I don’t know a lot about finances, banking and these sorts of things, but I can relay the experience I have had over the last few months.

When I moved to Calgary in 2005 I had to leave my fat cat credit union account behind (you would need to have been a child in the 80s/early 90s in Regina to get the fat cat thing). I chose TD CanadaTrust. I chose TD for a couple of reasons: (1) there are a lot of TDs in Calgary, (2) they were giving away a iPod Shuffle and (3) I wanted a national bank that I could move with (so I could run when Leah inevitably turned out to be crazy…). However, over the last couple of years, I have realized these reasons are not enough to stay with a bank. TD’s customer service—over the phone—can’t be beat. At least, from my experience. Unfortunately, the branch support was always sub-par. I don’t need to get into all the different things that went wrong and continued to go wrong, but I wasn’t happy.

By the end of last summer I was ready to switch banks. I didn’t want to switch banks because of the sub-par branch service, but because it didn’t seem to me that TD had remained tuned into what their clients wanted. It’s true that great customer service is something that I want, but it’s something that I can live without (as someone who has worked in many call centres it is easy enough to navigate the system). TD was lacking three major (yet relatively simple) things—(1) high interest savings (do you get the title now?), (2) a no fee credit card that gave points (points for stuff that I really need) (I am under the impression TD now has a cash-back, no fee credit card) and (3) supporting the community (if TD does support the community I have no idea what they support). The iPod and Customer Service were flashy, but they did not have sustainable options that rendered a friendly and beneficial long-term relationship.

At that time, RBC had just come out with an e-savings account (high interest, I believe it’s currently at 4%, as opposed to TD’s .000000001% (it’s not actually that bad)), Leah, as a previous client, had a no fee credit card that gave points and, at the very least, I know that RBC supports the 2010 Olympics. Plus, they offered a $150 gift certificate and pretty good customer service.

There are, however, a few things you should know before switching banks. They may say they have an “easy transfer” system. There is nothing easy about this and it will take at least 30 days. Set aside money. Whatever you do, for the love of all that’s holy, do not go to a training branch. I don’t know if other banks do this, but apparently in Calgary one of RBC’s branches is a training branch. Luckily, we went to this one… Everyone is new (except the managers/trainers). Therefore it is a giant mess. No one knows anything and everything takes three times as long. The fact that it is a training branch isn’t advertised, so it’s a good idea to ask.

Even though switching banks was a massive headache I am happy to have done it. I can tell you that I made almost $7.00 this month in interest—which I spent today on eating at Subway. It was the most delicious interest-paid sub I have ever had and the only one. I am happy to be using a bank that is aware of the things that I find important.