All banks are awful. Mine happens to be a little less awful than the rest (if I had to rank banks I'd put ING at the top for savings and TD at the top for convenience and in person transactions, BMO & RBC at the bottom for customer service). There's a bank for everyone and I really wish there was some sort of "which bank is best for you?" quiz you could take when you move to Toronto to help you decide.
PROS:
- excellent if you do a large number of monthly transactions (bill payments, debit, PayPal, withdrawals)
- no monthly fee
- PC points (though I haven't yet found a use for this)
- unlimited free cheques. They ship them out at record speed, unlike some of the other banks.
CONS:
- limited number of tellers for in-person transactions, but if there's a Loblaws nearby you're set
- no email money transfers (the only bank that doesn't offer them)
- you won't get paid at midnight the way you do at other banks
- no Plus system. While you can withdraw money from American ATMs, you can't use debit the way you can with other bank cards. So if you do a lot of shopping in the U.S., you have to withdraw cash or use a credit card instead.
BOTTOM LINE:
This is a no frills bank. If you're willing to put up with its limitations, you will love it. Personally I chose to not raise my initial daily withdrawal and debit limits - with so many instances of debit cards being compromised in Toronto it's a godsend for these thieves to only have access to $200 at a time on my card before I notice it's compromised, and it also helps curb impulse spending.