Well here I am to bitch about another interesting difference between Canada and the USA…and this has to do with Banking Practices.
OK…now I’m talking about Chartered Banks, not Credit Unions, because there is a huge difference between the two…especially in Canada.
My mother has Banked with The Royal Bank for years up here in Canada…in fact I can safely say it has been 20 plus years.
Originally she opened the account in Alberta where we lived for most of my life, but when she came out to the Coast banking became interesting.
First I should mention that the Royal Bank does in-fact consider itself as having an inter branch banking policy, which most do…however putting that into action is harder then you think!!
This is crazy to me actually, but she wrote my husband, who is a USA citizen so does not have a bank account here, a check for 100.00…and when he went into a branch to cash it, they would not because the branch where her account is was not thiers…it is in another province…?
She wrote me a check out of a different bank account that was based somewhere else and again…I could not cash it because for some reason…inter branch banking does not exist unless you fit a certain criteria…in other words…she can go to the branch and take the money out…but not if I go with a check written on the account????
Also…trying to deposit money into her account is insane…they really give you a hard time, if they let you at all…that is put money into someones account…it’s so bizzar.
In the USA an inter branch banking system is just that..you can access your account in all ways from any branch of that particular institution…and they will gladly cash a check written off an account from someone who banks at any of thier branch’s…and they certainly will take cash and place it into someones account if you ask…no matter where the branch is.
What’s more…and this is killer to me…is that when I’ve gone in to cash a check written to me…and I’ve not had too much trouble because I still use the same last name…but they charge ME a fee to cash the check!!!
It’s so backwards up here…and really expensive to have a regular bank account…and that is why I bank at a credit union…they really do have branch to branch banking, and they will let my husband or anyone else deposit money, and as far as I know they don’t charge someone to cash a check!!
Anyhow…just one more thing against or should I say that is a pain about living here…in Canada…although it’s not all bad…
Peace
Shannix
