ARH

Hi

As bank accounts is a hot topic on this forum, I can now chip in my experience. Now before I start, I know this is subjective and it depends on who you get in the branch.

Anyway I visited TD, Scotiabank, CIBC, ATB and RBC before I decided which one to go for. CIBC and RBC were a bit stand offish, both didn't give me a good feeling, both were reluctant to give me a credit card and if they did they would require a large security deposit for the first 12 months. They also gave off the impression of "oh, not another immigrant".

The new accounts manager at Scotiabank was very presumptive that I was going to give him some business and started to fill in application forms - funny chap, didn't like him, so I got up, told him what I thought and left!

TD were nice, but again required a security deposit for credit card or would only give $500 credit limit.

I went with ATB in the end. The manager was really friendly, explained everything to me, account set up in 15 minutes. Just got approval for a credit card with a decent $3k limit and no security deposit. Also they didn't charge me for cashing a sterling cheque - providing it's not more than $500 - the cash was available immediately in my account. The exchange rate was very competitive as well.

Hope this helps....

Cheers
ARH

PS - Also my branch is great when my kids come along, the receptionist gets out the colouring books. My son loves going there!

Judy in Calgary

Glad you found a bank you liked, ARH. I'm sure your information will be useful to folks who are moving to Alberta.

Just to clarify something for non-Albertans who may not know this, ATB stands for Alberta Treasury Branches.

There are other financial institutions whose names sound local or regional, but that have branches across Canada. Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia spring immediately to mind.

But in the case of ATB, the regional name really does indicate a regional presence. ATB operates only in Alberta.

ARH

Yes, absolutely - forgot to make this clear in my first post. Anyhow this should be useful for those heading to Alberta!

G77

HSBC over here in the UK seem to have cottoned onto the fact a lot of people are leaving for other countries. There's an ad running on TV at the moment which shows a family moving to vancouver and how they've opened accounts for them etc before they got there.

Also, when I picked up the draft for my sw application the other day, told the guy what it was for and he immediately offered assistance opening an account in Canada Hold on a minute cowboy.... won't be needing that account for at least another 5 years!

Don't know how helpful they are when it actually comes to doing it mind you...

gt94sss2

HSBC have just launched a global ad campaign for their HSBC Premier service which promises things like opening accounts overseas in 35+ countries within a few days and the ability to take your HSBC credit history with you..

Regards
Sunil

What Limits

Yup, I saw that advert, but did you see the qualification criteria in the small print - there won't be too many taking up their very kind offer!

G77

I'm not that observant/my eyes aren't that good - what were the conditions?

G77

Presumably these are the conditions?

Quote:

Savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC Bank or

A mortgage of £250,000 or over with HSBC Bank and an individual income of £75,000 or over to be mandated to your Premier Bank Account.

We reserve the right to introduce a monthly fee for the HSBC Premier service should you no longer meet the eligibility criteria. Your Relationship Manager will review this with you annually.

Not unreasonable to have £50K if you've just cashed in a massive wedge of equity on your house.... Might not last long once you get to Canada mind you!

gt94sss2

My parents have actually recently opened HSBC Premier accounts and there are actually a couple of ways to 'different' ways to get HSBC Premier:

1) HSBC actually offer their Premier service free for the 1st 6 months in the UK - then there is a monthly charge unless you meet the 'eligibility criteria' - but you can use that period to open up your overseas accounts etc..

2) You only need to meet the criteria/be a Premier customer in one country and you then qualify for the Premier service in all countries - I've actually read about expats 'Premier shopping'. For instance, in mainland China or India the relationship balance needed might be £30k, compared to £50k in the UK to qualify for the service for free.. and you can designate any country as your 'home' country I believe so people will open an account in the UK and then in another country and call that the 'host' one..

Its quite useful, especially in some countries where opening accounts is a pain or you may need a loan/mortgage as your credit history goes with you and the Premier current accounts are pretty well featured with virtually everything included rather than having to pay fees per cheque or transaction in many countries. They also offer free money transfers between different HSBC accounts round the world.

However:

1) HSBC UK will still open an account for you with HSBC Canada (or other countries) even if you're not a Premier customer though they may charge you a fee..

2) You could contact HSBC Canada direct and arrange to open an account - even from overseas.. and get a local UK HSBC branch to confirm your ID etc (for free)

though both of these would take longer than for HSBC Premier customers and you won't get your HSBC credit history moved over

Luckily, Canada isn't one of those countries where it is normally quite hard to open a bank account...

Regards
Sunil

G77

Sounds worth considering - I've been a customer of HSBC for 20+ years and intend on carrying that over to Canada with me....

JonboyE

I was an HSBC customer in the UK for many years. In Vancouver on a reccie trip I called into an HSBC branch and explained I was immigrating and would have a big wedge of cash from the sale of my UK home.

I showed them my passport for ID, gave them $100 to get the account underway, and was out of there in 15 minutes. It was all very simple.

As soon as I had a job here they issued me with a Mastercard without the need for a deposit.

mandymoochops

Can I just deviate slightly from the title and say - Banks in Drumheller (still Alberta!) - my experience.

When we went over for my o/h job interview and recce in May we went into RBC to change some wonga over. I cannot believe how nice / helpful / friendly all the guys were behind the desk! After 10 seconds we were chatting away like old friends and they seemed quite excited that we were moving over. So we changed our pennies and had a quick word with someone else about opening accounts when we arrive properly and the response was - "sure we can do that for you, just come on down and we''ll have it all done in less than an hour" As opposed to in the UK where the answer will be "i'm not sure how to do that for immigrants, let me ask someone - oops no-one here make an appointment and come back, without any sort of genuine emotion at all I think we can all relate to the UK customer service issues

Just their general attitude makes me so excited about living there, we were welcomed with open arms by everyone we met and it isn't a big city either I cannot recommend RBC highly enough, not sure what the t & c's are for credit cards but with customer service like we got from the outset this will be our bank of choice!

Calgary Colemans

Do you work for HSBC??

Can't help noticing all your posts are recommending them....

gt94sss2

Nope - just a customer..

But its something I looked into as my parents needed to open accounts in India and I have previously used HSBC to open accounts in the USA (and my best friend migrated to Canada :/)

Regards
Sunil