this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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What financial services do you use? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca to c/personalfinancecanada@lemmy.ca
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I'm curious what products and services everyone uses. I like trying out new services, but it seems like the big banks are pretty effective at squashing competition.

I'll go first: Chequing - BMO Savings - Wealthsimple Investing - Questrade with Passiv Credit cards - BMO, Costco, Amazon

I have tried Brim (credit card) and Koho (kind of a chequing account), but eventually dropped them because they couldn't effectively replace BMO.

I'm interested to know everyone's experiences with their banks and other financial service providers.

Edit: This thread has been amazing! Thanks for all the replies!

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[–] austin@mstdn.ca 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@MacroCyclo In terms of your main savings account, you can consider those on https://highinterestsavings.ca/chart (Tangerine could work as a backup; they also give occasional offers); if you don't require branch services (such as writing a bank draft / guaranteed cheque), then those online banks are enough. KOHO is not really a bank account; it's better to just treat it as a prepaid card with cashback. WS is okay for casual investing. For credit cards, just go with the rewards (assuming you pay on time).

[–] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For savings I'm using wealthsimple to buy CASH.TO. It gives a way better rate than anything on that list. It might not work for everyone, but it works for me.

That explains KOHO fairly well. I really don't understand who would need that.

[–] austin@mstdn.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@MacroCyclo But that's an ETF and it does take a few days to get the money out, whereas a HISA in a bank can be conveniently accessed and thus can be used as emergency funds; certain online ones (Alterna, motusbank, EQBank, etc.) very much offer the same level of functionality (bill payments, e-Transfer, direct deposit, etc.) as brick-and-mortar ones.

[–] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

That's why it works for me. In an emergency I just need to pay off my credit card at the end of the month.