Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca

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2. > For Consumers
3. > Banking
4. > Personal Accounts
5. > Chequing accounts

Chequing Accounts

Chequing accounts provide you with easy access to your funds and are great for managing most of your day-to-day transactions, such as paying by cheque, paying bills electronically, making electronic money transfers or depositing and withdrawing money. Most chequing accounts include the use of a debit card to access your money at automated banking machines (ABMs) or to make purchases at the point of sale, for example at a grocery store check-out.

Most chequing accounts do not pay interest on deposits. When a chequing account does pay interest, it usually pays a lower rate of interest than a savings account.

Most financial institutions offer service packages on their chequing accounts that allow you to make a certain number of transactions, often for a flat monthly fee.

Some accounts have low or no monthly fees but may allow fewer monthly transactions. Other accounts will waive the monthly fee if you keep a minimum monthly balance in your account. This can be a good way to save on banking fees.

For example, if you pay $12 per month in fees, and your financial institution will waive this cost if you maintain a minimum balance of $2,000, you could save $144 per year. This is the same as earning a 7.2% (after taxes) return on your $2,000.

Many financial institutions also offer lower fee or no fee service packages for children and teenagers, students enrolled in a postsecondary institution, and seniors 59 years of age or older. Find out if you qualify for one of these service packages.

FCAC’s banking package selector tool can help you find the financial institution and account that best suits your needs. When choosing a chequing account or banking package, consider:

• What kind of transactions do you make? Are they mostly self-serve transactions (ABMs, online banking), or do you prefer dealing with a teller?
• How many transactions are included in the monthly fee? Are there extra fees for certain types of transactions, such as electronic money transfers?
• What fees apply to transactions over your monthly limit?
• What fees are charged if you go into overdraft? What are the fees and interest rates?
• Is it possible to eliminate the monthly fee if you keep a minimum balance?
• Is it possible to reduce your fees, for example by using online banking?
• Are you able to get a discount on the fees if you have multiple products with a single financial institution?
• Are the ABMs conveniently located?
• Are reduced or no-fee packages available for youth, students or seniors?

• Savings accounts
  How to help your money grow
• Low-cost accounts
  Save money on monthly banking fees
• Joint accounts
  What you should know before opening an account with someone else
• Debit cards
  How to save on fees when using your debit card

Related Resources

Date Modified:

2012-07-31