Banking Services"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to
our liberties than standing armies." GAMES TD CANADA TRUST PLAYS: Today I had a meeting with Bob the branch manager of my local TD Canada Trust. He happened to mention that Canadians seem to really love to hate their banks, so I asked him if he'd like an example of why. He said yes, so I pointed out that around January of 2007 TD Canada Trust raised my credit line interest rate an additional 4%, apparently because I allegedly had missed or been late on the minimum monthly payment 5 months out of 18. Turns out most of those missed payments weren't missed at all, I had actually paid them early, BUT I didn't know that TD Canada Trust doesn't count it as a valid payment if I paid between the 22 & the end of a month. The way they set up this little scam to catch customers, is that if your monthly statement is on the 21st, you can only make your payment between the 1st & the 21st of the month to be counted. Instead of being rewarded for paying early (22 - 30 of month), I was penalized & it showed as though I had defaulted on some payments & this showed up on my credit record too. Bob was aware of this, but he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with not being able to pay anytime during the month. Bob also felt that banking was a "noble" profession, need I say more. Now I know how to play the game, but it is obvious to me that TD Canada Trust sets up these "fine print" ridiculous rules for the purpose of intentionally causing you to appear like you defaulted, so they have an excuse to raise your interest rate. May 8/2008 GIFT CARDS: Many people buy gift cards or cash
cards at stores without getting any benefit such as a discount,
promotional gift, membership advantage, or interest on your money.
Why would you do this when it gives your money ahead of time to
the retailer, limits where that money can be spent (in their store)
& sometimes the gift card gets lost so it may never get used?
In Ontario laws had to be passed to treat gift cards as "cash"
with no expiry date, because some retailers had the audacity to
treat gift cards like a coupon with an expiry date. Money doesn't
have an expiry date, so why should a gift card which is really just
money issued by a store? Now in the U.S. some
retailers are filing chapter 11 which protects them from having
to honour gifts cards CREDIT & DEBIT CARD FRAUD: Some shocking things that you may not know & some suggestions for reducing fraud. CREDIT CARD FEATURES: I'm a firm believer that some credit cards come bundled with very useful features that are a good value for the annual fee you pay. Some like TD/Canada Trust VISA Gold Elite give you 1% cash back on all your purchases, which can help pay for the cost of the card. Some basic no fee cards (like TD VISA Gold Select) even come with handy features such as 1 year warranty extension on consumer items you buy, purchase security insurance & car rental collision/loss insurance. Each bank has a large selection of credit card categories to choose from so you have to decide which features are right for you & you need to read the fine print VERY carefully. Here is a list of some handy features that are bundled in with some credit cards:
ROYAL BANK VISA: If you like receiving your invoice with plenty of time to pay it, you might not want to have a VISA card from Royal Bank of Canada. On Platinum Preferred VISA there is only 16 days between the "statement date" & the "payment due date" which might sound like enough, BUT I looked back through my records over the last year & found that on average I received my statement in the mail 6.7 days after the statement date, which only gave me 9 days on average including weekends to get it paid (sometimes a lot less). If I was on holidays or very busy at the time, that simply wasn't enough time to get it paid. This means that either Royal Bank isn't mailing my invoice on the "statement date" or the Post Office is very very slow or both. All credit card companies love it when you don't get your credit card invoice paid on time, because then they get to price gouge you with an 18% annual interest rate for the whole amount until it is paid down to zero. There is no incentive for them to get your invoice to you a little earlier, because then you might get it paid on time & that's not very profitable for them. The last straw with Royal Bank VISA was my most recent invoice which arrived 1 business day before it was due. It arrived on a Thursday & was due on the Monday, but Monday was a statuary holiday because of the long weekend which meant that if I didn't pay it the day I received it or the next day, I would be charged interest (Royal VISA claims they would let it slide 1 day because of the long weekend, but they make no mention of that on the invoice). Also noteworthy was the fact that Royal Bank VISA's phone menuing system is most annoying taking 3 minutes just for the menu, plus the wait for an operator after that. Then they want to know everything but my shoe size before I can ask a simple question about why my invoice arrived so late. Of course they blamed it on the Post Office, but there is no way it took the Post Office 13 days to deliver my invoice. Sorry, but I simply won't do business with companies that can't get my bill or invoice to me in a reasonable time to pay it (I require a minimum of 14 days in my hands before I can guarantee that an invoice will be paid on time). Companies have pushed for shorter & shorter payment turnarounds for several years & we are now at the point that if you don't pay an invoice the day you get it, you might be late & that is unacceptable to me. A Royal Bank VISA Gold Preferred card gives you 4 additional days to pay your bill but doesn't come with commission free travelers cheques. September 9 2003 TD VISA CARD ANNUAL COST: Recently I looked at
the list of features that are included in the $24.95 a month plan
I pay for on my Toronto Dominion Canada Trust checking account &
noticed that it includes the annual fees for my Premium VISA card.
I thought I recalled being billed for that, so I looked back through
my VISA statements & sure enough they had billed me $112. annual
fee for the card when they shouldn't have. You really have to watch
these folks at the TD Canada Trust Bank, as they try to get away
with all kinds of sneaky things like that. They are always more
than glad to credit you back the money when you catch them, but
it makes me wonder how many customers never catch them. Moral: don't
trust your bank. If you have problems with your financial institution
that you can't resolve, check with the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada TD VISA BILLS: For the second year in a row TD
(Canada Trust) VISA failed to mail me my December invoice. By the
time I get my January invoice, the amount owing is really high because
of Christmas present charges & there is an interest payment
on it. When I phone TD VISA, they are willing to credit me back
with the interest amount & they admitted both of the last 2
years that there was a "computer glitch" where at least
800-900 people or more didn't receive their December statements
(more than that in 2000). Since this seems to happen every year
at this time, my suspicious mind wonders if this might be intentional
on the part of the bank & VISA rather than a "computer
glitch". Think of all the interest (at 18%) that the bank stands
to gain if you don't catch them doing this. Even if you do catch
them, they can't be fined or penalized, all they have to do is give
you back your interest & apologize, so what have they got to
lose. Chances are that your VISA bill is so high by this time (after
2 months charges) that you haven't budgeted enough to pay it all
off & they'll end up charging you interest for the 2nd &
subsequent months until you do get it paid off completely. Either
way the bank & VISA have nothing to lose & everything to
gain by having this "computer glitch" each year at this
time. Just beware that this might be more than just a "computer
glitch". If you're sure that you didn't receive an invoice
or bill from any supplier, make sure they credit you back any interest
charges. It should ALWAYS be the responsibility of the vendor (in
this case VISA), to ensure that they provide you with a bill. Don't
let any vendor try to tell you that it is your responsibility to
chase them for a bill if you didn't receive one. If you
have problems with your financial institution that you can't resolve,
check with the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada CREDIT CARD BUYER PROTECTION: It's important to examine the kind of protection that your credit card gives you when purchasing from the internet, or over the phone. For example, if you buy a piece of software over the internet & receive delivery of it, but it doesn't work, or doesn't work as advertised, or the company goes into receivership just after you received it (as was the case when I bought Dragon voice recognition software from Lernout & Hauspie), then you get no protection & no refund if you purchased it through your Royal Bank of Canada Gold VISA card, but if you purchased it through your TD Canada Trust Gold VISA card, you probably will get a refund within a specified period. Jan. 2/2002 DEBIT CARD THEFT: On July 1 2001 someone stole
my wife's TD Canada Trust debit card after she made a purchase at
Herbie's Drug Store. The thief must have noticed her entering the
pin number, as it was used 26 times at 26 different banking machines
in the next 4 weeks by the thief. My wife reported the card stolen
but the bank made a mistake & canceled another debit card. Despite
the bank's mistake (actually two mistakes) they wanted us to pay
for half the $1500. that had been stolen from our account, but eventually
the bank agreed to refund us the whole amount. According to the
bank, most of the 26 banking machines the thief used, had taken
his picture. Despite allegedly having as many as 26 photos of the
thief, the TD Canada Trust Bank wasn't willing to show us one of
the pictures to identify the thief, nor were they willing to show
the pictures to the police because the Bank couldn't be bothered
to prosecute for $1500. Judging by the pattern of the thief, he/she
was probably young & stupid with wheels to get around, or they
wouldn't have taken small amounts of money out of 26 different banking
machines for almost a month before the bank finally cut off the
proper debit card. I wonder what message the bank is sending to
young thieves when the thief sees that they can get away with this,
even though there was overwhelming photo evidence which could be
used to prosecute? If $1500. just isn't worth the effort/money to
prosecute, then perhaps the bank should be turning the photos over
to the local newspaper to print under the heading "Do you recognize
this probable thief?". That way the whole town will know that
the person is a thief & no money needs to be spent on prosecution.
I am very disappointed with the TD Canada Trust Bank for letting
the thief off the hook. If you have problems with your financial
institution that you can't resolve, check with the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada AUTOMATIC WITHDRAWALS FROM YOUR BANKING ACCOUNT OR CREDIT
CARD: For convenience sake, many people choose to allow
their suppliers to automatically withdraw monthly charges from their
bank account or credit card for all manner of services including
mortgages, car & home insurance, heating & electricity utilities,
internet service providers, magazine subscriptions, health clubs,
etc. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for these companies to withdraw
more than the amount they should, or to withdraw the amount before
the due date, or to continue withdrawing money after you have ceased
to use their services. Once you have given them permission to dip
into your bank account by giving them a voided check, this privilege
is subject to being abused. Even though it takes you a little more
time each month to pay your bills manually (by check, or banking
machine, or phone line, or the internet, or in person, or by mail),
you might be better off than giving your suppliers authorization
to withdraw funds from your account or credit card. I just recently
caught the Co-Operators Insurance Company from incorrectly withdrawing
$227. from my bank account, after I had ceased to use them as my
insurance company. They did send me a notice of funds withdrawal,
but there was no listing of what the money was withdrawn for. When
I phoned them, they couldn't even explain why they had withdrawn
the money, since it was not done during a normally billing time.
It was up to me to catch them before they agreed to return the money.
What's even worse is that the TD Canada Trust bank has no provision
to allow you to permanently cancel an authorization to withdraw
funds from your bank account. If you have problems with your financial
institution that you can't resolve, check with the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE: Canadians who travel abroad often take more cash with them than they end up spending. Everyone knows that they will lose perhaps 3.5 to 4% when they exchange surplus cash back into their own currency. However most people don't realize that there is also an exchange rate difference between cash (under $1000.) & travelers checks. Because Canadian banks so frequently exchange Canadian & American money, there is only about .1% of an additional penalty when trading back American "cash" vs. American "travelers checks". However, banks don't usually handle less common currencies (like Portuguese escudos) with as reasonable a "cash" exchange. For example, you may pay 5.5% or more additional penalty at a bank when exchanging "cash escudos" back to Canadian dollars compared to "travelers checks in escudos" back to Canadian dollars. Currency Exchange stores will usually charge you an even higher penalty cost than banks to exchange money. Jan. 5/2001 CREDIT CARD INTEREST: Most credit card companies
charge you no interest on purchases from the time of purchase until
the due date, which is usually 16 - 21 days after the statement
date. HOWEVER, if you do not pay down your credit card balance to
ZERO by the due date, on your next statement you will be billed
interest on each item you purchased during the previous statement
period from the day you purchased it, with no grace period at all.
If you pay down part of the amount you owe at the due date &
assume that you will only be charged interest on the balance that
you haven't paid down, then surprise, you will actually be charge
interest on everything, even the amount you paid down by the due
date. Also keep in mind that even though you may only get 1/2% interest
on money you put in the bank, they will probably charge you 18%
interest on your credit card (this formerly was called loan sharking
but now it seems to be legal). If you have problems with your financial
institution that you can't resolve, check with the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada BANKING MACHINES: If you use your banking machine
access card (sometimes also known as a debit card) to make deposits
into your account, be aware than some banking machines won't let
you cancel the transaction using the "cancel" button once
the door opens to accept your envelope with the deposit in it (the
Toronto Dominion Canada Trust banking machines work this way). If
you stick a blank envelope in the machine, the bank will consider
it as fraud even if you have enough money in the account to cover
the transaction amount & they will freeze the use of your debit
card (as soon as they realize the envelope was empty), until you
go into the bank to get the matter cleared up. Until such time as
those who design the banking machines see fit to program the "cancel"
button to work during all phases of the transaction, your workaround
is to NOT put any envelope in the machine. After a period of time,
the banking machine will automatically cancel the transaction if
you do not put an envelop in it. Yes I know it's annoying to stand
there for a minute or so while the machine grinds away (before it
times out) & you've got 6 other people in line behind you waiting
to use the machine:-) If you have problems with your financial institution
that you can't resolve, check with the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada By Doug Hembruff. |
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