I’m curious what products and services everyone uses. I like trying out new services, but it seems like the big banks are pretty effective at squashing competition.
I’ll go first: Chequing - BMO Savings - Wealthsimple Investing - Questrade with Passiv Credit cards - BMO, Costco, Amazon
I have tried Brim (credit card) and Koho (kind of a chequing account), but eventually dropped them because they couldn’t effectively replace BMO.
I’m interested to know everyone’s experiences with their banks and other financial service providers.
Edit: This thread has been amazing! Thanks for all the replies!
@MacroCyclo In terms of your main savings account, you can consider those on https://highinterestsavings.ca/chart (Tangerine could work as a backup; they also give occasional offers); if you don’t require branch services (such as writing a bank draft / guaranteed cheque), then those online banks are enough. KOHO is not really a bank account; it’s better to just treat it as a prepaid card with cashback. WS is okay for casual investing. For credit cards, just go with the rewards (assuming you pay on time).
For savings I’m using wealthsimple to buy CASH.TO. It gives a way better rate than anything on that list. It might not work for everyone, but it works for me.
That explains KOHO fairly well. I really don’t understand who would need that.
@MacroCyclo But that’s an ETF and it does take a few days to get the money out, whereas a HISA in a bank can be conveniently accessed and thus can be used as emergency funds; certain online ones (Alterna, motusbank, EQBank, etc.) very much offer the same level of functionality (bill payments, e-Transfer, direct deposit, etc.) as brick-and-mortar ones.
That’s why it works for me. In an emergency I just need to pay off my credit card at the end of the month.