Lovin' PC Financial Banking

IMHO the banks really take the p*ss here - the absence of competition (although lets hope PC and others have an impact) is really telling.

Two strategies to get the banking situation to work for you - move banks or buy stock in the one you use

When I arrived here I was amazed to find bank charges, I thought it might be because the borrow / lend spread was narrower - but it isn't. $1.50 to use a teller machine (which reduce their transactional cost), where the marginal cost is a fraction of a cent - good money if you can get it !

Just my 2cents, less service fees

ITS
(who has no connection with the banking industry beyond the fact that they take a bunch of my money every month - although not for long)

Of course you know this is wholly owned subsidiary of CIBC .

CIBC pulls the plug on Amicus division at home By SINCLAIR STEWART

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 Updated at 8:22 AM EDT

Globe and Mail Update

Amicus Bank, the electronic banking company that was once the linchpin of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's North American retail expansion strategy, will be boarded up this fall and rolled into its parent company as a cost-saving measure.

CIBC created Amicus several years ago to oversee President's Choice Financial, a joint venture with grocery retailer Loblaw Cos. Ltd., as well as separate partnerships with U.S.-based supermarket chains Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. and Safeway Inc.

The U.S. experiment failed miserably, and after losing tens of millions of dollars each quarter, the bank was forced to close its division south of the border and take a $366-million charge in late 2002.

Amicus Bank lived on in Canada as the unit that provided banking services to PC Financial, but with no major growth plans on the horizon, CIBC has decided it does not make financial sense to operate a separately registered bank.

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PC Financial customers will be unaffected by the move, and will still have access to all their regular perks, such as no-fee banking and high-interest savings accounts. In a letter sent Monday to PC Financial customers, CIBC said that any financial services provided by Amicus would be transferred to its direct banking division on Oct. 31.

"There's no change to the relationship with Loblaw, there is no change to our strategy in Canada, and there's no change to our client offer," said Stephen Forbes, a spokesman for the bank. "It's basically invisible to the client."

He added that CIBC will reap some "minor" tax efficiencies and savings from winding up Amicus as a separate legal entity.

The Amicus thing just goes to show you though that PC Financial and arguably even ING exist in Canada at the whim of the big banks. Until the federal government allows more foreign competition in the banking sector, the Canadian banks will continue doing whatever they want to when it comes to fees.

xarir said:

The Amicus thing just goes to show you though that PC Financial and arguably even ING exist in Canada at the whim of the big banks. Until the federal government allows more foreign competition in the banking sector, the Canadian banks will continue doing whatever they want to when it comes to fees.

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Agree 100%. ING, ICICI, Citibank, HSBC, and Manulife Trust are gaining market share with their no service fee policy.

BTW, ING offers 1 of the highest saving rate with no minimum. If only they have more ATM, it would help acceptance. Yes, all shill.

PC Financial also gives a credit card to virtually anybody, while the strict goons at BMO's "Mosaik" expect you to be Bill Gates to issue you a credit card.

Why aren't people flocking to PC financial in droves?

Remember the days when the big banks paid you to be their customer? (i.e. interest-bearing chequing accounts with no service charges/minimum balances)

Any chance of that ever happening again?

About the only downside . . .

. . . of PC Financial and other internet banks may be trying to close your account . . . especially if you're dead!!!

Had a relative die suddenly in his mid-40s and, with even a top-ranked law firm handling the estate, it was a major pain tyring to get death certficates, etc. to the bank. Not going to drop them off at a grocery store, am I? Finally got straightened out but not without a bit of grief for the executors.

Actually the personal contact (which is exactly what on-line banking is NOT for) is the one thing missing from on-line banking. For emergencies, face to face contact, personal service (they know you and your banking history personally) it might be a good idea to have at least one "street corner" (even if the corner is two towns away!!) account.

Gord's Bro

BoA + ING

t8rs said:

Remember the days when the big banks paid you to be their customer? (i.e. interest-bearing chequing accounts with no service charges/minimum balances)

Any chance of that ever happening again?

Click to expand...

You can do this with ING Direct Savings plus a free BoA (or other bank) checking acct with direct deposit (in the States anyway).

You have the accounts linked (via ING). Just keep the money in ING until you want to use it. To transfer to checking, transfer online through ING website. The money gets transferred next business day. BoA, in particular, has a lion's share of things you can do online.

Both BoA and ING have no minimum balances. Fees, if any, are for things like bouncing a check or using out of network ATMs.

baltimoron said:

You can do this with ING Direct Savings plus a free BoA (or other bank) checking acct with direct deposit (in the States anyway).

You have the accounts linked (via ING). Just keep the money in ING until you want to use it. To transfer to checking, transfer online through ING website. The money gets transferred next business day. BoA, in particular, has a lion's share of things you can do online.

Both BoA and ING have no minimum balances. Fees, if any, are for things like bouncing a check or using out of network ATMs.

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I don't believe there is any Canadian bank that offers that kind of a chequing account anymore (and as I pointed out, there used to be interest-bearing ones albeit at a lower rate than savings accts.).

Keebler Elf said:

I recently switched over from one of the major banks to PC Financial. Wow, what a difference! My service charges dropped from $15-20 a month to ZERO! And it's SO much more convenient to not have to worry about making unnecessary transactions; with free banking I just use as much as I want rather than taking out a large whack of cash in advance (I'm probably saving money as a result of this as well).

.

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Amazing we agree on something , I have been with PC for 2 years and love it.
Regular banks I hate , they only want to lend you money if you have tons and they want to sell you services.

t8rs said:

Remember the days when the big banks paid you to be their customer? (i.e. interest-bearing chequing accounts with no service charges/minimum balances)

Any chance of that ever happening again?

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I still have one, although they now ask for a minimum balance of 1K, don't pay much interest but there are no charges either.

Ahh....

Kommander1975 said:

PC Financial also gives a credit card to virtually anybody, while the strict goons at BMO's "Mosaik" expect you to be Bill Gates to issue you a credit card.

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You actually think it's a GOOD thing that it's a joke to apply for and receive a credit card? Oh.....kay.

baltimoron said:

You can do this with ING Direct Savings plus a free BoA (or other bank) checking acct with direct deposit (in the States anyway).

You have the accounts linked (via ING). Just keep the money in ING until you want to use it. To transfer to checking, transfer online through ING website. The money gets transferred next business day. BoA, in particular, has a lion's share of things you can do online.

Both BoA and ING have no minimum balances. Fees, if any, are for things like bouncing a check or using out of network ATMs.

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Until enough public pressure or lose significant market share, the big 5 banks will continue the service fee and minimum balance. Too bad Canada Trust was brought by TD.

Hoping ING, HSBC, Citibank grab more market share in Canada to teach big 5 a lesson. Too bad B of A backed off expand into Canada.

Im still nervous when it comes to online/telephone banking. Can someone please answer the following questions.

Is this method of banking safe? How so?
have you experienced any problems? (Switching over accounts, money transfers?)
I have bill payments that automatically come out of my account. How is easy is it to set this up at PC?
Is it convient?
Who do i yell at when something goes wrong?
Are you satisfied with the banking and the service?

Please help put my mind at ease. SO i too can enjoy PC banking.

Thanks

I think it's important that we keep the big 5 banks strong. They are more or less world players. It provides good jobs for local guys too. Let PC have the fee conscious clients.

Meister said:

I think it's important that we keep the big 5 banks strong. They are more or less world players. It provides good jobs for local guys too. Let PC have the fee conscious clients.

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W hy can't we have both , the big 5 don't have to nickel and dime people to death. People should switch to P.C. just to teach banks a lesson.

booboobear said:

W hy can't we have both , the big 5 don't have to nickel and dime people to death. People should switch to P.C. just to teach banks a lesson.

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It may not be feasible to do this. The banks have to operate separate branches, tellers etc... They don't have a food store where they can put a little booth inside.