For many years, I did all my banking at Royal Bank of Canada.
I’ve been with RBC for the better part of 20 years. I opened my first account — a savings account — when I was 10 years old. My client account looks a lot different today than it did then, with more products added and, for the most part, a bigger balance.
RBC has been good to me over the years. So why do I now have multiple bank accounts at multiple financial institutions?
There are a few reasons.
My multiple bank accounts
As of writing this, I have accounts with four different financial institutions:
RBC
My day-to-day bank, which includes a joint account I share with my husband.
Current products with RBC:
- a chequing account (this is where our pay cheques go)
- a “high-interest” savings account (note the quotes. Definitely not the best HISA I have. This is where I house money set aside for bill payments to keep it separate).
- a VISA
- a TFSA (which houses our emergency fund and, for now, our travel money)
- an RRSP (built mostly from my time at the newspaper)
Despite having a positive overall experience with RBC, I don’t love that I pay a monthly fee for my client account. It ends up being about $11/month, which could be worse, but still.
Tangerine
I opened accounts with Tangerine in the fall when I decided to try their cash-back MasterCard (I reviewed the card here. In case you’re curious, I still adore this card and use it all the time).
My original plan was just to open the credit card account, but Tangerine had an option to get a third extra cash-back category if you also open a savings account. No fees so…why not.
Current products with Tangerine:
- Cash-back MasterCard (no fees)
- High-Interest Savings Account (no fees)
The MasterCard is used for most day-to-day transactions (especially groceries, gas and eating out, which earn us two per cent cash-back). The savings account is where I stash money I am using for the blog!
EQ Bank
After procrastinating for months, I opened an account with EQ Bank in early April.
I am using my EQ account to save money for two specific things: a new laptop and spending money for my trip to Ontario in August.
So far, I have really been enjoying my EQ experience. It’s easy to use with a very user-friendly interface and, my favourite part, a goal tracker! It also makes it possible to stash money for various saving goals just out of sight, which I have found to be helpful so far.
Current products with EQ Bank:
- Two High-Interest Savings Accounts
WealthSimple
Another new-ish development. After talking about it for months, I finally signed up with a robo-advisor. Much like EQ, I chose WealthSimple as my starting point based on reviews from other bloggers I know and trust.
My goal with this account is to learn more about investing. As it stands, I have a fairly significant RRSP with RBC, but most of that work was done through a company match at my first job. As we work on paying off our debt, I want to learn more about investing so when we have more of our income freed up, I’ll have a better idea of how to put it to work for us.
Current products with WealthSimple:
- One TFSA (I chose the socially responsible portfolio)
Why I have multiple bank accounts at different financial institutions
There are three key reasons I have multiple bank accounts
Different accounts have different perks
Not all bank accounts are created equal, particularly when it comes to perks like interest rates and rewards.
The reason for my initial foray into multiple accounts was the perks. I wanted a cash-back credit card. This led to opening a higher interest savings account. When I decided to start saving for a new computer, I once again sought out an account with a great interest rate.
Having multiple bank accounts with multiple different financial institutions allows you to take advantage of different perks and rewards.
Different accounts help you meet different accounts
Depending on what your goals are, it might make sense to have multiple bank accounts.
For example, if you’re saving for a big purchase, it makes more sense to house that money in a high-interest account than just a plain old chequing account. Or, if you have retirement on your mind, it’s likely better to keep that money in either an RRSP or TFSA, as opposed to the high-interest account.
Added bonus: having multiple bank accounts set up for different goals helps lessen confusion by keep your money separate. No more worrying about accidentally overspending money that’s allocated for a different purpose!
Trying something different is a good thing
Finally, having multiple bank accounts with different financial institutions gives you an opportunity to see what else is out there! It can be easy to fall into a routine of doing something one way just because that’s the way you’ve always done it — even though it might not be the best thing for you.
Trying out different accounts gives you an opportunity to see what other financial institutions have to offer, which enables you to make a more informed decision about how to store your money in the future.
Final Thoughts
Having multiple bank accounts is awesome. I was hesitant about it at first, but now that I have a few months of managing several different accounts under my belt, I feel confident it was the best decision I could have made. My four account sets provide me a range of rewards and perks while also helping me meet and organize my goals. What more could I ask for?
Do you have multiple bank accounts?
I think it makes sense to have multiple bank accounts. We certainly do that. But you need to make sure you don’t end up with too many, especially when it comes to investing accounts. It can get tough to keep track all the annual contributions.
so true! I’ve recently started tracking contributions in a spreadsheet, which has been helpful. Particularly with my TFSA, I confirm the data through the CRA site just to make sure everything is the way it should be (although, at least right now, I don’t really have to worry about hitting a contribution limit. Will be different when we’re debt-free, though!)