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Email this6:54 pm
I see Achieva Financial's parent Cambrian Credit Union has introduced a No Fee Banking account for those that live in Manitoba called the Unfee. All you need is to have a direct deposit such as a payroll and you will have all your monthly account fees refunded to you in cash each month. Pretty sweet deal given this is a full in-branch offering. Below is their commercial I found on youtube which is actually pretty funy.
7:33 pm
I've done some more research on the Unfee offer being made by Cambrian Credit Union. If you have a recurring direct deposit, such as a payroll or pension to your account, Cambrian will refund the following service fees to your account every month:
Your monthly package account fees, all credit union ATM fees, all INTERAC Direct Payment fees, any over-the-counter withdrawal fees, any Online transfer fees, all cheque clearing fees, pre-Authorized debit fees, bill payment fees and monthly overdraft protection fees.
This can easily save the average consumer hundreds of dollars per year.
1:31 pm
Thanks for the tip. I opened my account and am in the process of moving all my day to day banking to Cambrian. They have a very functional online application that is every bit as good as the TD. Oh ya, without the $15 per month they were charging me! Glad to have caught this tip. Finally No Fee banking from a full service institution.
3:57 pm
December 12, 2009
Offline
It's not the first full-service institution with branches to offer a no-fee day-to-day banking package. Coast Capital Savings Credit Union pioneered this with its "Free Chequing, Free Debit and More Account". It could even be argued that President's Choice Financial was the true pioneer in this space and, although it may not offer in-branch transaction processing services, it does maintain a network of branches across the country called "pavilions" and is operated by CIBC. VanCity subsidiary Citizens Bank of Canada also offered short-lived no-fee chequing and savings accounts. More recently though, Canadian Western Bank launched a "virtual" subsidiary called Canadian Direct Financial that offers a no-fee chequing account to anyone who has only $5000 to put into a high rate GIC. And finally, BMO Bank of Montreal expanded its partnership with Sobeys and IGA (not IGAs in B.C. which are owned by London Drugs parent company H.Y. Louie Group) to offer no-fee chequing and savings accounts with free in-branch deposit access (withdrawal access for nominal fees) called BMO Club Sobeys.
Cheers,
Doug
5:15 pm
True enough about Coast Capital, who I've dealt with in the past and are a good organization. However, they are only available in BC, just like Cambrian is only available in Manitoba.
It is great seeing more credit unions placing further pressure on the banks. It provides consumers that much more in the way of choice and great value.
6:36 am
December 12, 2009
Offline
Yes, I agree that Coast Capital and Cambrian are only available to B.C. and Manitoba residents. The nice thing is if you're ever a B.C. or Manitoba resident, you can open an account and become a member and then if you move out of those provinces, you just update your address and retain your account. Alternatively, one could travel to B.C. or (in Coast Capital's case) open an account online, using a parent or relative's address, then update one's address online. 
Cheers,
Doug
11:14 am
Well…I've moved just over a month to this Unfee account and I'm banking for Free. In fact, they simply refund all the monthly fees back in cash to your account on th 1st of the month, saving me $200 a year in banking fees. I'm also in the process of moving my mortgage as well for an outstanding 5 yr rate of 3.24% which I just met with my old bank this afternoon who would not match this rate. Cambrian is also covering my mortgage transfer fees, which are a couple of hundred bucks. This is significant savings I wanted to share with this blog. Bye, bye banks!
7:33 pm
Do anyone know if they offer mortgages in other provinces?
6:41 am
I believe only Manitoba, however, I was told once you have a mortgage and should you move they will provide you a mortgage out of province.
8:58 am
Doug said:
It's not the first full-service institution with branches to offer a no-fee day-to-day banking package. Coast Capital Savings Credit Union pioneered this with its "Free Chequing, Free Debit and More Account". It could even be argued that President's Choice Financial was the true pioneer in this space and, although it may not offer in-branch transaction processing services, it does maintain a network of branches across the country called "pavilions" and is operated by CIBC. VanCity subsidiary Citizens Bank of Canada also offered short-lived no-fee chequing and savings accounts. More recently though, Canadian Western Bank launched a "virtual" subsidiary called Canadian Direct Financial that offers a no-fee chequing account to anyone who has only $5000 to put into a high rate GIC. And finally, BMO Bank of Montreal expanded its partnership with Sobeys and IGA (not IGAs in B.C. which are owned by London Drugs parent company H.Y. Louie Group) to offer no-fee chequing and savings accounts with free in-branch deposit access (withdrawal access for nominal fees) called BMO Club Sobeys.
Cheers,
Doug
Don't forget ING THRiVE Chequing.. IT doesn't have branches but worth a mention..
5:23 am
I checked out ING Thrive just to compare to what I have with the Unfee and while it is a good offer, the Unfee at Cambrian also payed a savings rate better than ING (the Thrive account is 0 interest), which they also include in their Free Banking offer and actually pay me an additional $1 per month for taking my statement online. I also have access to branches as well. In short, the ING offer is good, however, I'll stay where I'm at.
11:42 am
Just noticed Cambrian Credit Union continues to promote their Unfee Free Banking offer in Manitoba.
Here is what they will refund you in cash every month...
· Monthly package account fees;
· All credit union ATM fees;
· INTERAC Direct Payment fees;
· Over-the-counter withdrawal & deposit fees;
· Cheque clearing fees;
· Pre-Authorized debit fees;
· Bill payment fees;
· and Monthly overdraft protection fees.
12:16 am
December 12, 2009
Offline
Great update, cmore!
You me interested to know that I've added Achieva's Unfee package to the free Canadian chequing accounts chart & officially published this chart on the web (nice feature within Google Docs!), in an HTML format without the Google Docs toolbar to give it a more polished look. I've also suggested to Peter to add a link to this dynamically-updated chart to the "highinterestsavings.ca" home page somewhere (either top menu bar or in the footer somewhere).
official weblink: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AsrPQOw1M29-dDRrcFVpSFREWVNGSzE4Z2trUFd5dWc&output=html
short link: http://goo.gl/xUQmQ
Keep up to date via a dedicated thread, located here.
Cheers,
Doug
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