VERY Urgent- Banking

[life2010]

Hi
I am going to do my landing procedure in 3 days. Flying from usa to calgary.

Whats the best banking account I can open. I am looking for something with no fees and have online statements. I will be using a relative address and do not wish my statements going to their address.

Something free, online and more paperless concept.


Thanks

 

[Leon]

Free and online might be Presidents Choice which you can open at any Superstore. However, as it is not a real bank strictly speaking, you might have problems transferring money between countries directly if you need to. I don't know if they are paperless either but if you don't want your mail from your bank to go to your relatives address, you can open a PO Box with mail forwarding or have it go to a UPS address.

 

[CharlieD10]

Free? You could try a credit union, I don't think they charge fees. On the other hand, you might find yourself up a creek if you are away from your town/city and need assistance with something to do with your account, as credit unions are localised and not linked to each other.

The big 5 (TD, Scotiabank, RBC, BMO, CIBC) all offer bare-bones low fee accounts that are generally paperless (around $5 per month). Statements are a fee service, so are cheques, and services like money orders. Some offer programmes geared towards newcomers, such as Scotiabank's "Start Right", and sometimes they offer to waive the fees for the first year, among other free stuff to help you establish banking and credit history.

Read the fine print on those low-fee accounts, though. There are often transaction count limits attached to such accounts: so many debits (withdrawal, point-of-sale purchase, bill payment) per month, then you are charged a fee for each additional debit. Make sure you get an account that matches your usage needs. If you're the type who whips out your debit card to pay for your daily coffee instead of finding a toonie, maybe you should look into a different type of account. On the other hand, if you go to the ABM once a month and then spend cash at the grocery store, pharmacy and for your coffee, you can get that type of account safely.

Good luck finding a financial institution to fit your needs!

 

[browntrout]

did you try the search function?

go with TD, they have most branches. Just deposit 5000 or so, and they will give you a no fee account, and a credit card

 

[Suin]

did you try the search function?

go with TD, they have most branches. Just deposit 5000 or so, and they will give you a no fee account, and a credit card

Disagree with the credit card - there's a strong chance that they will not give you even a secured one without Canadian credit history.

 

[Suin]

With RBC you can get on-line statements stored upto 5 years and the account with as low as $4 per month.

 

[browntrout]

Disagree with the credit card - there's a strong chance that they will not give you even a secured one without Canadian credit history.

they will, just deposit a few 1000s, whatever you deposit will be your credit card limit. I landed in january and did this with TD. Also checked RBC And CIBC which both would allow me a credit card also, as long as i deposited cash against it.

For TD, what i did was deposit 5000 into a savings account. This allowed me a premium account (always keep balance in account more than 5000) free checking, withdrawals, internet banking, free visa card, and one free credit card fee vaiwed .

 

[Awebus]

Here is a list of good banks - http://www.bloghug.com/canada-banks/

I started with Scotiabank and it works smooth. TD and RBC seems good too.

 

[ummi]

Yes scotia bank offers unsecured credit card 1000$ for newcomers.
Their package for newcomer is excellent.

 

[Toyang]

hi,

just would like to know if The Bank of Nova Scotia is the same with SCOTIABANK ?

we will be migrating in a few days from now.. thanks.

 

[ummi]

Yes it is one and the same . Scotia AND The bank of Nova Scotia...

 

[Toyang]

thank you so much Ummi ;D

 

[Katayoon]

Scotiabank's pack for newcomers is the best - monthly fee waiver for 12 months, credit card with a limit of 1000, and a movie card where you get a free movie each time you spend 1000$ on your credit card (you will get 4 free movies when you join as a bonus too).