Hello everyone. Today I went down to my local Superstore and opened a no fee bank account with President’s Choice Financial. First off I must state that this bank account is available to Canadians only. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you may recall that a while back I posted a review of President’s Choice Financial No Fee Bank Account. However, even though that review provided you with valuable information I unfortunately could not provide “first hand experience” information. That is about to change though. I now have an account and will let you all know how everything work out.
First Impressions:
The first thing you may be wondering is if it was difficult to open an account. I found the process very easy. What I had to do was show up to one of their banking booths – which can be found at all Superstore supermarket chain locations – and speak with one of their customer service representatives. I was scurried over to a little private area where the customer service rep logged on to some terminal, filled a few account forms, asked me the typical range of questions you can expect when opening a bank account, and then roughly 45 min later I was all set.
What you’re going to need to open an account:
Normally most banks will ask you for two pieces of ID – typically drivers license and social insurance number. PC Financial is no different so they too asked for my drivers license and SIN card. Unfortunately I screwed up and forgot to bring my SIN card. Thankfully though the lady that created my account said they will also accept an existing credit card with my name on it, so I quickly pulled out my VISA card which I have with a competitor bank and I was all set.I would still strongly recommend that you come prepared and bring two valid pieces of ID (passport, permanent resident card, drivers license and SIN card)
What I like so far:
– No fees! The lady that created my account seemed really eager to drive this selling point home. I’d have to agree with her that it’s definitely a good thing not to have to pay for any banking transactions.
– Their online banking interface is simple and straightforward.
– I can use my PC Financial debit card at any CIBC (big Canadian bank with lots of branches) bank machine without paying any fees.
– I get something called “PC Points” which later on I can use towards groceries at any Superstore location.
What I do not like:
– No US Dollar checking account offering. It would’ve been really awesome if they offered a US Dollar denominated account. For now I guess I’ll have to stick with my normal US checking account at a competitor bank.
– Poor interest rates on their savings accounts and TFSA (tax-free savings account) offerings. If you want to earn the best interest rate look elsewhere.
OK, so now what follows is for me to use this bank account and see how it all works out. Eventually once I feel I have enough experience with the account to come to a solid conclusion I will post a final review of it, so stay tuned to this blog (better yet subscribe to the RSS feed or the mailing list)
By the way the PC Financial website can be found at http://www.pcfinancial.ca
If you already have experience with PC Financial and you’d like to share it with the rest of the world I invite you to share it over here at this financial forum:
Cheers,
Alan