PERSONAL BANKING IN CANADA

PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT

Do you need one?

Yes. Your personal bank account is the most convenient way to handle your own finances.

Your own personal bank account in Canada is the safest way to keep your funds. DO NOT assume that cash is safe in your room, your knapsack, your wallet or your apartment.  It is not.  Although Canada may be considered a safe place, do not assume that no one would be tempted to take money, laptop computer, leather jacket, bicycles (be sure to lock your bike), etc.

In Canada, there are 5 major banks:

Bank of Montreal (BMO)
CIBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
Scotiabank
TD Canada Trust

ING Direct- is slightly different, although very secure also. They have no store-front, but have personal banking service of ATM access machines, loans, etc.

PC Financial - is a similar service that operates under CIBC.

Banks close to the University campus:

Bank of Montreal (Masonville Mall)
1680 Richmond Street North
London, Ontario
Telephone: (519) 667-6273

TD Canada Trust          (Richmond Street side of campus)
1137 Richmond Street W.
London, Ontario
Telephone: (519) 673-6020       OR

TD Canada Trust
Platt’s Lane branch
215 Oxford at Platt’s Lane
Telephone: (519) 673-6490

Choose the one closest to your home or to the School. These banks have extensive experience with international students. You should have no difficulty.

BANK SERVICES

Opening a Bank account

Every Canadian has at least one personal bank account. They have a variety of choices, savings, chequing, daily interest, etc. Some pay interest, others carry heavy charges. Personal bank accounts are convenient, easy to use and safe.

Wait until you arrive and find a place to live. Your bank should be close to home or close to school. You must have your access card with you to withdraw from an automated teller machine.

You will need identification (passport), a London, Canada home address and travellers cheques in order to deposit into the account. You need an account on which you can write cheques. (It will be necessary to write a cheque to pay for your university fees, casebooks, and your rent.)

Service charges and interest rates are similar for most banks in Canada. 

You will want to access your account online, and/or through telephone banking. The bank will give you a card for their web access, telephone banking and the ATM (see below).

Automatic Teller Machine (ATM )

Every bank in Canada has an automatic teller machine and issues an automatic teller card (also known as debit card, BankCard or Access Card). Usually the card works in any Instabank machine if it has Interac. Therefore, you can obtain money from your account regardless of the bank that supplies the machine. There is no charge to obtain a card. There may be a charge to use the ATM if it is not administered by your regular bank. The card is a "must" for your convenience.

Several banks have ATM machines on the University campus. You may obtain money from your Canada Trust account from the same machine. The Access Cards (ATM cards) may be used in most stores and restaurants also.

You might know that debit cards cannot be used in most USA stores or restaurants. This seems to be a Canadian phenomena, and a very convenient one as well.

Getting funds from home

Bring some Canadian cash with you or convert your cash to Canadian currency at the airport. Very few London banks have foreign currency exchange services. (London is in the middle of a vast country. There is very little demand for currencies other than American in London.) There is one exchange depot in Masonville Mall at Richmond & Fanshawe. Rates are similar to airport exchange depots.

Travellers cheques can be deposited directly into a personal bank account.

Overseas cheques or bankdrafts take 30-50 days to clear through the bank. The bank will hold your cheque or bank draft for the entire period, and will not give you any cash until it has been cleared. This is not a good process if you need money immediately. Bring sufficient funds in TRAVELLERS CHEQUES for your expenses for the first 6-weeks (2 months rent, food, casebooks, transportation, furniture, etc.).

Wiretransfer is the quickest way to get money into your account from abroad, but it still takes up to 6 weeks to clear.  Funds can be sent directly to this university.

Before leaving home, you could pay an advance on your credit card from which you can withdraw cash. However, you will still need a bank account to write cheques for casebooks, rent, etc.

Bank Charges

Canadian banks and trust companies (i.e. TD Canada Trust) are very competitive. There is little, if any, difference in their service charges and interest rates. 

Generally services are charged when you write a cheque or withdraw funds from your personal bank account. There should be no charge to open an account or to deposit funds.

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