It happened a long time ago when I was a broke student. I was always really interested in finance and I wanted to make sure I put my money to work for me but I didn’t really know a lot back then.

I went into my bank and asked an advisor how I could start putting my money to work and what the best account they had for me was. She signed me up for an account that seemed OK at the time since it had decent interest, “low account fees” and would “stop me from spending money by charging fees for debit.” In retrospect that’s insane. But it also didn’t take me too long to realize the sheer stupidity of that. That’s also when I learned to be skeptical of the advice their financial advisors provide. At the end of the day, it’s their job to make money for their banks.

Why would you want to put your money somewhere that charges you fees for holding it and using it? That’s when I went to the bank and withdrew all of my money. I subsequently switched to a smaller bank with no-fee banking (the only real way to go). I’m sure it’s not the case anymore (maybe?) that banks charge a lot of fees for simply having money in your account or making debit transactions but it’s definitely something to be aware of. Maybe at the time they couldn’t do as much as the bigger banks and there were fewer ATMs but that’s changed drastically.

Alternatives

Newer banks like Tangerine, EQ, Simplii (even though owned by CIBC), and my favourite, Wealthsimple, don’t charge fees for basic banking services. They don’t charge fees for e-transfers or ATM withdrawals either. In fact EQ and Wealthsimple will refund you ATM fees if you withdraw cash from any ATM in Canada.

In 2025 there’s no reason for a bank to charge you any account fees. It shouldn’t cost any money for them to hold your money or for you to use your money. Your bank should give you a lot of value for doing business with them.