I landed on 23 March 2019. I transferred around 8000 CAD using a RBC account I opened before I landed. They charged me around 30 CAD for wiring money from abroad. Since I was an overseas employee of RBC, I took the risk. The money was deposited in 3 days and I received a statement from my adviser in case I needed it for immigration purposes (but I didn't as the immigration officers only asked if I'm bringing in more than 10,000 CAD with me which I answered yes and that's it).
I opened a RBC chequing account and applied for a credit card after landing. The credit card was approved immediately with 500 CAD available credit. The agent told me that RBC chequing account has a fee, like 12 to 15 CAD per month. I'm not sure if waived if you keep a certain balance.
I headed over to Toronto Dominion Bank to open another chequing and apply for another credit card. Having a mastercard and a visa will help build credit history. I got a platinum visa credit card from TD with 1000 CAD pre-approved credit. TD also gave me an unlimited chequing account free for 6 months. Chequing accounts are essential in Canada to run your day-to-day transactions. Generally, there come in packages of number of transactions and pre-authorized debits you are allowed to do. Unlimited ones are the best, but some banks charge you more for than or ask you maintain a balance to waive the fees. TD seemed to have a good offer here so I went for it. Also, I was planning to close my RBC accounts as they charged fees.
I want to maintain, at least 3 accounts in 3 different bank so I got a Tangerine account as well. Tangerine is a completely online bank without a branch uses Scotiabank ABM (in other words ATM) for transactions. It's a digital bank which is owned by Scotiabank so you can trust it. Scotiabank is one of the top 5 banks in Canada. Tangerine has a promotion now, which is, if you use an orange key from another account holder (which can be family, friend or anyone), you will receive 25 CAD cash deposited in you Tangerine account if you deposit at least 100 CAD after opening your new Tangerine account. It's free money with no strings attached! You can do the same for earning a few buck after you open a Tangerine account and share your own Orange Key. For now, you may use mine, which is 56239848S1 (Orange Key). You can also open an account without an Orange Key. The only difference is that you won't get the cash bonus.
There are restrictions set in terms of how much money you can withdraw, use for online purchase, use for email money transfer, etc, per day. Therefore, I wanted to keep 3 active accounts in 3 different banks. I decided to close my RBC account, as it was charging me money and other banks offered free accounts. I opened a chequing account with BMO which waived monthly fees for a whole year and offered unlimited transactions.
Generally, I feel banking is more expensive here, so free accounts make a big difference. Imaging paying 25 CAD per month. That's 300 CAD per year. This is where free offers or digital banks really help manage costs yet provide the same level of service.
I opened a RBC chequing account and applied for a credit card after landing. The credit card was approved immediately with 500 CAD available credit. The agent told me that RBC chequing account has a fee, like 12 to 15 CAD per month. I'm not sure if waived if you keep a certain balance.
I headed over to Toronto Dominion Bank to open another chequing and apply for another credit card. Having a mastercard and a visa will help build credit history. I got a platinum visa credit card from TD with 1000 CAD pre-approved credit. TD also gave me an unlimited chequing account free for 6 months. Chequing accounts are essential in Canada to run your day-to-day transactions. Generally, there come in packages of number of transactions and pre-authorized debits you are allowed to do. Unlimited ones are the best, but some banks charge you more for than or ask you maintain a balance to waive the fees. TD seemed to have a good offer here so I went for it. Also, I was planning to close my RBC accounts as they charged fees.
I want to maintain, at least 3 accounts in 3 different bank so I got a Tangerine account as well. Tangerine is a completely online bank without a branch uses Scotiabank ABM (in other words ATM) for transactions. It's a digital bank which is owned by Scotiabank so you can trust it. Scotiabank is one of the top 5 banks in Canada. Tangerine has a promotion now, which is, if you use an orange key from another account holder (which can be family, friend or anyone), you will receive 25 CAD cash deposited in you Tangerine account if you deposit at least 100 CAD after opening your new Tangerine account. It's free money with no strings attached! You can do the same for earning a few buck after you open a Tangerine account and share your own Orange Key. For now, you may use mine, which is 56239848S1 (Orange Key). You can also open an account without an Orange Key. The only difference is that you won't get the cash bonus.
There are restrictions set in terms of how much money you can withdraw, use for online purchase, use for email money transfer, etc, per day. Therefore, I wanted to keep 3 active accounts in 3 different banks. I decided to close my RBC account, as it was charging me money and other banks offered free accounts. I opened a chequing account with BMO which waived monthly fees for a whole year and offered unlimited transactions.
Generally, I feel banking is more expensive here, so free accounts make a big difference. Imaging paying 25 CAD per month. That's 300 CAD per year. This is where free offers or digital banks really help manage costs yet provide the same level of service.
