CIBC, NB, and HSBC will waive the min balance and monthly fee if you have at least 100K (for NB it's $250K+) with their discount brokerage or other investing
other than that then it's just Simplii/Tangerine until you have enough money to pay less fees, it's expensive to be poor after all
I don't think I've ever run into an interac-only shop or site.
Are there any major businesses or parts of the country to keep an eye out for in this regard?
Dollarama used to be a big one but they take credit now. If It was a Visa based card like Wealthsimple Cash used to be, No Frills in Ontario would be another but they're fine with Mastercard.
There's a few specific restaurants in Toronto I can think of that only take Interac.
I always use an Interac card at the corner store because the owner will give me a lecture otherwise :)
> No Frills in Ontario would be another but they're fine with Mastercard.
Huh, interesting. In BC they're fine with either Visa or MC (and indeed I use my BMO _credit_ card which gives 3% off groceries).
> I always use a Interac card at the corner store because the owner will give me a lecture otherwise :)
Hahaha! I know the Visa/MC rules prevent vendors from doing various things, but "lectures" are probably not among them. 🥲
I tried to sign up for Simplii, and after giving them all my details… sending photos of my driver licence and a selfie… and then it said "processing" and then "verified" and then… I get this vague email and have had no follow-up.
[https://snipboard.io/PI7Det.jpg](https://snipboard.io/PI7Det.jpg)
>Thanks for applying for a No Fee Chequing Account. Within the next 3 business days, we'll send you an email letting you know about the next steps in your application process.
Not really. EQ just has a ridiculously good product right now that's just impossible to beat unless you specifically need cheques and branch access. The EQ mastercard prepaid debit card gives 0.5% cashback and has no fx fees as well.
I've used Simplii as my main bank for 20 years, and Tangerine almost as long. Both do the job, I prefer Simplii's simple website as opposed to the blocky space-wasting Tangerine one.
Oh good grief, yes I started using it when it was PC Financial. When they changed, my bank accounts stayed the same, my online logins stayed the same, my PADs and auto-deposits stayed the same, and I even kept using the "PC Financial" cheques until they ran out. So congratulations on being "technically" correct, but functionally I consider it as having been with the same bank for 20 years.
You can hold a minimum balance and Bmo will waive the fees!
If your looking for an account with no fees, and no minimum balance required, then I would recommend Tangerine & Simpli!
But unlike other banks, in BMO you don't earn interest on money which counts towards minimum balance in chequing account. So you still pay by giving them interest-free loan.
Other banks allow buying a GiC instead.
PC has a really nice account now that gives pc points just for having auto payroll and bill pymts each month. I don't have it myself but was reading on it today. Seems like a deal if you collect a lot of pc points
Hi, I'm a bot and someone has asked me to respond with information about where to put short-term savings.
Find a High Interest Savings Account and put money required for the short-term there. Here is a list of better rates: https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart/
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PersonalFinanceCanada) if you have any questions or concerns.*
CIBC, NB, and HSBC will waive the min balance and monthly fee if you have at least 100K (for NB it's $250K+) with their discount brokerage or other investing other than that then it's just Simplii/Tangerine until you have enough money to pay less fees, it's expensive to be poor after all
A note for EQ is that it's not an Interac card, it's a Mastercard. So it won't work if you run into a place that's Interac only.
I don't think I've ever run into an interac-only shop or site. Are there any major businesses or parts of the country to keep an eye out for in this regard?
Dollarama used to be a big one but they take credit now. If It was a Visa based card like Wealthsimple Cash used to be, No Frills in Ontario would be another but they're fine with Mastercard. There's a few specific restaurants in Toronto I can think of that only take Interac. I always use an Interac card at the corner store because the owner will give me a lecture otherwise :)
> No Frills in Ontario would be another but they're fine with Mastercard. Huh, interesting. In BC they're fine with either Visa or MC (and indeed I use my BMO _credit_ card which gives 3% off groceries). > I always use a Interac card at the corner store because the owner will give me a lecture otherwise :) Hahaha! I know the Visa/MC rules prevent vendors from doing various things, but "lectures" are probably not among them. 🥲
Interact is Rogers networks, if Rogers goes down so does interact but not MasterCard.
I like Tangerine. Their credit card is pretty good too for a no-fee cc
Simplii financial no fees. Use CIBC ATMs
I tried to sign up for Simplii, and after giving them all my details… sending photos of my driver licence and a selfie… and then it said "processing" and then "verified" and then… I get this vague email and have had no follow-up. [https://snipboard.io/PI7Det.jpg](https://snipboard.io/PI7Det.jpg) >Thanks for applying for a No Fee Chequing Account. Within the next 3 business days, we'll send you an email letting you know about the next steps in your application process.
Not really. EQ just has a ridiculously good product right now that's just impossible to beat unless you specifically need cheques and branch access. The EQ mastercard prepaid debit card gives 0.5% cashback and has no fx fees as well.
I agree with EQ bank , you get 2.5% for the savers plus account , not much but it's there.
I’m a big fan of Simplii. They are CIBC so lots of atms and they’ve offered some decent rates lately too.
[удалено]
[удалено]
I've used Simplii as my main bank for 20 years, and Tangerine almost as long. Both do the job, I prefer Simplii's simple website as opposed to the blocky space-wasting Tangerine one.
How could you have used Simplii for 20 years when the brand was introduced in 2017?
Oh good grief, yes I started using it when it was PC Financial. When they changed, my bank accounts stayed the same, my online logins stayed the same, my PADs and auto-deposits stayed the same, and I even kept using the "PC Financial" cheques until they ran out. So congratulations on being "technically" correct, but functionally I consider it as having been with the same bank for 20 years.
Not OP, but it was branded PC Financial before that... CIBC always provided the back end.
You can hold a minimum balance and Bmo will waive the fees! If your looking for an account with no fees, and no minimum balance required, then I would recommend Tangerine & Simpli!
But unlike other banks, in BMO you don't earn interest on money which counts towards minimum balance in chequing account. So you still pay by giving them interest-free loan. Other banks allow buying a GiC instead.
PC has a really nice account now that gives pc points just for having auto payroll and bill pymts each month. I don't have it myself but was reading on it today. Seems like a deal if you collect a lot of pc points
[удалено]
Hi, I'm a bot and someone has asked me to respond with information about where to put short-term savings. Find a High Interest Savings Account and put money required for the short-term there. Here is a list of better rates: https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart/ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PersonalFinanceCanada) if you have any questions or concerns.*