Saving Cash On Your Chequing Account In Canada

The name of these accounts doesn't really match what people actually use them for. With Visa, electronic payment methods and wire transfer options, people rarely have a need to write cheques. All chequing accounts offer the ability to write cheques but it doesn't mean you will be writing cheques. I can remember on one hand the last times I actually used a cheque in the last five years. Instead this type of account is more of a transactional account for individuals who typically do more than 5 transactions a month in that particular account. These accounts usually pay very little to no interest at all and are not meant to save or keep high balances in. All major institutions offer this type of account usually with a fee attached to it for a certain number of transactions per month usage or a waiver of fees based on a minimum balance kept in the account.

Practically everyone has a transactional account, but many of you aren't in the right type. It's sort of like 80% of women not wearing the right size of bra. You might think it looks good and feels nice but there's going to be something better for you, you just have to find it. If you have an unlimited transaction account you may not use enough transactions to justify paying the higher fee amount associated with that account. These are typically the account users who get duped into thinking they an account that's got everything attached to hit, free cheques, travellers cheques, free visa fees etc, but if you don't use any of that stuff, what's the point?

The most common lapse in spending on these accounts is the individual who doesn't think they use their account that often and gets upset because they tried to save $5/month and it ends up costing them $20 more in fees than they would have paid had they just had the upgraded account to begin with. Every bank has an account selector tool online or you can ask to use one in any branch. This tool asks you several questions to figure out the best account available given your current spending habits.

Students shouldn't have to pay for any bank account providing they keep their monthly transactions within a reasonable amount. Some banks offer unlimited student banking for a very nominal fee. I've seen many students paying for normal accounts when they should be getting student based monthly fee rates. You might be able to hagle with the bank to get some of your money back if they have you in the wrong account for a few months, but don't expect a ton of money back if it's been years. Working with or against the big boys on bay will be discussed in another article soon to come, showing you how to dominate your bank and save the most money, especially when you're dealing with a greedy banker. There are many of those.

Seniors will always get a steep discount or a lot of the times free banking when they have a chequing account. Every bank has a plan that allows for no monthly fee and unlimited transactions plus usually free cheques and other services. Looking at the senior population in Canada, our veterans and heros, many don't have enough save for retirement and rely heavily on the government and promises of being ok. Charging our seniors banking fees is crazy and doesn't make any sense even if they're retired wealthy because why should one be penalized for making money paying their dues to the country. Besides many will simply refuse to pay the fee anyways ;) There are a lot of seniors or bank classified seniors (59+) who don't have a senior account and are paying normal monthly fees. The banking software will usually catch their change of age but sometimes it doesn't and they will go on paying these fees for years without knowing. It's not uncommon for a bank to refund several months that have gone missed by the bank in these situations.

One of the biggest fees the bank collect is when you use your bank at another bank machine not name theirs. They will charge you $2.00 or $1.50 sometimes more and that's just on one end. You also get charged from your own bank $1.50 so you're looking at a $3.00 fee just to use a different bank machine. Some people will rack up $30 or $40 a month in these fees. Absolutely craziness!

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Darren Shamess is a mortgage expert working out of the downtown core in Toronto, Ontario. He works with over 40 lenders to obtain the best lending solutions for his clients across Canada and has literally saved them millions of dollars over the years. If you're looking for exceptional service, great advice and ways to save a ton of money; please check out his website Save Money At My Bank