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Did you know that it can cost you up to $6.00 to use an automated banking machine (ABM) that is not owned by your financial institution?
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If you use an ABM that is not owned by your financial institution, you will probably be charged a convenience fee. Before you are charged this fee, the ABM should warn you by displaying a message such as "This transaction will cost you $X, do you want to continue?".
If you proceed, you will have to pay a convenience fee on top of the network access fee to the INTERAC® network and your regular account fees. This could mean paying as much as $6.00 for just one withdrawal.
To save money, you should:
- Use your own financial institution's ABMs as often as possible so that you won't be charged extra fees.
- Ask the cashier to charge you more than the total of your purchases when you pay using your debit card in stores. The difference between the two amounts is given back to you in cash. Note: not all stores allow such transactions, free of charge.
- Try to minimize the number of transactions you make by withdrawing larger amounts of money at one time.
Refer to the table below to find out how much you might be charged at various ABMs, including those that are privately-owned.
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If you are withdrawing money from the ABM of ...
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Regular Account Fee
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Network Access Fee to the INTERAC® Network
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Convenience Fee
(charged by another financial institution or a private operator)
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Total Transaction Cost
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Cost Expressed as a Percentage of a $20 Withdrawal
|
|
(charged by your financial institution)
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| ... your own financial institution |
$0
to
$1.00 |
— |
— |
$0
to
$1.00 |
0 %
to
5 % |
| |
| ... a financial institution of which you are not a customer |
| HSBC |
$0
to
$1.25 |
$0
to
$1.75 |
$1.25 |
$1.25
to
$4.25 |
6.25 %
to
21.25 % |
| Alterna Bank, Alterna Savings, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Desjardins, Laurentian Bank, National Bank, Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust |
$0
to
$1.25 |
$0
to
$1.75 |
$1.50 |
$1.50
to
$4.50 |
7.5 %
to
22.5 % |
| Most credit unions (other than Desjardins) |
$0
to
$1.25 |
$0
to
$1.75 |
$1.00
to
$2.00 |
$1.00
to
$5.00 |
5 %
to
25 % |
| |
| ... a private operator |
$0
to
$1.25 |
$0
to
$1.75 |
$1.50
to
$3.00 |
$1.50
to
$6.00 |
7.5 %
to
30 % |
Last Modified: December 2005 |
Definitions
Regular Account Fee: Service charge imposed by a consumer's financial institution to withdraw money at any ABM. This fee is often covered by a "service package" offered by the consumer's financial institution.
Network Access Fee: Fee imposed by the consumer's financial institution when the consumer withdraws money at an ABM not owned by his or her financial institution. This fee is added to the regular account fees.
Convenience Fee: Fee charged by operators of privately-owned ABMs and by financial institutions to "non-customers" using their ABMs. The convenience fee is added to the network access fee and to the regular account fees.
An ABM user is considered to be a "non-customer" when he or she uses a debit card from a different financial institution.
Other Important Information
Citizens Bank customers are not charged the network access fee to the INTERAC® network. However, they have to pay the ABM convenience fee where applicable.
PC Financial customers are not charged the network access fee to the INTERAC® network and the convenience fee at CIBC's ABMs.
The Canadian Western Bank, Citibank, Citizens Bank, Alterna Bank, Alterna Savings, HSBC, Manulife Bank, National Bank, and various credit unions are also members of THE EXCHANGE® network, which is similar to the INTERAC® network. Members of THE EXCHANGE® network do not charge convenience fees to the customers of other member institutions. However, members of the network may charge their customers a network access fee for using THE EXCHANGE® network.
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