Overview of the TD Student Chequing Account
This chequing account is designed for consumers that are either under the age of 23 or are enrolled full-time in a program at a post-secondary institution. The features of the TD Student Chequing Account demonstrates the bank’s focus on providing a low cost yet flexible account for people that are not yet employed full-time. The TD Student Chequing Account has no monthly maintenance fee, has unlimited transactions that are permitted each month and has no minimum balance requirements. In addition, TD Bank is currently offering a promotion where new account holders can earn a $75 Amazon.ca Gift Card if they complete certain eligible services by December 27, 2022. These services include setting up a recurring direct deposit, making an online bill payment of $50 or greater, and using Interac e-Transfer to send or receive at least $50. For a full description of the eligible services visit this page.
Other Account Features and Fees:
- Interac e-Transfers: Free
- Domestic ATM Fees (out of network): $2.00 per instance
- International ATM Fees (U.S. and Mexico): $3.00 per instance
- International ATM Fees (Rest of World): $5.00 per instance
- Overdraft Protection Service: Free
- Non-Sufficient Funds Fees
- $48.00 if TD Bank does not approve the cheque or payment
- $5.00 plus 21% annual interest rate on the overdrawn amount if TD Bank approves the cheque or payment
- Wire Transfer Costs
- Recipient is another TD Bank Customer – $16.00
- Recipient is at another bank – $50.00
- Receive a wire payment – $17.50
Once customers are no longer eligible for the TD Student Chequing Account they can convert their chequing accounts to the TD Minimum Chequing Account, the TD Every Day Chequing Account or the TD Unlimited Chequing Account.
TD Student Chequing Account vs. RBC Advantage Banking
TD Bank and RBC are both part of the Big 5 banks in Canada, and compete fiercely for customers. When it comes to chequing account offerings for students, RBC currently does not have a specific account offering for students or youths but waives fees for students under certain accounts including the RBC Advantage Banking chequing account, which compares quite favorably to the TD Student Chequing Account on several fronts.
- Monthly Fee: as indicated above, if you are a full-time student RBC will waive the $11.95 monthly maintenance fee for the RBC Advantage Banking chequing account. This means that everyone that is eligible for the TD Student Chequing Account should also be eligible to sign up for an RBC Advantage Banking chequing account with no monthly maintenance fee.
- Monthly Transactions: both accounts offer account holders unlimited transactions each month.
- Minimum Balance Requirements: neither chequing account requires their account holders to maintain a minimum balance in the account.
- Non-Sufficient Funds Fee Benefits: the RBC Advantage Banking chequing account offers its customers 1 NSF fee rebate each calendar year, while the TD Student Chequing account has no NSF rebates for its customers.
- ATM Benefits: with the RBC Advantage Banking account, customers do not have to pay a fee when they use an out of network ATM within Canada. Account holders of the TD Student Chequing account have to pay $2.00 each time they use an out of network ATM in Canada.
- Promotions: there are currently no promotions being offered for RBC Advantage Banking. As indicated above, new customers of the TD Student Chequing Account can earn a $75 Amazon.ca gift card after completing certain services. Given that the account is free, the $75 is great value that can be used to offset the many of the account fees.
Bottom Line – when it comes to the essential banking features both accounts deliver similar services at an equivalent cost. The $75 promotion being offered by TD Bank for the TD Student Chequing Account is meaningful as it can offset many ATM charges and an NSF fee. If you are a student and don’t anticipate using the ATM very frequently and are diligent about managing your finances, the TD Student Chequing Account is likely the better option.