Opening a bank account in Canada

Daily bank transactions (Interac, cashback, cheques, etc.)

It’s not very common to use cheques in Canada, as there are few everyday situations where you might need them. A few blank cheques are usually provided free of charge by your bank, depending on your banking package.

Interac, on the other hand, is a very practical and widely used system! It’s like a Canadian version of Paypal. You can make Interac transfers to friends or landlords who aren’t at the same financial institution as you. The transfer is done via your phone or online and is completed immediately. All you need is the email address or phone number of the person you want to make an Interac transfer to (if they use the system). You can receive and transfer money quickly and easily.

However, please note that you can deposit a maximum of $1000 in any 24-hour period via Interac. If you need to transfer more than that, you can do a traditional inter-bank transfer.

You can easily deposit cash into your bank account by using ATMs or by going up to the counter.

Beware of bank charges: it’s better to withdraw cash at your own bank’s ATMs so you don’t have to pay extra fees.

Withdrawing from an ATM (a small machine that can be found in shops, for example) or from a rival bank will cost you an additional fee.

When you go grocery shopping, you can ask the cashier for cashback. For example, you have to pay $47 for your groceries and are paying by card. You can ask to add $20 to the bill – you will pay $67 in total and the cashier will give you $20 in cash.

This is very convenient if you don’t have an ATM in your area or if your monthly banking plan doesn’t offer unlimited transactions. You won’t be able to ask for large amounts of cashback though as it’s often limited to $40.