For Consumers

Consumer Protection : Low-Cost Accounts


Know Your Rights	Voluntary Codes of Conduct	FCAC Role and Mandate

Eight Canadian financial institutions have recently renewed their public commitment to offer low-cost accounts for their customers. These financial institutions have committed to offer accounts that meet guidelines set out by the Government in February 2001 to ensure that all Canadians have access to affordable banking services. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) monitors if financial institutions respect their public commitments.

Click here to view our plain language
Low-Cost Accounts brochure.

The low-cost account guidelines include:

no charge for deposits;
the use of a debit card;
cheque-writing privileges;
free updated account statement or passbook record;
8 to 15 debit transactions per month, at least two of which can be done in-branch; and
a maximum monthly fee of $4, reflecting the number of in-branch and the total number of debit transactions allowed.

The following table illustrates the main features of the service packages that banks have designated as their low-cost account.

Institution -- Account Name	Monthly Fee	Maximum Number of Monthly Debit Transactions		Minimum Monthly Balance³ (for monthly fees to be waived)	Handling Fee for Each In-Branch Bill Payment	Other Features
Institution -- Account Name	Monthly Fee	In-Branch¹	Self-Serve²	Minimum Monthly Balance³ (for monthly fees to be waived)	Handling Fee for Each In-Branch Bill Payment	Other Features
BMO Bank of Montreal -- Basic Plan	$4.00	10		$1,000	—	Any number of chequing/savings accounts can be included within one monthly fee.
CIBC -- Everyday Chequing Account	$3.90	10		$1,000	—	—
HSBC -- Basic Banking	$4.00	12 (Maximum 4 in-branch)		—	$1.35	One free additional electronic debit for each direct deposit.
Laurentian Bank -- UltraSaver Plus	$2.95	2	6	—	$2.00	—
National Bank -- Accessible	$3.95	2 (In-branch bill payments not included)	10	—	$2.00	$1.00 fee per envelope for ABM bill payments.
Royal Bank -- Signature Plus Flat Fee Option – Small	$4.00	15		—	—	One free additional debit per automated pay deposit. Free cheque return with monthly account statement option.
Scotiabank -- Basic Banking Account	$3.95	12 (Maximum 4 in-branch)		—	—	—
TD Canada Trust -- Value Account	$3.95	4	10	$1,000	—	$1.00 handling fee for in-branch bill payments paid by cheque or cash (no fee if paid by account debit).

¹	In-branch debit transactions include: withdrawals, transfers of funds and bill payments at a financial institution.

Self-serve debit transactions include: withdrawals, transfers of funds and bill payments at an ABM or by Internet/telephone. They also include cheque writing, Interac® direct payments and pre-authorized debits. Network access (Interac®) ABM fees, usually charged when you use an ABM not belonging to your financial institution, are not included unless otherwise specified.

³	The minimum balance must be maintained throughout the month, for the monthly fee to be waived.

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		Last Modified: 2005-06-29	Important Notices