Author Topic: Don't pay for banking!  (Read 4199 times)

daverobev

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3961
  • Location: France
Don't pay for banking!
« on: August 13, 2015, 07:44:31 AM »
This was an eye opener coming to Canada - people *pay money* to have a bank make money with their money. Crazy! And pay for cheques/checks, too - at an INSANE price per book.

Suggestion: don't. There are plenty of free options. Most banks have some complimacated way of getting a simple chequing account for free, but really, why jump through the hoops?

Canada:

PCF (everywhere except Quebec) - free chequing, unlimited free cheques, no tellers but all CIBC ATMs
Tangerine - becoming "Scotia-fied" which isn't great but still free. Cheques are not free after the first lot
Credit unions - generally the account is free but you may have to pay per transaction

Hack - use a line of credit as your chequing account. Only works with some banks - CIBC, PCF, TD - free cheques. Just keep the account in the black and you pay no interest, with a massive free overdraft!

US:

Alliant Credit Union is one I just found out about. There are dozens of credit unions. But ACU is one of/the largest I think, and work nationally (internationally, in fact - they had no issue opening an account to my Canadian address).

I don't begrudge the banks a profit, honestly. But coming from a country where current accounts are free with no restrictions on the number of transactions... paying seems nuts.

Thinkum

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 725
  • Location: SoCal
  • Life is Good
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2015, 08:50:44 AM »
I thank you for this post! It pushed me to take the steps to finally move all my banking to Capital One 360, which used to be ING Orange. It's $5/month I'm saving, well actually more like $2.50 since they pay some interest. But still, screw paying for banking if you have a choice not to!

GizmoTX

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1450
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2015, 09:02:24 AM »
In the U.S.:

Many banks will waive the fee if there's direct deposit linked to the (checking) account. How much depends upon the bank.
Some will waive fees if you have both checking & savings, & auto transfer at least a minimum amount each month.

Charles Schwab Bank offers free checking, free checks, free ATM anywhere in the world, & free mobile deposit. Its free bill pay doesn't withdraw from your account until the check due date. Schwab requires that you open a brokerage account to get the checking account, but doesn't require any minimum balance. It's an online bank, but Schwab offices can help with special requests.

YK-Phil

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1173
  • Location: Nayarit (Mexico)
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2015, 09:09:27 AM »

Tangerine - becoming "Scotia-fied" which isn't great but still free. Cheques are not free after the first lot


Thank you for the tips about checking accounts. I am already an ING client and just opened a checking account on line. It took me less than 2 minutes to do so. There is also a Special offer going on right now: Open a Chequing Account and switch your payroll direct deposits and either 1 pre-authorized payment or 2 bill payments and get $100! Not a fortune, but it's a free $100 afterall.

libertarian4321

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1395
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2015, 09:44:17 AM »
The goal should be to never pay a penny for any sort of banking.  Not for savings accounts, not for checking, and (especially) not for credit cards.

FI40

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 115
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2015, 09:53:28 AM »
I still have an account with TD that is $30/mo...but, it is waived if you have more than 5k in it. I am keeping it open with $5k because it's handy to be able to use their ATMs, cheques, and they also give you a safety deposit box which we use. I count it as part of the bond/cash portion of my AA which earns about 2% these days, so it effectively costs me $8.33/mo for this service. Hm, come to think of it, maybe it's not really worth it. I'm going to shop around for safety deposit boxes I think.

Thinkum

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 725
  • Location: SoCal
  • Life is Good
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #6 on: August 13, 2015, 10:49:21 AM »


Charles Schwab Bank offers free checking, free checks, free ATM anywhere in the world, & free mobile deposit. Its free bill pay doesn't withdraw from your account until the check due date. Schwab requires that you open a brokerage account to get the checking account, but doesn't require any minimum balance. It's an online bank, but Schwab offices can help with special requests.

Thanks for the reminder. Scottrade offers the same, but I forgot about it.

wienerdog

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 587
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2015, 10:10:34 AM »
For the US Santander bank will pay you $10 a month for direct deposits of $1500 and $10 if you make 2 online bill payments using their system.  I'll let someone pay me $240 a year for paying $1500 worth of bills a month.  I was surprised when I got checks for free and their mobile app is pretty nice.

kpd905

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2029
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #8 on: August 14, 2015, 12:19:26 PM »
Instead, get paid to bank.  My wife and I are at $1,000 for the year so far with checking account bonuses. Time for me to find a new one, but I am having trouble finding one for $200+ that doesn't tie up a bunch of cash.

YK-Phil

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1173
  • Location: Nayarit (Mexico)
Re: Don't pay for banking!
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2015, 12:47:12 PM »
Instead, get paid to bank.  My wife and I are at $1,000 for the year so far with checking account bonuses. Time for me to find a new one, but I am having trouble finding one for $200+ that doesn't tie up a bunch of cash.

We also made quite a bit this year by opening a few new bank accounts. Since February 2015, my wife and I made: $350 each to open an account with Alberta Treasury Board with an extra $150 for me for referring my wife, then $100 each to open a no-fee checking account with Tangerine (thank you Daverobev). Minus $30 for three months of ATB monthly fees before closing our accounts. Total: $1020.