Banks in Canada... Weird!

Look at this: it is like a cheque to play Monopoly…

There are a lot of things here that make us proud to live in Canada. We thought: WOW! Now are really in a developed country. But there are some things that are on the list "we expected more" (LOL), and among these things are the Canadian banks. 

Of course customer services are really good and there is not a metal detector to stop us when we are in a hurry. Here some customers go the bank with their pets and this is normal! It is not necessary to wait for a long time in line, since customers are always served quickly.

But there is one thing that for us was “really weird”.  The first time we received our mobile phone bill to pay the due date was day 25^th. But in the same bill it was written this message: please pay by 16^th.  Whaaaat? Nine days before the due date? When we tried to understand that, the company explained us that it is better to pay in advance to avoid problems with payment processing. Ok, no problems!

Another note: if you are not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident here, it is not quite simple to get a credit card, even if you have a work permit visa and make good money. Here it is not enough. Everybody who wants can have a credit card, but it is necessary to open an account named GIC and put in an amount of money, like a guarantee. This amount is, in general, the same of the card’s limit.

Cheques here in Canada also deserve a paragraph. For us, the cheques here are like toys, like the cheques used to play Monopoly. Here, to receive a job payment, to receive reimbursement from the health insurance company, or even to receive the refund of income tax from the government, if the person wants, it is possible to receive a cheque at home. The company and the government can send by mail. If you like this idea, that is OK, but I prefer a direct deposit in my bank account. But it is not so easy to get paid directly in the bank account! In Brazil, if you want to get paid that way, you just need to write down you bank data in a piece of paper and hand to the company or whatever. In Canada, it is necessary to go to the bank branch and ask for a document called VOID with all the bank information and hand this paper to the company or the government. But it is necessary to do it just once. Better than wait the post office bring our money, eh?

Despite the oddities we are proud customers of our Canadian bank, even more because we never paid a penny to keep our account there. See you soon!