Which is the best bank to open account with as a newcomer to Canada?
- Thread starter singh2367
- Start date
they all have different newcomer deals. you have to find which one suits you best. everyone will give you different answers.
My apologies for hijacking this dormant thread. I just did not want to open a new thread for a topic that has been discussed before and this appears to be the latest one on this subject.
I just wanted to point out my experiences with BMO and TD as far as newcomer programs go in Feb 2021 to help out others.
I arrived in Canada late Jan without a job as a permanent resident and went ahead and booked an appointment with BMO as they were the only who had a 300$ offer going on. They have a Newstart program for newcomers which waives monthly fees for a year and gives a credit card. I went to one of the branches in Mississauga and the lady there was clueless about the newcomers program and was providing me different details than the one on their website. I showed it to her and she finally agreed to open the accounts in question. She wasn't ready to do the credit card right there and mentioned excuses about my job situation but asked me to book a later appointment for the credit card. The following week I did a phone appointment where the advisor said I would probably get a secured card and I said thats fine. Before this, I made an initial transfer from my American account to the BMO one and on the appointment, I explained that I would be making transfers from there. He said fine and that after approval, I should expect the card in in 10 days or so. Cut to today and I still don't have any update on the card and when I called customer care, they said they are still verifying(all this for a secured card btw). During this time, my debit card was blocked because I made a payment for the furnished condo I am staying in because BMO considered it a fraudulent transfer due to the 2k+ CAD amount involved which I had to call them and tell them it was not to have them unblock it.
Fed up with the initial BMO experience, I went to TD and the experience could not have been smoother. They told me upfront that the credit card I get would probably be unsecured but with just a 1k limit because of the job situation. I said fine and sure enough, everything(checking and savings) was processed there and then and the credit card was approved as well.
In conclusion, if you are coming in to Canada without having secured a job already as a permanent resident then steer clear of BMO. Their newcomer program is a sham and I regret approaching them just because of the 300$ offer. TD was great and I assume Scotia and the others would probably be better than BMO as well.
I just wanted to point out my experiences with BMO and TD as far as newcomer programs go in Feb 2021 to help out others.
I arrived in Canada late Jan without a job as a permanent resident and went ahead and booked an appointment with BMO as they were the only who had a 300$ offer going on. They have a Newstart program for newcomers which waives monthly fees for a year and gives a credit card. I went to one of the branches in Mississauga and the lady there was clueless about the newcomers program and was providing me different details than the one on their website. I showed it to her and she finally agreed to open the accounts in question. She wasn't ready to do the credit card right there and mentioned excuses about my job situation but asked me to book a later appointment for the credit card. The following week I did a phone appointment where the advisor said I would probably get a secured card and I said thats fine. Before this, I made an initial transfer from my American account to the BMO one and on the appointment, I explained that I would be making transfers from there. He said fine and that after approval, I should expect the card in in 10 days or so. Cut to today and I still don't have any update on the card and when I called customer care, they said they are still verifying(all this for a secured card btw). During this time, my debit card was blocked because I made a payment for the furnished condo I am staying in because BMO considered it a fraudulent transfer due to the 2k+ CAD amount involved which I had to call them and tell them it was not to have them unblock it.
Fed up with the initial BMO experience, I went to TD and the experience could not have been smoother. They told me upfront that the credit card I get would probably be unsecured but with just a 1k limit because of the job situation. I said fine and sure enough, everything(checking and savings) was processed there and then and the credit card was approved as well.
In conclusion, if you are coming in to Canada without having secured a job already as a permanent resident then steer clear of BMO. Their newcomer program is a sham and I regret approaching them just because of the 300$ offer. TD was great and I assume Scotia and the others would probably be better than BMO as well.
Keep few things in mind:
> Higher Credit limit, go for $2000, some banks like TD won't give you more than $1000. A higher credit limit will help you improve your credit score much faster assuming you pay your bills in time.
> Most banks have first year free of monthly charges, check what are the monthly charges post the first year, my TD bank has $14-$15 per month fee. Other banks may charge less
> Among the top 5-6 national banks, some have a good overall mortgage products and are flexible on grey areas, go for these, as this will help in your mortgage at a later point in time.
> Don't take credit cards from Supermarkets, Apparel Stores, etc. unless you shop a lot. Might cause issues with your Credit History, as all these credit cards will do a hit on your credit.
Create an account with one of the big three banks in first year using their deals and for subsequent years switch to online only banks like motusbank, eq or tangerine. Online banks have same cdic protection as other banks but after promotional period have account fees or minimum balance requirements.