Bank Accounts in Canada

If you are Moving to Canada to live and work then you will most likely need to open up a bank account for your self. You may be able to get along without one for a little while, but if you are working then you will need to have a Canadian account for your paycheck to be deposited into. And if you are not living with someone else that pays for utilities then you will need to have a bank account in order to pay for your utilities each month.

Banking in Canada is a simple process with little difficulty or red tape. The banks and banking services that you will find in Canada are comparable to those that you would find in the United States. Banks in Canada offer online banking as a benefit of their accounts. They also offer access to you cash at any ABM in the country. An ABM is an automated banking machine which is the equivalent of an ATM or automated teller machine in the United States. They are the exact same things just with different names.

Canadian banks come with an assurance from the government just like banks in the United States do. In Canada the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, or CDIC, is the federal corporation that provides deposit insurance and helps contribute to the stability of the financial system in Canada. They have done so since 1967 and are the equivalent of the FDIC in the United States. However, there is a major difference between the American FDIC and the Canadian CDIC and that is the amount of your money that is covered by them. As you may know, the FDIC covers depositors up to $100,000 per account per bank. The CDIC on the other hand only guarantees up to $60,000 per depositor per bank.

When you are looking for a bank to open an Account you will find many choices. It is advisable to ask around for recommendations to help you in your search. And you should pay special attention to the fees charged by the banks as they all charge a little differently. The largest banks in Canada are the Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Bank of Montreal. You will also find some international banks that you may recognize such as ING Bank, HSBC, Citibank and more.

Immigrant Investor Program

The Immigrant Investor Program was created by the Canadian government to attract successful business immigrants like you and new investment capital to Canada. To meet your international investment needs and make relocation easier, HSBC provides a range of flexible international and immigrant services for qualifying immigrant investors.

Banking Glossary

Account

• A fund that a customer has entrusted to a bank and from which the customer can make withdrawals

. Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

• Self-service machine at a bank or other location that enables customers to perform basic banking activities. You need an ATM card or debit card and a PIN (Personal Identification Number). Earlier, known as an Automated Banking Machine (ABM).

Bounced Cheque

• Cheque that a bank returns to the issuer due to insufficient funds in the issuer's account.

Cheque

• A written order directing a bank to pay money.

Correspondent Bank

• Bank that performs services for another bank which has no branch or physical presence in the relevant centre or jurisdiction. Functions include cheque clearing, cash management, transfer of funds and so on.

Credit History

• Records of a borrower's debt payment that indicate the creditworthiness of the borrower. The credit history helps lenders in determining the borrower's ability to repay debts in a timely manner.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

• Transfer of funds by electronic means rather than paper based methods. These include using computer systems, ATM, telephone, wire transfers, etc. The funds are transferred faster and are more secure.

Interest Rate

• Price lenders charge the borrowers for use of their money for a specified period of time. The rate charged is usually expressed as a percentage of the total amount borrowed.

Line of Credit (LOC)

• An agreement negotiated between a borrower and a lender establishing the maximum amount of money against which a borrower may draw. The agreement also sets out other conditions, for example, how and when the money is to be repaid.. (Is this the correct definition?)

Liquid Assets

• Cash, demand deposits with a bank or financial institution, short-term deposits and readily marketable investments including publicly traded stocks or bonds.

Minimum Opening Deposit

• Minimum amount of money needed to open and maintain an account. Accounts that fall below the minimum balance may be subject to service charges.

Non-resident Account

• An account owned by a person from outside the country in which the bank is chartered. . (Is this the correct definition? Where did we get this definition from?)

Online Banking

• A convenient and secure way of performing banking operations using a financial institution's secure website over the internet. This allows customers to do their banking outside bank hours and from anywhere on the Internet.

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

• A numeric identification code of usually four digits, which users create to access their account. PIN is required for use at ATM machines to verify the identity of the cardholder and to authorize the account transactions.

Savings Account

• A deposit account which bears interest without a stated maturity. Withdrawals and deposits can be made at any time.

Service Charge

• A fee established by the financial institutions for maintaining a particular service - like annual charges for a checking account, late payments of loans, returned cheque, and so on.

Stop Payment

• An order by the writer of a cheque to the bank not to honour the payment. The stop payment order directing has to be given before the cheque has been cashed and can be done by telephone or in writing.

Telephone Banking

• Service provided by the financial institution, which allows its clients to perform transactions over the telephone. Most telephone banking requires authentication and instructions are carried out by a physical person or via an interactive voice response (IVR) system.

Term Deposit

• Secure investments generally offering a higher rate of interest than a simple savings account, available in a number of currencies, a variety of term lengths, and several redemption options.

Wire Transfer

• An electronic transfer of funds from one entity to another across a network administered by hundreds of banks around the world.