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Transfer out and close accounts
April 3, 2016
9:20 am
Atlas
Nunavut
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My wife has been banking with CIBC for about ten years now. Currently she only maintains two accounts with them - a personal savings and a personal chequing. She has no other financial ties to CIBC other than those two accounts (no RRSPs, no GICs, no LOCs, no CC, etc.). She does, however, have her direct deposits tied to her CIBC chequing account (payroll, UCCB, and CRA).

We're considering transferring out all monies and direct deposits from CIBC to her Tang accounts, and then closing the CIBC. There is, in my mind, no incentive for her to stay with CIBC - higher minimum account balances, higher transaction fees, near 0% interest for the savings, and a slew of conditions that need to be met in order to avoid paying additional fees. The nearest CIBC branch is in Iqaluit, and most banking transaction are completed online anyways, aside from the ABM machines are our local co-op and Northern stores.

On the flipside, she opened a Tang chequing and savings almost 6 months ago, and has been utilizing the new client interest promo, which ends in late April.

In terms of process and procedure, is there an opinionated "best"/consensus way to approach this transfer? We do have the option of Tang's Switch Assistant, but we'd like more personal control of the transfer of monies and closing of the CIBC accounts. Any thoughts, any advice or details to take into consideration?

April 3, 2016
10:18 am
kanaka
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I would consider going on the government website and change your account info for UCCB and CRA. Payroll would be done by her as a request to her employer. Transfer existing money over to Tangerine. Once you see deposits in the new account for all 3 and the transferred funds. Logon CIBC using the internal email asking to close the account. Keep the closing account information to/from in black and white and screen print your emails for your records. I would not trust anyone to handle the changes other than yourself.

Things to consider.
No CIBC credit cards?
What impact will you have for accessing funds at an ATM?

I know nothing about Tangerine and what ATMs you can use free of charge. I have considered doing similar moving all funds and adjust auto debits and credits from Coast Capital credit union to BMO and then I remind myself.......if I am out of my community and need say $100. I can use any credit union ATM if I can't find a BMO to avoid ATM fees. So our conclusion is to keep BMO and Coast Capital. Any major savings are with the high interest institutions.

April 3, 2016
10:23 am
Norman1
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Tangerine does not have to be involved. One can directly contact CRA and one's employer to find out the procedure to change the direct deposit account from CIBC to one of her Tangerine accounts. CRA's procedure is at CRA: Frequently asked questions about direct deposit.

I would keep the CIBC accounts open until I see the payroll and CRA direct deposits appear in the Tangerine account(s). Sometimes, the cutover is not immediate and can take one or two processing cycles.

April 3, 2016
3:48 pm
AltaRed
BC Interior
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Agree with others. No need to involve Tangerine. Keep CIBC account open until it is clear changes are logged right.

CRA direct deposit can be changed immediately via MyAccount. Probably have to google Service Canada site to see how to change banking information for other acccounts such as UCCB. And the employer will have a process to advise them of a change in banking information.

Note that when one closes an account (in this case CIBC), the institution actually does not delete all account information. It tags the account as dormant or inactive. I closed a CIBC chequing account 2 years ago and if I wanted to go back to CIBC, they'd have my old account number ready to be activated again. They say it is simpler that way.

April 4, 2016
11:31 am
Atlas
Nunavut
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Things to consider.
No CIBC credit cards?
What impact will you have for accessing funds at an ATM?

No CIBC credit card.
Minimal impact on accessing funds - since our ATMs in town are not institutionalized (not an RBC, not CIBC, etc.). If anything, our ATMs usage fee will be reduced (but not eliminated entirely). The manager at the local store may be able to provide additional information about which ATM network they use at the store.

We use a similar strategy when out of town, we are able to access fund from a couple of my "big five" accounts. We have no concern on that front.

Her UCCB and CRA can, and will be, updated once her MyAccount letter is received. I used my own MyAccount to see what was accessible, and, amongst one or two others, both UCCB and CRA direct deposit changes can be done through MyAccount.

April 5, 2016
5:19 pm
SavingIsGood
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WOW! Member from Nunavut!? I thought nobody lives there except polar bears... Just joking :)
Do you guys really have those Polar Lights? That part of country is really like another planet to me. Nevertheless, I would like to visit it, for sure! Most likely driving there would be a challenge first class...

On financial side, does stores offer you, forgot the term, to give you extra cash if you pay debit? So then you do not have to go ATM. I hate fees with passion. Could you just write cheques? Sorry, I haven't seen nor used cash for ages... use plastic exclusively.
You mentioned 'payroll tied to CIBC'. Let her ask employer if she can change payroll deposit to fin.inst. of her choice. Some companies have exclusive agreement with big banks and you cannot change it. All other auto-deposits/debits are easy to switch from one to another fin.inst.

April 6, 2016
4:21 am
Atlas
Nunavut
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SavingIsGood said

WOW! Member from Nunavut!? I thought nobody lives there except polar bears... Just joking :)
Do you guys really have those Polar Lights? That part of country is really like another planet to me. Nevertheless, I would like to visit it, for sure! Most likely driving there would be a challenge first class...

On financial side, does stores offer you, forgot the term, to give you extra cash if you pay debit? So then you do not have to go ATM. I hate fees with passion. Could you just write cheques? Sorry, I haven't seen nor used cash for ages... use plastic exclusively.
You mentioned 'payroll tied to CIBC'. Let her ask employer if she can change payroll deposit to fin.inst. of her choice. Some companies have exclusive agreement with big banks and you cannot change it. All other auto-deposits/debits are easy to switch from one to another fin.inst.

I think the 2011 Census estimated 34,000 people in Nunavut, with an above average birth rate. So we're growing. Local news sources have suggested that the 2016 census (which has been completed in Nunavut btw) will reveal lower than expected estimates, mainly because a large number of people refused to participate in the census because it was not provided in Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun (two of four official languages in the territory). But that discussion is not really for this forum.

The Northern Lights are best at latitudes similar to Yellowknife, NWT. We are, however, more north and farther east.

The stores do not offer cash-back services at POS transactions. Each store maintains 1 or 2 'white label' ATM which charge a $2.75 convenience fee (plus the $1.50 interac fee) and their customer service charges a $2.00 fee per $200.00 cash withdrawal. Their "WE Financial Services", as I currently understand, is rather confusing: they offer prepaid debit cards issued by BNS on the Visa network, but the terminal services and ATMs are 'white label', and their cheque clearing is done by RBC. I figure the company owns the ATMs. I've been in contact their HQ Winnipeg office to get a little more information, but have not received a call-back.

Here's a CBC North feature surrounding this topic of banking fees.

I too dislike fees, but at this point, again, we're attempting to reduce our banking fees. The move from CIBC to Tang, given our transaction history (ATM and POS usage) and new CIBC conditions in place to receive preferential fee treatment, will save us about 500.00 per year fees, surcharges and the additional fees. We can not avoid the fees - our babysitter does not have any sort of bank account, so we are obligated to pay cash, and we incur fees of the cash withdrawal from the ATM or at customer service.

Her employer does not have any sort of exclusively agreement to a particular financial institution. Generally speaking, people here utilize one of 5 ways to receive their pay: direct deposit to RBC, CIBC, First Nations Bank of Canada, WE Link Card, or cheque. Believe it or not, a payroll cheque remains the most popular form. However, if a blizzard takes place on Thursday afternoon, and the plane is cancelled, people do not receive their cheque.

April 6, 2016
1:03 pm
dentgal
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Any news from President's Choice??
I just got the 3% offer, but only on NEW FUNDS up to $500K.
So, if you already had money in there, it doesn't qualify as new funds:(
This is the part that i hate.

April 6, 2016
4:28 pm
SavingIsGood
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It looks like 'Atlas' and the other people from White North are ripped off left and right. Shame!
Do you by any chance, for the lack of better word belong to 'native people'?

April 7, 2016
9:36 pm
Atlas
Nunavut
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SavingIsGood said

It looks like 'Atlas' and the other people from White North are ripped off left and right. Shame!

It probably comes down to lack of competition for a populous of 35,000 or so distributed over an area 1/5 the size of Canada. Not a huge market to say the least. Logistics, weather, air travel, etc. are all factors in the overall scheme of things here. Two corporations - Arctic Co-op Limited and The North West Company - possess nearly 100% of the retail market in Nunavut. Options like Amazon, Walmart, and other online retailers have caught on in the last 3 years to the costs associated with offering free shipping to remote areas of Canada, and have adjusted their policies accordingly (aka. they don't do it anymore, too expensive). There are seasonal options - summer sealift. We ship up about 8 months worth of dry and household goods purchasing at Ontario prices. And there is ALWAYS country food - caribou, seal, beluga, etc. Full of nutrients, and the healthiest food on the market.

The long and storied history of these companies go back 50+ years and 150+ years, respectively, and like others in Canada, people here have loyalty to brands and corporations. Politics are at play too - the Harper Government scrapped the long standing "Food Mail" Program and introduced the "Nutrition North" program. The old program any individual or organization or company could purchase foodstuffs from any company "down south" and cargo it priority via Canada Post at a flat rate per kilogram. This new program only the major players who can do high volume - Arctic Coop and NWC - have the advantage. These two retail companies negotiate with the two major airlines here - First Air and Canadian North - for the best cargo rates. In addition to that, the federal subsidy that was applied previously to compensate for the flat rate Canada Post under the old program, is now given to the companies. The companies are supposed to, then, pass those savings onto the customers. In northern terms, its a beast of a program and very few people, including myself, fully understand it.

Similarly, there are few options for financial services in Nunavut, particularly the communities outside the regional centres of Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay. In Iqaluit, for example, there full service branches of RBC, CIBC and First Nation Bank of Canada. There was a full service BMO branch, but they jumped ship about 7 years ago. I can't drive a vehicle to Iqaluit from my town, and a 2.5 hour one-way flight dings someone around $600-$700.

Reducing fees can be one financial objective.

Do you by any chance, for the lack of better word belong to 'native people'?

Funny, never been asked that. I'm just long-time northerner / Ontario ex-patriot.

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