Comment by doubled112 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by doubled112 | Hacker News Reader

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Most big banks in Canada charge for standard non-business bank accounts.

This one is TD but the others all charge the same. Why compete when you can collude?

    TD Unlimited Chequing Account
    
    Unlimited transactions for your peace of mind
    
    Annual fee rebate for the first year on select TD credit cards (up to $139)
    
    No TD ATM fee at any ATM in Canada
    
    Free Interac e-Transfer® transactions
    
    Monthly account fee of $16.95 or $0 if you maintain a daily balance of $4,000 or more

https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/products/bank-acco...

Also, $16.95/month is $203.40/year, which divided by $4,000 is 5.09%. If you can earn more than 5.09% then you are better off paying the fee and investing your $4,000 elsewhere.

It is also pretty much impossible to keep precisely $4,000 in your account because of the lumpiness of day-to-day inflows (paycheques) and outflows (bills). If you keep say $10,000 in your chequing account to (a) avoid the $16.95/fee, and (b) provide a buffer against unexpected expenses, then the breakeven return on your money is $203.40 / $10,000 = a paltry 2.03%.

Sure, you could pop it into a TD High Interest Savings Account and earn your high interest rate of 0.050%.

Wait, its 0.000% on $4,000

High interest, indeed!

Yes, and while TD is paying you 0.050%, they are loaning out your $4,000 in the form of a mortgage on which they earn 6.79%!

There are plenty of reputable banks that still pay 3-5%. Amex savings accounts are now 3.8%

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