I’m curious what products and services everyone uses. I like trying out new services, but it seems like the big banks are pretty effective at squashing competition.
I’ll go first: Chequing - BMO Savings - Wealthsimple Investing - Questrade with Passiv Credit cards - BMO, Costco, Amazon
I have tried Brim (credit card) and Koho (kind of a chequing account), but eventually dropped them because they couldn’t effectively replace BMO.
I’m interested to know everyone’s experiences with their banks and other financial service providers.
Edit: This thread has been amazing! Thanks for all the replies!
Checking - Tangerine
Savings - Tangerine or EQbank
Credit cards - Tangerine, Brim, Amex
Investing - Questrade
I also use a credit union’s services for all the same services.
I’ve mostly kept with free online or cheap accounts. Was with a big bank before but didn’t like the fees, and generally big banks have old and clunky web interfaces.
I do feel like managing this many accounts is a pain, and sometimes I do think about a one big bank solution. But, I can’t justify the fees.
Totally agree with the opinions about the big banks. I end up keeping a big chunk of cash in the account to avoid the monthly fee. So your experience with the credit union is that you get all the same services with no fees?
I can say on my side, that’s true for some things and not others. This will depend on the specific credit union though. I’m a little unique in that my credit union is the only financial institution with a branch in the town I used to live, and my dad managed it for about 30 years. I initially got my mortgage from that Credit Union, matching the rates available from the banks, but at the first renewal we switched to BMO because the CU wouldn’t match the rate I was offered then. My plan 24 account is at 2.65% interest, which is pretty good for a basic savings account, as good as many banks are offering on term deposits right now. Service charges are pretty low, and I don’t need a have a big balance to keep it that way. My chequing account usually only has my last paycheque in it, and anything left after bills are paid gets moved to savings.
@MacroCyclo In terms of your main savings account, you can consider those on https://highinterestsavings.ca/chart (Tangerine could work as a backup; they also give occasional offers); if you don’t require branch services (such as writing a bank draft / guaranteed cheque), then those online banks are enough. KOHO is not really a bank account; it’s better to just treat it as a prepaid card with cashback. WS is okay for casual investing. For credit cards, just go with the rewards (assuming you pay on time).
For savings I’m using wealthsimple to buy CASH.TO. It gives a way better rate than anything on that list. It might not work for everyone, but it works for me.
That explains KOHO fairly well. I really don’t understand who would need that.
@MacroCyclo But that’s an ETF and it does take a few days to get the money out, whereas a HISA in a bank can be conveniently accessed and thus can be used as emergency funds; certain online ones (Alterna, motusbank, EQBank, etc.) very much offer the same level of functionality (bill payments, e-Transfer, direct deposit, etc.) as brick-and-mortar ones.
That’s why it works for me. In an emergency I just need to pay off my credit card at the end of the month.
Tbh I have a CC with most banks just for the deals lol but the main ones I use:
Wealthsimple for general spending/saving
Tangerine CC for the stuff I get extra cash back on
Wealthsimple & Questrade for investing
I didn’t know you could use wealthsimple as a chequing account. Any fees on withdrawing cash?
If you’re the type that wants to withdraw cash, EQ Bank would be better option than WealthSimple Cash.
EQ Bank offers to rebate all domestic ATM withdrawals, no matter the ATM. They don’t rebate International ATM withdrawals though if those machines charge a fee…
Thanks for the tip on EQ bank! I used to have something like that when I lived in the states and it was great.
You can send money back and forth between accounts for free, but I don’t think you can withdraw actual cash from Wealthsimple since they don’t have ATM’s
Gotcha, how do you get cash then? Or do you not need it?
I use my Tangerine chequing account which can work with Scotia ATM’s, but yea tbh I scarcely need to take out cash.
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Checking : EQ Bank with Tangerine as a backup (for cheques and interac debit)
Savings : CASH.TO with IBKR
Credit cards : Desjardins, PC Financial, Tangerine, Canadian Tire, Rogers, CIBC Costco, Brim, American Express
Investing : I’m currently moving everything to NBDB for registered accounts and IBKR for non registered, but in the mean time, I also have Wealthsimple and Questrade
I also have a KOHO account, that I use for my oldest kid’s allowance.
This sounds like you’ve shopped around. It seems from the responses that I need to get a Tangerine account for chequing.
Credit union for everything
Which one?
Some people don’t realize that Credit Unions are actually a whole bunch of different organizations, or maybe like me they use one of the few left that have just a handful of branches and don’t want to identify for that reason. Mine has two branches, one of which is only open part time in a neighbouring town.
As for the original post:
Small, local Credit Union for chequing/savings/TFSA Mortgage with BMO, because best rate and wife’s been with them a while. CIBC/Costco credit card because best rewards, as well as a Collabria credit card, because that’s the company my CU works with but haven’t used it since I got the Costco card.
I’ve been using EQ bank for savings for awhile now. I just ordered a debit card from them to start using them as my main checking account. I am tired of getting 0.02$ a month on my $2000ish balance from Simplii.
I use MBNA rewards Mastercard for all my monthly purchases. Travel rewards add up pretty fast with it
Regarding Brim & KOHO:
Well real question is what BMO card you have and what you wanted out of it. If you are currently holding say the BMO Cashback World Elite MasterCard, then ya, I can see why those 2 choices can’t replace this card but if you compare it with say the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite, CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite or even the MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard, then they can compete.
Really depends on what you’re looking for in a card…
Yeah, I went through a lot of cards until I qualified for the world elite. At that point it beats out pretty much every other option.
Generic Big Bank (TD) for credit card, WealthSimple for everything else
Interactive Brokers.
