Good "Complement" bank to Tangerine? | Tangerine Bank | Discussion forum

I do not, and haven't for a looooooong time, had an account with the big 5. I had one with #6 (HSBC) for quite a few years until they got too uncompetitive. I moved to a credit union for my main banking, but they too lost their edge when rates started to fall. Now they are just a hub to transfer payments to and from my other institutions. I keep Tangerine around as I still have a line of credit and a few RSPs that haven't matured yet, but my main bank is now Canadian Direct Financial for all my daily banking, and People's Trust for my TFSA savings and some regular savings (it's easier to reach savings goals if I physically separate the funds, and their rates aren't bad). As for their security, they've been hit once and addressed the problem. The whole security breach was blown out of proportion IMHO. Good grief...governments have been hacked, major retailers, banks, no one is safe. No one is touching their rates right now so that's where my money is sitting. It's not locked in, earning above market rates, insured and more or less liquid. The only down side to CDF is their interface is a bit out dated and not quite convenient as virtually everyone else's, but their rates across the board are above average. The only time I regret going strictly on line is when I need a branch for something like a draft or something like that, and those times are few and far between. Haven't paid fees for basic service in years, don't see why I, you or anybody should. The banks make enough money as it is.

I have accounts with TD and CIBC for different purposes, but I pay no fees due to "senior" status. I think they now charge fees, even to seniors, but I am "grandfathered" in.
If this weren't the case, I would be highly annoyed at paying fees.

I think there is merit, though, in still having an account at a major bank. They have more capacity, more tools, than the other institutions I deal with. It's not just dealing with coins (TD has a machine, and I don't even have to roll them) and bank drafts. It's safety deposit boxes, more foreign currencies, transfers from outside the country, convenient and free bank machine access, power of attorney accounts, and no doubt many more. A lot of the smaller institutions can't or won't deal with these things.

If the Big Banks were really smart, I think they would be beefing up their in-branch service so that it was highly functional and customer-friendly, so that it really offered value that you couldn't get over the internet.
You should never have to wait for a teller when there are employees seated at desks or wandering around.
If I always ask for a desk calendar in the Fall, make sure I get one and don't tell me you ran out about a month ago and won't be getting any more and stare a me like I'm odd.
The number one priority should be on the person who walked in the door. So far, that hasn't happened.
I've moved a lot of money out of these two banks in the past year or two, and there hasn't been a peep from anyone there. They seem to be admitting that they can't compete and have nothing to offer. Even the phone companies can do better than that, with their "retention departments" and so on, ready to make a deal.
No deal, no money!

Like everything, it depends on your circumstances. If you haven't found a need for it, then don't bother.

Like any other business, banks aim to create profit. If helping you deposit coins does incur some cost, you should be willing to pay for it. Of course you can shop around to find the cheapest bank (i.e. Credit Union's no-fee chequing account). But they are not big 5.

I was in a US Costco last week standing at the manager's kiosk, waiting for someone to get an answer for me. The manager and an assistant had just removed a big bag of dimes from the vault and were pushing them through an industrial sized coin counter.

When I got there the digital display read something like $875.40. The next time I looked it read something like $904.68 which struck me as odd seeing as how it was all supposed to be dimes.

When they finished the total read $994.63 and the manager told the assistant to subtract $5.37 from "the cash count". The assistant said something like "Ok that will almost balance yesterday's overage".

I guess a bag of 10,000 dimes can be short or over 50 and no one seems to mind.

GS

Yes - that could also explain the "partial 10 cent value". My obsessive personality would have wanted 10,000 dimes in a bag of $1000.00 - not 10,001 nor 9,999. But, I surmised, what I saw was industry practice.

GS