TD Canada Trust Value Plus/Value Account

Early 2008, I graduated from school and TD started to charge me $8.95 per month to maintain the Value Plus Account. If you keep $2,000 in the account, the fee is waived but I’m currently in debt repayment mode so I’m not in the position to leave that much just sitting idle in the account.

A better setup I thought, was to keep the TD Chequing account and downgrade to the Value account, which only charges a monthly fee of $3.95. The Value account is cheaper because it is much more limited with only 10 transactions allowed per month versus the 25 for a Value Plus account. Other differences are outlined in the table below. Now if you don’t have much chequing activity, you can just leave your account as is. For myself however, I perform a lot of cash withdrawals, online payments, and transfers with my chequing account so I had to find a cheaper equivalent of an Infinity account.

TD Canada Trust Chequing Account Pros

• More TD Green Machines
• In-branch teller service for deposits, money orders, etc.
• Good web user interface for online banking
• Maintain banking relationships with local branch

TD Canada Trust Chequing Account Cons

• Limited chequing activity or transactions allowed
• High fees for going over the transaction limit
• Expensive cheques

President’s Choice No Fee Bank Account

In comes the No Fee Bank Account from President’s Choice Financial (PCF). This account is free from monthly fees and provides unlimited chequing activity for withdrawals, online payments, transfers, and even free cheques!

At first glance, it seems like this is all the chequing account you’ll need for everyday banking so why do I keep my TD Canada Trust account you ask? Simple. I keep it to maintain a close relationship with my bank, and for the people service they provide with their in-branch tellers. Plus, there are more Green Machine ABMs out there than CIBC or Amicus machines.

Here’s a quick pros and cons list for holding the PC No Fee Account.

President’s Choice Financial Chequing Account Pros

• Unlimited free cheques (TD Canada Trust charges $25 per book)
• Unlimited chequing activity such as withdrawals, payments, and transfers
• No fee ABMs if you use an Amicus or CIBC bank machine

President’s Choice Financial Chequing Account Cons

• Amicus or CIBC bank machines are not as common as TD Green Machines
• No branches
• No teller service
• Strictly phone or web-based banking services
• No real bank relationship