Availability outside of Ontario | Page 2 | DUCA Credit Union | Discussion forum

Peter said
The topic of DUCA being listed in our comparison chart was brought up in the Tangerine Q4 2017 promo thread.

One of the criteria for being included in the chart is that the bank is accessible to people in all provinces and territories. If Quebec is excluded, this is noted in the chart.

There is no direct reference to DUCA's availability outside of Ontario on their website. I contacted DUCA customer support, and the answer is that DUCA is not permitted to operate or solicit outside of Ontario, although their by-laws state this:

2.01 Membership in the Credit Union shall be limited to:

(a) Persons who, if individuals, whether minors or adults, reside or are employed in any province or territory of Canada;

So, it sounds like anybody can open a DUCA account, but DUCA is not allowed to publicly say so.  

Peter, don't rely on their "terms and conditions" for inclusion in the chart. It's not always accurate. Credit unions are particularly bad for stating that provincial residency is a requirement but, based on what other forum users have said and DUCA has said as well privately, Ontario residency isn't a requirement. You have to confirm with them independently to see whether they allow non-virtual account openings. This is what I do for the "free chequing" chart. 🙂

If you've already removed Ideal Savings or DUCA, I'd like to see them restored while I seek independent confirmation of this (if it's required, though I don't think it should be).

Cheers,
Doug

Loonie said
There is a subtle but important difference between between inability to "solicit" or "operate" versus open to all "persons who reside in Canada".

DUCA can't "operate" in other provinces, i.e. have offices or address there, because it is a provincially regulated organization. It has no legal right to operate elsewhere as a financial institution. Similarly, it can't advertise ("solicit") outside of Ontario.
However, it can passively accept accounts from people who live elsewhere in Canada - as per by-laws.

As I recall, the situation is the same for the MB CUs. There is a reason why they don't advertise in Ontario, but Ontarians can and do have accounts there.

I think it's very annoying though that they would insist on a hard credit check when no borrowing is asked for.  

That's mostly correct, Loonie, though I'd add some provinces do restrict out-of-province residents to sign up with any of their regulated credit unions (currently, B.C., Alberta and likely Quebec). However, as you suggest, they can passively accept sign-ups from out-of-province residents in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, some entirely online. It depends on the credit union in each of those provinces and most allow it but, currently at least, require finalization in-branch. In Ontario, DUCA and Meridian allow fully online sign-ups. 🙂

As for the hard check, while annoying somewhat, these have little effect on one's credit score and only if you make more than, say, 6-7 hard credit checks per year. I've had 2-3 in the last 12 months and my credit score has gone up substantially , owing mostly to my total available/authorized credit having gone up and my credit utilization decreased.

Cheers,
Doug

While no longer marketed, the term trust is both provincially- and/or federally-regulated. If they are carrying on deposit-taking activities, they are required to be incorporated under the federal Trust and Loan Companies Act. If they are providing certain custodial or recordkeeping services, they may require federal supervision and/or incorporation but it depends on the activities and the size of the business (i.e., a small provincially-incorporated trust company that provides trust services for insolvency or estate management purposes).

The "Big 5" banks still maintain trust company subsidiaries (several for each in some cases), largely to hold legal lien status for mortgages or other real estate-secured lending and deposit-gathering activities from bank customers or from third-party deposit brokers. They are used for holding greater than $100,000 with a federally-regulated bank across multiple bank and trust company subsidiaries that can still be CDIC insured and are typically available within the same online banking system but "product coded" to signify its CDIC issuer status. It may also follow a separate account numbering scheme and would be issued under a separate transit & institution number. 🙂

Still, some trust companies still market themselves as such, like Peoples Trust Company or also Peace Hills Trust Company, owned by the Hobbema First Nation of Alberta, with 1-2 branches in 8-10 of Canada's provinces.

Also, I noticed that a recently renovated Mission Place Shopping Centre branch of TD Canada Trust has had its signage changed, dropping the "Canada Trust" from the sign. So, I wonder if TD is undergoing a rebranding to just "TD" as they renovate/consolidate/build new branches?

Cheers,
Doug

Footnote: An even more "rare breed" of federally-regulated company is the "loan and mortgage company," which can gather deposits as well. I think there's less than a dozen right now, some of which are in the process of winding up and consolidating in with their parent company. 🙂

Ontario definitely allows out of province members to join its credit unions, so this is likely a policy change on the part of DUCA, which is really too bad. 🙁

In the end, they never did get added to the comparison chart; however, this will affect their standing in each of the "free chequing" and "services" charts, where availability to all Canadians, with the exception of Quebec, is generally a requirement. I'll add that to my list of updates to make, sometime in May.

Edit: Nevermind, just checked, for the "free chequing" chart, it's not a requirement, but I will update that out of province residents aren't permitted when I get around to looking into it and updating it in April.

Thanks for letting us know!

Cheers,
Doug

Just called Duca, she said bylaws have changed. It's just for Ontario residents only.

I believe it only applies to new customers .
If you already have an account opened before the bylaws changed,then you should be fine.

Righto Loonie, they haven’t booted me back to the PQ yet!
This will improve the competition!

Saver-Mom said
... This will improve the competition!  

If you mean help out those smaller CUs and FIs trying to gain share to compete, probably, but it'll be at the margins, at best. DUCA was not a major player outside of Ontario, especially after the closure of that Zenbanx partnership, despite the mentions they get on these forums. 🙂

Cheers,
Doug

Peter said

There is no direct reference to DUCA's availability outside of Ontario on their website. I contacted DUCA customer support, and the answer is that DUCA is not permitted to operate or solicit outside of Ontario, although their by-laws state this:

2.01 Membership in the Credit Union shall be limited to:

(a) Persons who, if individuals, whether minors or adults, reside or are employed in any province or territory of Canada;

So, it sounds like anybody can open a DUCA account, but DUCA is not allowed to publicly say so.  

Hello Peter. Greetings from British Columbia.

https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/forum/duca-credit-union/anybody-outside-of-ontario-with-a-duca-account/#p75580 says that you need to be a resident of Ontario in order to open the account. The website poster reference duca's FAQ

Why would any company or institution limit the number of customers they serve? Why won't they want to have more profit? I don't get it