Truely free chequing accounts really don't exist in Canada, there's always a catch...or at least there always used to be before Thrive.
Here is a summary of why Jordan and I are thinking about switching, 100% to ING.
- No monthly fees (deposit, withdraw, transfer - all free)
- Free, unlimited bill payments and transactions
- Free first chequebook
- Free monthly online statements
- PAYS INTEREST (0.25%)
- 24/7 Live Support
- Has ING's industry-leading security guarantee
- Free e-mail alerts
- Free ABM access the exchange network...(there are only two ABMS in my city we could use....but who pays with cash these days anyways...)
- All Interac® transactions are free
- Free Whoops! Protection
- ING will 'front' each account holder up to $250 in FREE overdraft protection
- You are given 30 days to bring your balance to $0 or above or you are billed $2.50 for every 30 days the blance is under $0
- Free E-mail money transfers
- You can get draft/certified cheques
If any of my readers don't have accounts with ING but would like to, I encourage you to check out there site at http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/. If you sign up, please feel free to use my referral code: 17396382S1. If you open an ING account and deposit $100 or more, I'll receive a $25 bonus.
I would really like to hear from all of my American readers who already use ING's chequings accounts - do you love it or do you hate it?
I use the ING checking account (here in the US). We use it as a sort of emergency card - we always have $500 in the checking account. We also use it when we need to withdraw money from our Savings accounts in cash. But we do not use it as our only checking account. We still get some checks that need to be deposited. And also we bank with Chase and they have convenient ATM locations.
ReplyDeletePC Financial offers free chequing and savings accounts.
ReplyDeleteGiven that you have a blog relating to budgets and savings - it is surprising that you have been paying 12.99 X 2 for a CIBC chequing account. Go to PC Financial asap!
ReplyDeleteI have a THRIVE chequing account with ING Direct. I received my bank card in the mail and the PIN number in a separate envelopped. I got my free cheques and customer service was amazing… UNTIL YESTERDAY !!!!
ReplyDeleteI went to one of the ATM’s which is affiliated with ING Direct (in this case, HSBC) that way I can bank for free: well believe it or not, I was unable to withdraw money or deposit a cheque at all. I was so upset!!! I spoke to customer service after trying a few times, they had me tried a million times and I kept getting various error messages (transaction denied, transaction not allowed at this terminal, transaction denied at the request of your financial institution) !!!!!!!!!! I spoke to a supervisor, NOBODY knew what was wrong or anything! No explanation was given. The only thing they could offer me is to transfer back my money into my other bank account and funds would not be available till next evening. I was so upset!! They are supposed to investigate the matter today… I don’t think ING Direct has their books in order yet, in order to do what they are trying to do. Personally, I am seriously thinking of closing up everything… because I need an account that’s reliable. Anyone else had some experiences to share??
I considered switching from my BMO chequing account to THRiVE but decided not to. This was primarily because my BMO account is effectively free (as long as I maintain the balance above a specific amount). My full review is here: http://ing-orange-key.blogspot.com/2010/11/ing-thrive-chequing-vs-bmo.html
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