Bank Recommendations

When I lived in Vancouver I used to bank with the Canadian Western Bank. They are a small provincial bank in BC but had amazing service, low fees, and everyone was very friendly and trustworthy. I travel a lot with work and never once had an issue with using ATM's with their bank card or their credit card anywhere in the US or Europe

When I came back to Ontario a couple of years ago I went to the Royal. Its been hell. Almost everytime I use my bank card in the US or Europe they freeze my accounts. I was at CES in January and tried to take out $200 from the casino in the Cromwell and they froze my account as it looked suspicious since it was from a casino. Its also happened when I filled up at the On Route in Trenton last week.

Same with the credit card they gave me. Its unusable. Their policies are like something out of the 18th century, catering to people who never travel more than 5 miles from home throughout their whole life... LOL. On my last trip to the US my corporate credit card was maxed out but I had prepaid for the hotel and I though I would be fine with the Royal credit card. When the Hotel swiped it for incidentals it was declined and I ended up spending the night in the rental car, even though I had prepaid

When you complain you get the same excuse, "you are a bad risk when using your card abroad" WTF??? What does that even mean???

They also somehow "lost" a self directed RRSP investment account I had with them I had to bring them in a paper statement to prove that I actually had an account. They managed to "find" it three weeks later.

My online banking access has been suspended since January 15th because I accessed it from San Jose

Anyway, I'm done with these useless assclowns. Mismanagement is systemic right up to McKay. Totally useless

So the question is: TD, CIBC, Scotia or BMO. I'm leaning more towards TD or Scotia. I was a TD customer before moving to BC and never really had any major problems with them. Thoughts or horror stories about the others????

I'm also going to get an AMEX. It's not accepted in as many places as Visa but there is no limit so its good to have in the wallet for emergencies

I've traveled non-stop all around the world for years with a TD ATM and credit card. Back around 2012, when they were using the Cirrus network, the ATM's wouldn't recognize TD bank cards, but since they've moved over to the Visa network, there's been very little problem.

I do plan ahead if I'm making large $$$ purchases or withdrawals and call the bank ahead of time so they don't suspend the transaction. But anything $200 or less goes through with no advance warning required.

was with Scotia for many years
they killed my CC once over location - was in Dubai at 2 AM trying to check into a hotel
and a few other times over suspected fraud
other than they they were good, except for the ever increasing fees

switched to CIBC around 5 years ago
they are fine too, and they're fees are the same
they have yet to kill a CC as I move around

I've traveled pretty much constantly last dozen years or so
for road warriors I'd suggest having 3 cards in the wallet

I'd also recommend a decent, paid VPN for online banking
put yourself virtually in Canada and no security concerns with your data

I've banked with RBC since I was kid, never really had any issues with them. Sure I have had a couple of rage inducted issues with customer service, mostly with the low levels ones who are just going by the script they follow. But kick it up a rank and usually they respond better. I've been all over traveling and haven't had any issues like you describe. Actually they have helped secure some issues and resolved things without any problems or much of my own intervention. I've thought about switching to another bank but in my area I have more RBC locations and well that works better for me, vrs only having 1 each of the others.

This is no defense, just sharing my experience. I have limited banking experience with the others but I have CC with Scotia and don't feel the service is any better. They all try to stonewall the customers these days until you pressure them for real service. Most companies seem to operate like this, kinda like fake service, more about themselves then servicing customers.

Lastly I wouldn't bank with CIBC ever. They have security issues. I used to work for a supplier for them and we use to hear all kinds of things that just didn't seem right.

RBC since '99, no issues, protected from card 3x (swiped card being read).

I always travel with multiple cards and always let the banks know when/where i go. Takes 5 minutes and saves me the hassle.

Here is the deal from a financial institution perspective.

Op is a new customer to them. Moved from BC to Ontario. Zero history here.

Also travelling to US and cash withdrawals at US casino.

For every innocent customer that does this, it’s not a problem when they are familiar with the customer, have a history and record of activity.

I’ve had my bank refuse a bank withdrawal in Montreal and when I called the customer service number on the card and did some verification, they released the hold as they could confirm the hotel I was staying and could track my movements from Ontario to Montreal.

Saying all that, larger institutions can manage this better than smaller ones.

TD is pretty good for USD accounts, credit products and access to everything. It does favour eastern sea board travel as they have physical branches in Florida and the Carolinas etc.

Even then, the clients are senior snow birds that have 5th wheel travel trailers and their bank card & credit card use and history is well established.

Op. Obtaining new credit with your recent relocation isn’t going to help matters. It’s new credit for someone that has relocated.

You may find things at RBC get better after some time.

I’m a local fella and recommend Meridian for a local personal experience.

I’m just not sure by changing to any new financial institution and the activity profile you have will go any differently than RBC.

They will share similar concerns as they are on the hook for any fraud losses.

And believe me, it happens. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are fraud central in Canada. And casinos have everyone from fraud to legit customers liquidating their accounts and advances on credit to some large losses and it’s not easy to collect. At the very least, costly to get whole again.

Again, TD for North American banking is your best bet for access and cost control. But it’s also big bank experience can be underwhelming with centralized and outsourced customer service centres etc.


Good luck!






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I would echo the TD sentiment.

Was a long time Royal Bank customer, since I was a kid, and went through similar ****. I used to travel a lot and always ended up with some sort of problem. I complained so much that they eventually told me to take my business else where so I did.

Been with TD for about 4 years and my experience has been much like LightCycles above. Never been refused with my TD bank or CC. I have both US and CDN accounts. They are linked and it makes moving money back and fourth really easy + TD have bricks and mortar banks in the US so you can walk in if you are having a problem.

I also like the TD Waterhouse direct investing site. It’s very intuitive. Much better that RBC Action Direct and much better research tools for the same price.

To me RBC is like some company from the 50’s being run by a club of old white men and a token woman. Catch up with the times guys... LOL.

Been with RBC since I was a teen....but also have cards from other banks. Mix Visa and MC. Never have all your eggs in one basket. President's Choice, now Simplii, has been alright for the last couple of decades I've been with them.

I've found them all equally bad at things at different times. I've worked for CT, CIBC and CT, over the years.
Different stories for each, but in every case, you wonder how could they let that happen?
It all depends on who you get servicing you.
I've never had a problem with the RBC cc, and it saved our bacon in Italy when my wife's wallet was stolen.

I've had a non RBC card refused, because I gassed up twice within a short period of time at different stations.

If you're traveling, let them know where and when, once they get a good history of your movements, you won't have to do it anymore.

My other thought is how relevant are bank and credit cards in today's world anyway? If I think about my purchasing habits everything I buy on line is through Pay Pal. If I grab a coffee its normally through the Starbucks or other app. When I'm travelling I normally stay at Marriott and swipe my phone at the front desk for Apple Pay, not a credit card.

All my accounts are virtual. Its not like the bank has a shoe box in their vault with all my money in it. Its just numbers in a database that increase and decrease so arguably that account could be managed by Apple or Google. I think all banks are in for a world of hurt in the future

Let's not get started on PayPal.

Baggsy said:

Let's not get started on PayPal.

Click to expand...

No let's. It's a US bank and you get major grief if any transaction mentions and word that disagrees with US foreign policies.

My main CC is TD Visa. Never a problem in North America. Haven't used it anywhere else.

I think they are still relevant. I have never shopped on line. I don't even have a valid email address anymore. I withdraw cash for my weekly spending and use my one debit card for the rest. The cc seems to only get used by pro6 and if I have to reserve something. I used to hate having to call them when I was OOC too. None of your business where I am. Fight I never won.
For what it's worth I've been with a credit union since I started working. No problems so far but I'm a very simple person when I spend

I could pretty much cut and paste Riceburner's post. Been with RBC for 45 years. Never had any sort of freeze on my account, including being able to cheque deposit then immediately daily max withdraw cash at an ATM since the 70s. VISA + LoC with them, MC with PC. Everything linked to my phone + watch. Cheque deposits all done on phone. Virtually all transactions done with my watch unless I'm at some dinosaur store like Wally World that doesn't have NFC. Don't travel much, but when I do (QC,AZ), I never have any issues.

Delboy said:

My other thought is how relevant are bank and credit cards in today's world anyway? If I think about my purchasing habits everything I buy on line is through Pay Pal. If I grab a coffee its normally through the Starbucks or other app. When I'm travelling I normally stay at Marriott and swipe my phone at the front desk for Apple Pay, not a credit card.

All my accounts are virtual. Its not like the bank has a shoe box in their vault with all my money in it. Its just numbers in a database that increase and decrease so arguably that account could be managed by Apple or Google. I think all banks are in for a world of hurt in the future

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Your Apple pay is tied to a credit card is it not?
Your Pay Pal is feed through a bank account or credit card is it not?

No credit union recommendations? Meridian, FirstOntario, DUCA

I've had CIBC CC shut down in Costa Rica (even though I called ahead to inform) and again in Ottawa for a motorcycle purchase. Had that CC for about 12yrs. My Scotia card has been better. I've also been with Scotia for 15yrs and customer service has been good to me. The one time there was fraud activity on my card it was dealt with quickly and easily.
Institution themselves have been good to deal with in person as well.
My parents are with RBC only because they're in a remote town and it's the only bank nearby. The annoyances they've told me about them would keep me away from RBC purely from spite now.

Between my wife and I we have bank accounts with RBC, TD, CIBC, Scotia and Tangerine. Primary Mastercard is Triangle (previously known as CT), also have Amex (no bank affiliation) and Avion Visa (RBC). All are meh. Tangerine may be the least annoying of the bunch, but I don't know if I could deal with them as my primary bank. Sometimes you need things to happen quickly and the best way is to go to a branch and talk to people.

I had an unplanned business trip to South Korea. ATM withdrawal with RBC wasn't cooperative, CIBC worked fine. All credit cards worked fine. Nothing got locked.

If you make two large purchases in quick succession on Triangle mastercard, they call you while processing the second transaction. I think the third would be shut down if you didn't talk to them. We had that card compromised at least twice, it was relatively quick, easy and cost nothing each time.

I intentionally spread across institutions so I am not SOL if one has issues. Most waive fees if you keep a minimum balance (which has been climbing recently and may cause me to reconsider having so many accounts if it continues to climb).

I do have a VPN setup so if something gets locked, I can pretend I'm in Canada and send the bank a message. Phones also work overseas so worst-case I can call the banks from the telephone number they have registered and tell them to fix it.

I just bought RBC stock so it is against my best interests to steer you away from RBC.

another road warrior suggestion:

a USD prepaid Visa card
bank currency exchange rates/fees suck
it's handy to have a few hundred bucks on a debit card
for airport purchases etc....most places will do the transaction in USD if you ask them

and it lessens the chance of your CC getting locked if you end up in 2 or 3 different places in a day

JavaFan said:

another road warrior suggestion:

a USD prepaid Visa card
bank currency exchange rates/fees suck
it's handy to have a few hundred bucks on a debit card
for airport purchases etc....most places will do the transaction in USD if you ask them

Click to expand...

That's assuming you have USD on hand. Otherwise, you're just pushing the forex fee from Visa (which charges 2.5%) to the bank or forex service, which will still take 1-1.5% to exchange your CAD to load up your USD prepaid card, depending on the amount transferred.

Better to use a 0% forex fee card. I had the Amazon Chase card which had a 0% forex fee for any currency back to Canadian $. Unfortunately, they discontinued that card last year, but there are two others that popped up to replace it:

Home Trust Preferred Visa: no forex fee, no annual fee, 1% cashback
Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite: no forex fee, $139 annual fee, 2x Scotiapoints on groceries, entertainment, dining and transit (which you can convert back to cashback at 10:1 Scotiapoints:CAD)

I actually have both, and although the Scotiabank card has an annual fee (I got the first year waived), I calculated that you make that back after $700 of groceries/dining/entertainment/etc. And then the cashback accrues much faster than the 1% of the Home Trust, which has no annual fee.

Plus you get 6 PriorityPass airport lounge passes each year, which if you're doing a lot of air travel is invaluable for long layovers.

Sounds like you do a lot of travel, you should check out the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite.