4% chequing account? | EQ Bank | Discussion forum

canadian100 is correct. EQ has been pretending this is a chequing account for a while now. Fake news. I think it's safe to say that EQ will NEVER offer chequing.

EQ is trying to take a big swipe at the big banks that charge a hefty monthly fee for an account that typically pays no interest at all.

This might still work, especially for young people, which I think is their target market.
Personally, I would find it too much bother to switch my bill payments to another bank.

If I were going to switch, I'd probably go to Alterna Bank with its Coverdraft system. Another option is Motive with 4.1% on savings and a companion chequing account (free). The latter even pays .25% ('virtually unheard of" according to EQ Bank). https://www.eqbank.ca/education-centre/article-detail?urlName=cheque-your-savings-this-account-does-both

I am not inclined to trust a bank which so blatantly misinforms.

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What PWM said ⬆

I'm an Ol' Fogy, and even I only write two or three cheques a year now.

They're going the way of the Dodo Bird.

Dean

Yes, lots of people like to disparage cheques and point proudly to how few, if any, that they use.

I don't think it's a matter of quantity. It's about having the option of cheques when you need them.

I use them for 3 purposes:
1. paying tradespeople who won't accept CC.
2. Buying GICs from deposit brokers. It's the only form of cash they accept.
3. Paying a relative's retirement home monthly bill. They don't accept CCs. Can't do PAD as I have to alternate between two different banks due to a lack of cooperation from RBC, which won't allow me online access but will allow me to write cheques on her account.

If it weren't for cheques, I would find Tangerine next to useless, with their 25K transfer limit (last time i looked) and 3-link limit. With a cheque, you don't have to be on the phone for hours and you can deposit wherever you want. DUCA also has annoying limits, as do others, which can be avoided with cheques.

Still, if you want to deal with a bank that intentionally misleads people, go ahead.
The ideal candidate is someone who doesn't have a lot of money to move around yet or someone who does almost all their banking through a discount broker.

The only cheques I write are void cheques to check up account links with new FIs (if they still do it the old fashion way), and cheques to myself to do edeposit btw my accounts. Oh and monthly rent to my kid’s boarding house’s landlord.
Other that that, the ability to write cheques has zero value to me.

As for GIC broker, their systems are from the Stone Age, which is why I won’t use them unless they offer an outsized premium compared to direct dealing. They will cease to exist over the next 20 years is my bet.

Bill said
I use maybe 2 cheques a year, not bragging, just a fact, been like that for a few years now.

I like EQ Bank when they've got something I'm interested in, picked up a couple of their one-year 5.5% GICs yesterday, very easy to do online, happy with the rate.  

if u transfer in to purchase GIC, they have a mandatory 5 or 7 biz days hold on the funds (cant remember exactly), and wont budge even if you call in and ask them to release the hold so can put it towards a GIC right the way. They are the only one with that stringent requirement, that obviously benefits them 100%.

AltaRed said

canadian.100 said
You do not need cheques for tradespeople - 99% of them accept CASH or interac e-transfer. In fact, interac e-transfer might even be accepted by your retirement home.  

Interac e-transfer limits are not high enough for a number of transactions, e.g. deposits and progress payments on a $50k home reno, as an example, or for a new vehicle I bought a few years ago. While some have other options such as credit cards, merchant charges on credit card payments are still atrocious in this country, compared to Europe for example.

One thus does need to have the option to write a cheque from time to time and so it is a matter of what kind of account one can get away with via a particular FI to cover those 'one off' instances. I would imagine most folk on this site with their proliferation of accounts chasing yield, have at least one freebie option they can tap into for their highly infrequent chequing needs.  

Exactly. Where I can now, I use Interac e-Transfers in place of paper-based cheques. Even Tangerine Bank provides an initial free book of cheques (50 cheque leaves) per chequing account opened. Simplii Financial provides an unlimited free supply of cheque leaves, for those that have higher needs. Otherwise, one can also have a CIBC Personal Line of Credit account or a Scotiabank ScotiaLine Personal Line of Credit account, which provide fee-free basic personalized chequebook orders and in-branch access. So, for example, you could send yourself a bank-to-bank transfer or bill payment to your PLOC, putting your PLOC into a credit balance to avoid daily interest charges, then write a cheque on your PLOC.

Cheers,
Doug

The rename doesn't address the limitations of the EQ Bank offering. One is eventually going run into those limitations and have to shop around for a real chequing account.

$100,000 maximum for a cheque to deposit. What's one going to do with a $250,000 cheque for the inheritance from the estate of a deceased relative or the $600,000 cheque for the proceeds from the sale of one's townhouse?

Wire transfer in? No, the EQ Bank account cannot receive wire transfers. Even if the wire transfer could be received, there's that $500,000 maximum balance per customer.

I helped a relative with probating a will. Probate court accepts Interac Debit but not MasterCard or Visa. That's likely because of the interchange charged for MasterCard or Visa transactions. That EQ Bank Card is a MasterCard prepaid card only and not an Interac Debit card.

Couldn't use Interac Debit in the end either. The probate tax turned out to be way above the Interac Debit limit of any debit card any of us had! Off to a regular bank for a bank draft.

Bill said
I'm guessing pretty much everyone on this site aside from the very young uses a bricks and mortar institution for their main daily transactions chequing account.  

I use Tangerine as my main daily transaction chequing account. And it is NOT a bricks and mortar

savemoresaveoften said

Not exactly the very young ones but prob younger than the average here.
I use CIBC cuz once you meet their min. requirement (which is quite generous in my mind), the perks of free prem checking account, free infinite visa credit cards, free safety deposit box (which I dont care) won my business.
Havent used a teller service for years, except the time when I need to get cash to pay garage door guy...  

That's true. CIBC actually has a decent all-inclusive wealth + banking package for the mass affluent. After HSBC Bank Canada is legally dissolved on March 28th, 2024, CIBC's Smart Plus Account will be the only banking account that offers a 100% fee rebate (HSBC waived the fee, but functionally, it's the same thing) if you maintain a total relationship balance of $100,000 or more and they include CIBC Investor's Edge and CIBC Investor Services wealth accounts as qualifying accounts.

Cheers,
Doug