I got so tired of paying fees and so on with my bank (BMO) that when the economic turndown came I bought 100 shares in the company. Since then I have doubled my investment and they pay me $70.00 every quarter in dividends that more than covers my banking fees.

Everyone bashes on the big bad banks. Did you ever think that if you properly managed and paid attention to your banking and actually READ THE MAIL that comes to you from your bank that you might actually reduce/minimize your service charges? Bankers are not babysitters. Every service provider out there charges fees for what they provide to you. Sure you can deal with an online bank, but when you have a question or problem with an account you'll find out quickly why that may not be the best choice. Many insitutions offer ways to eliminate banking fees, so perhaps some of you should go into your bank and inquire about your options. There is not just one bank for everyone, but many people think its up to their institution to babysit their accounts rather than be responsible about it themselves. Stop bouncing cheques. If you don't pay close enough attention to your money, then you should apply for overdraft. If you don't even qualify for that, then that should tell you something right there.

TD brok up with us because we asked a question. After 20 years of taking our money TD complained that we should not have asked why our branch wanted to charge prime +5% on a line of credit covered by twice the cash which our branch wanted to pay 0.001% intrest.
A credit union took us on and we have prospered making money on things TD called us an idiot for asking about.
It is your money get the best deal you can.

I got a letter from my bank recently informing me that they had to increase the rate on my line of credit (secured by the way) because of "bad economic climate" and other inane reasons. Then I read an article citing near record quartely profits of billions. Then I hear their ceo made $1o.4 million in salary last year. If only they were honest with us, maybe we wouldn't need to break up. I'm only hanging on because I haven't checked out the competition, but it's coming.... There's no reason to stay with the banks.

I think I tried every major bank in Canada and there was always a problem.

I joined a Credit Union 7 years ago and have been very happy. You walk in and they greet you by name. They have most of the services of the main banks. They will sit down and work with you rather than have to follow the "rules" of the banks

I changed of bank recently. I was fed up with my Caisse Desjardins. They cut off access to my PayPal by telling me PayPal is unsafe. Then they told me they had no interest in the new debit card online payment in Canada Interac Online. I have no credit card and Paypal was my only way to pay online, Interac Online seems really interesting too for canadian merchants. I was a bit scared of switching but things went well and I do not regret it at all. Now I'm with Banque de Montreal and I'm happy, they allow both PayPal and Interac Online.

Every bank has a chequing acount where if you keep $1000 or so in your monthly fees are waived. I haven't paid monthly fees in years and at the same time it keeps a reserve should you ever need it.

This is a very informative article, especially if you don't want to burn professional bridges. As much as my bank (one of the 'Canadian 5' which will remain nameless for now) has some incredible features that make banking easy, the philosophy of these banks have changed; they seem to be retail services that offer banking products. Bankers and tellers used to be persons who would advise and promote, as supposed to upsell and micro-charge on your everyday - and emergency - activity. Why can't we, as Canadians, have free access to our hard-earned money from these 'institutions' without having to pay them outstanding fees every month?

Granted, I don't make a lot of money, and I may be skimping on saving, and yes, my bank account may be in the negative at times, but I have been with the same bank for 10 years, and I've never been treated with such disregard for the past, maybe 2 or 3 years. With aformentioned bank, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing; I am told by one customer rep that everything is fine with the account, yet told by another after finding penalizing actions on the account that what the previous person told me wasn't "exactly correct." (I nearly lost it when I heard this from a rep recently. I was made to pay an NSF fee when told the funds were available and I was assured there would be no problem at all by another rep. In the end, I didn't pay the NSF fee, they let the payment through, gave me a profuse apology. I was told the first rep I spoke to was 'new' and was in a 'training process'. I did have to go through an hour and a half of B.S. to finally get some answers.) I've had this problem with this bank and their lack of communication skills within its employees, which is obviously affecting their communication with account holders, causing much unneeded stress. I've been fortunate to hear other people's experiences with this bank and know that I'm not the only one who's had this kind of encounter. We trust these people with our money! Makes me wonder if it's safer in my mattress ...

My husband is currently with a bank that's not considered at 'Canadian 5', but is moving up the ranks in popularity, and its service is exemplary from his experience. I'm grateful for this article and will use this to make 'bank-dumping' as stress-free an experience as this can be.

About 5-years-ago, I switched from my last of the big-5 Canadian banks; to my local credit union. I've never been happier. My service is exemplary. I'm greeted by name when I walk into either of my 2 local branches. There are no branch ATM-fees; debit-purchase-fees and online payments are .50-cents per transaction. Fees in general are very low. They do have fee price-packages; but I really don't need them. I pay less than $3.00/month in service-charges/bank-fees. The least expensive fee-package is less-than $6.00/mo. Screw the big banks and their fees and poor-service! Screw their written-in-stone, unadaptable policies. My credit union is personable, treats me like a valued-customer, is understanding, and bends the rules a bit to accomodate my needs. All this; and no hidden charges. I'm never going back to the big-banks ever again.

I don't have a problem changing banks, the only problem I find is that they are all the same, more or less.
How do you find out the best bank to deal with other than making an appointment with every bank in town and spending a lot of time with each one?

Good article and very clear about the account closing process, but do not write a cheque to zero the balance and think that will close it. Your account remains open and if it has monthly charges they will continue to be charged until you go so negative that the bank finanlly gets the message. However, this negative balance is still required to be paid and can/will show up on your credit report as an amount outstanding. Now you are being hindered from credit products.

You must close the account. Most banks have a switch process to close the account to ease the pain. I'll tell you my 55k in investing and 100k in lending is ready to switch. Try that for barter.

I have been with the same bank for 50 years. Since it has become 'uncaring', even though I have never defaulted in any way, I just use it as my transit bank, passing everything through that account before transferring to an online bank, investing with another bank in a GIC by money order, bank draft, etc. Literally, I use them instead of letting them use me because they are just not competitive; AND I HAVE NEVER PAID FEES. This was the kind of account (Savings/Checking) it was when I opened it in 1960. All my overseas deposits go into that account, I click and transfer to an online account which pays higher fees, pay all my bills either online or by cheque, etc.

If they only pay 1% on TFSAs when online banks pay as much as 3.15%, why would I deal with them?

Banks are the same or will be same after a while. This article is not giving other ways to be avoided banks all to gether. I wish other alternative methods to avoid banks all to gether. Theifs with suits and ties are siting behind the desks of every bank call the bankers. I have no problems with tellers, they are just employees who are there to earn living. Theifs are the bankers who share ill gotten profits. such high interest fees, NSF fees, Un reasonable bank charges. I hate those fat cats

Good article, but I just can't believe how literally stupid people are with their finances. People should know their finance stuff off the top of their head, and paying a fee for banking? Do people seriously pay for anything from a bank other than a mortgage?

I really don't understand why Canadians are so loyal to their banks. A lot of people I know have switched their jobs and their homes much more often than their banking -- changes that are a LOT more invasive and difficult than moving accounts around.

Really, I think this article sums it up nicely. With a bit of organization, changing to a different bank is about as complicated as switching to another grocery store!

I found that closing my account wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. As long as you make a list of any direct deposits or bills that you have linked to that account, and make the necessary adjustments - you'll be fine. Time to stop encouraging bad bank behavior, and move to a bank that cares!