When I landed in November last year I opened an account with Scotiabank and was able to get an unsecured credit card. No need for them to hold part of my deposit. Same thing with RBC. My partner and I was able to get even separate credit card for each of us without having to result in getting a secured credit. We both are unemployed in Canada at the time. We opened a bundle package of savings, checking and TFSA account, that way all our transactions will be free of charge (for RBC).
Thing is, sometimes you really have to ask especially if there is something in particular that you wanna get. When we went to RBC, the first person we spoke with told us that we are not qualified to have a credit card since we don't have a credit history just yet. I told him we are landed skilled immigrants and would like to establish a credit history as soon as possible. I told him that the reason why I am opening an account with them is because it says in their advertisement that they can issue a credit card to landed immigrants to help them establish a credit history, although subject for approval, I told him that as a skilled worker I am pretty sure I meet all the bank requirements. So the guy checked with his manager and apparently I am correct and the guy I was talking to is not even aware that they are offering that kind of service to new immigrants landing as a skilled worker. And so we opened the account. Now, he was telling us that all our transactions will be free for the first 6months only, after that a service charge will be made per transaction. We asked if there is something else he can offer us that is free for life, he said no. They don't have a product like that. And so we left his office. But my partner and I are just not satisfied with what the guy offered to us. So we approached a customer service and told her that we would like to speak with another bank specialist as we still have unanswered questions and are not satisfied with the infos we received so far. The customer service redirected us to another specialist. True enough, there is a way around our problem. The new specialist told us that not many people knows this but there is a way for us to waive all the transaction fees on our account, and that is by opening a combo savings,checking and TFSA. For the TFSA, we were ask to put just as small as $50. And for the savings and checking, we just put at least two thousand each. And so now we can make unlimited transactions to both our savings and checking account without having to worry with the exhorbitant fee that the bank charges its clientele. What i am not sure is if this combo account is a promo at that time or if it is a regular product by RBC.
Just make sure to ask everything when opening an account and make sure the bank representative who's gonna attend to you is knowledgable and knows what he's saying. If you are not satisfied, request for another bank representative.
Besides, I have not heard all that good things about them. From what I have heard, the bank with the best reputation is TD. BMO from what I have heard is also pretty good.
