National Bank of Canada: how to claim the $100 welcome bonus

Option 1: Opening an account prior to your arrival

Regardless of whether you choose option 1 or 2, you must to benefit from this offer you must use the NBC-pvtistes link. If you go directly to a NBC bank branch, you will not qualify for the $100 welcome bonus.

Between 2 months and 2 weeks prior to your arrival in Canada, you can pre-open a bank account for free with the National Bank of Canada.

Doing so will allow you to:

• Already have a bank account upon arrival in Canada. Once you go to finalise your account at a NBC branch, you will be able to get your bank card right away, funds available immediately.
• Have the option of making a money transfer to your Canadian dollar account, before even stepping foot on Canadian soil.

Option 2: Opening an account once in Canada

If you are already in Canada, it’s not too late either. As long as you arrived less than 5 years ago, you can receive this offer.

Enter your gender, full name, date of birth, email address, and phone number (including the country code). Then click continue.

Enter your current country of residence and address.

In the occupation section, select the appropriate employment status and work status. Indicate the name of your employer and your job title, if applicable.

You will then be asked about the purpose of your stay in Canada.

If you’re going on an internship, a working holiday, or in the Young Professionals category, select “Work”. For most individuals, the intended use will be for daily transactions, with the funds coming mainly from their salary. In any case, read all the options and pick the one that is most appropriate for your situation.

Select the box indicating that this account is for your own use. Then, answer the tax related question about your country of residence. If you are not yet living in Canada, then you are a tax resident of the country you are currently living in.

Choose your current country of residence and indicate whether you possess a TIN. Hover over the ? for more information about what the TIN is in your country.

Finally, choose the province or territory of your arrival (where you will be obtaining your bank card) and the branch that is most convenient for you.

At the end of the form, check that all your information is accurate. Read the general conditions, check the following box, and then submit.

NBC will inform you that your bank account has been pre-authorised, and you will be prompted to make an appointment for your arrival at the branch. There, you will be able to finalise your account creation and obtain your debit card.

This offer is available to all newcomers to Canada (i.e. arrived less than 5 years ago), including working holiday makers, students, workers, permanent residents, etc.

Here are the conditions:

• Must use this page to create a checking account.
• Within 150 days of account opening, sign up for online banking and paperless statements. We advise you to do so as soon as your checking account is open. These services are free. We explain how to do so in the final section of this article.
• Within 150 days of account opening, complete 10 eligible transactions within a period of 2 months (~60 days). Eligible transactions are defined as 1) card payments, 2) bill payments via online banking or the NBC app, and 3) transfers from your checking account to pay your credit card balance.

If these conditions are met, you will receive $100. Note that you must also keep your account open for at least 12 months.

IMPORTANT: If you want to fund your NBC checking account with CA$ via Wise, you should use the pvtistes-Wise link to get a first international transfer for free of charge. You can make a Wise account right away to claim the offer, even if you plan to make the transfer later on.

Note, however, that if you need to send money to Canada before your arrival in Canada (and therefore before your NBC account is finalised), the transfer will need to be done from a traditional bank account, not an online neo-bank.

Signing up for online banking and paperless statements

To sign up for online banking, you just need to make an account on the NBC website or app and follow the steps. NBC has a very detailed tutorial on how to do exactly this (choose mobile or desktop).

Once you have created your account, you can opt for paperless statements by going into your account settings.