with PC..

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