Nickle & Dimed by Big Banks

I've been an RBC customer since 1977, that's 38 years. Most of my financial products are with RBC:

• 3 chequing accounts (one US)
• 2 savings accounts
• RRSP
• RESP
• TFSA
• 2 current mortgages (and another one in the past)
• non-registered investments
• RBC Visa - but I never use it

I would think that I qualify as a loyal RBC customer. My financial planners, of which I've had four over the last 20 years, have generally been very accommodating. My US chequing account has no fees and the other two chequing accounts qualify for the multi-product rebate (when you have a mortage, investment and credit card with RBC). Excellent.

Unfortunately, the times are a-changing. Back in June, the Big Banks upped their banking fees. As it turned out... I would now have to make sure that my RBC Visa card was "active", meaning I needed to use it every 90 days. I frowned. I have a BMO MC that collects Airmiles points. That's the only card I use. I basically only have the RBC Visa because it was offered to me and when I travel, I like to have both a Visa and a MC.

I started using the Visa... but now there was one more bill to keep track of. I was less than pleased. Last week I met with my RBC financial planner. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the whole "active Visa" thing and she thought I was pulling her leg. She looked it up and to her surprise found that I was correct. I suggested that she, as a financial planner, had the power to waive fees. I played the "long-time, loyal customer" card... pointed out all of the financial products I have and have had with RBC. She said she would look into it.

When I got home, I reviewed the chequing accounts and learned, much to my surprise that one account no longer got the full multi-product rebate. I sent a disgruntled email to my financial planner. The next day she replied. She had reversed the charges for the one account and gotten the ongoing fees waived. But for the other account... I would need to keep using the Visa to get the multi-product rebate. So much for perks for loyal customers.

The bank fees for that account add up to $60/year. The other chequing account has fees that total $132/year. And neither account earns interest. I was not pleased. The RBC financial planner has been pushing me to move some pension investments from an insurance company into RBC. They want all my business. But... on their terms. Welll... guess what... it's my money and there are better deals out there.

Over the last two years, I've opened several accounts in Tangerine Banking (formerly ING Direct) - savings, chequing, investments. No fee-chequing that earns 0.25% interest.  Savings accounts that earn 1.05% interest with periodic bonus interest for new deposits. Easy online banking.

The one thing that's been stopping me from making the switch is... I think it's a hassle to move all those pre-authorized payments and bill payees. I did a bit of scouting on Tangerine yesterday and figured out that it wasn't all that hard. I even changed my Canada Revenue Agency direct deposit from RBC to Tangerine. I'm starting to make the switch.

Oh... and right now, Tangerine has a deal where if you switch your payroll direct-deposit to them, they will give you $10/month for a year... $120 is nothing to sneeze at. And in case you're wondering... Tangerine is owned by ScotiaBank so you can use your Tangerine bank card at any ScotiaBank machine... convenient.

I also learned that you can switch your RRSPs to another bank (or credit union). RBC apparently charges $135 to part with RRSPs but some receiving banks will cover that fee... I'm going to check out some local credit unions and see if they would like my investments.

I sent a reply back to financial planner asking her: (a) could I switch my safety deposit box fee from my chequing account to my savings account (my original account from 1977) and (b) how much was RBCs fee to move RRSPs. Let her chew on that when she gets into the office on Monday. I'm ditching the chequing accounts but may keep my original RBC savings account. Or not. In the end, I might move my safety deposit box to a local credit union as well.

Which would leave RBC holding our two mortgages. One is fixed and has 2.5 years left. One is variable and has just over 4 years left. My financial planner keeps telling me that we need to lock in that variable mortgage. Interest rates can't go much lower you know. She suggested that in April that we should lock-in... and guess what... interest rates dropped last week. So glad we didn't take her advice to lock-in. But of course... she works for RBC and it's in their best interests to have us lock-in when interest rates are going down. Silly me... I thought she had my best interests at heart.

So... what happens when our mortgages come up for renewal RBC? Yeah, a few thousand dollars in a chequing account aren't much of a loss for you guys... but think about the RRSP... think about the mortgages. Them's big bucks... and they are going to fly out your doors... all because a financial planner wouldn't waive $60/year fees for a loyal, long-term client. I'm tired of being nickel & dimed by bank fees. Good-bye RBC...