Canadian High Interest Savings Bank Accounts

i have had an account with vancity since 1997.i opened it in person at the branch.it was a checking account because i wanted to use it to pay rent.i called in many times over the years about excessive service charges but was only ever informed about the electronic package which is $7 monthly for unlimited transactions.i only ever wrote 19 cheques over a ten year period.finally in 2007 a service rep told me about the plan 24 account which has 10 free transactions a month.i couldn't believe that after all my calls,no one had ever told me about it and it has existed for over 40 years.when i complained to management they said maybe it was because i had a checking account.isn't that a stupid answer considering that i could use my plan 24 for the 10 free transactions and transfer funds into my checking account the rare times it was used? another told me it was up to me to inform myself.isn't that what i was doing? i have only had internet for the past few months.i have never had a satisfactory answer.i think it's because they make more money when you pay for services rather than getting them for free.i think they should refund me for money wasted.

You have to remember that performing day-to-day banking transactions in branches is the highest cost delivery channel for financial institutions (banks and credit unions alike). It costs a lot of money to build a branch – it's at least $1 million in capital costs to construct the building and ongoing monthly lease costs are between $10,000-$20,000 per month. Factor in an average initial FTE complement of 7.5 staff operating at around $287,500 per year for employee salaries (not including benefits and pension/group RRSP costs). A new branch operates unprofitably at anywhere from three to seven years from initial opening, on average, based on anecdotal back-of-the-napkin type calculations.

If you really don't want to pay for all of this, I would recommend direct banking options or look for accounts that give you so many transactions for maintaining a small monthly balance. Some good options to consider include:

* Canadian Western Bank or its direct banking division, Canadian Direct Financial, which offer free unlimited banking including cheque writing privileges and free initial cheque order (might be able to squeak extra cheque orders out of them at no charge so long as it's not more than one every two years) if you hold $5000 in great rate, non-redeemable GIC or your chequing account. Plus, with CWB, when you call their branch number, you get a real live person located at the branch and not in a call centre. It's like credit union banking with the security, safety and regulatory provisions of chartered banks

* ICICI Bank Canada – Free unlimited banking with $500 monthly balance and connected to The Exchange Network of surcharge-free ATMs

* President's Choice Financial – Free unlimited banking and free cheques through the direct banking division of CIBC. Also offers a great MasterCard product through President's Choice Bank, wholly-owned by Loblaw Companies and its back-end managed by MBNA Canada Bank

There are others, such as BMO and the credit unions. These are a selected few I like though have never used.

Hope that helps,
Doug