I’m curious what products and services everyone uses. I like trying out new services, but it seems like the big banks are pretty effective at squashing competition.
I’ll go first: Chequing - BMO Savings - Wealthsimple Investing - Questrade with Passiv Credit cards - BMO, Costco, Amazon
I have tried Brim (credit card) and Koho (kind of a chequing account), but eventually dropped them because they couldn’t effectively replace BMO.
I’m interested to know everyone’s experiences with their banks and other financial service providers.
Edit: This thread has been amazing! Thanks for all the replies!
@MacroCyclo In terms of your main savings account, you can consider those on https://highinterestsavings.ca/chart (Tangerine could work as a backup; they also give occasional offers); if you don’t require branch services (such as writing a bank draft / guaranteed cheque), then those online banks are enough. KOHO is not really a bank account; it’s better to just treat it as a prepaid card with cashback. WS is okay for casual investing. For credit cards, just go with the rewards (assuming you pay on time).
Credit union for everything
Which one?
Some people don’t realize that Credit Unions are actually a whole bunch of different organizations, or maybe like me they use one of the few left that have just a handful of branches and don’t want to identify for that reason. Mine has two branches, one of which is only open part time in a neighbouring town.
As for the original post:
Small, local Credit Union for chequing/savings/TFSA Mortgage with BMO, because best rate and wife’s been with them a while. CIBC/Costco credit card because best rewards, as well as a Collabria credit card, because that’s the company my CU works with but haven’t used it since I got the Costco card.
Tbh I have a CC with most banks just for the deals lol but the main ones I use:
Wealthsimple for general spending/saving
Tangerine CC for the stuff I get extra cash back on
Wealthsimple & Questrade for investing
Checking : EQ Bank with Tangerine as a backup (for cheques and interac debit)
Savings : CASH.TO with IBKR
Credit cards : Desjardins, PC Financial, Tangerine, Canadian Tire, Rogers, CIBC Costco, Brim, American Express
Investing : I’m currently moving everything to NBDB for registered accounts and IBKR for non registered, but in the mean time, I also have Wealthsimple and Questrade
I also have a KOHO account, that I use for my oldest kid’s allowance.
Checking - Tangerine
Savings - Tangerine or EQbank
Credit cards - Tangerine, Brim, Amex
Investing - Questrade
I also use a credit union’s services for all the same services.
I’ve mostly kept with free online or cheap accounts. Was with a big bank before but didn’t like the fees, and generally big banks have old and clunky web interfaces.
I do feel like managing this many accounts is a pain, and sometimes I do think about a one big bank solution. But, I can’t justify the fees.
