Make payments to your Brick Platinum Card from the RBC Online Banking

Note from the blog owner: This article might be outdated. I no longer have a Brick Platinum Card and I don’t know if what’s written in this article is still applicable today.

If you financed some new furniture at The Brick by getting a Brick Platinum Card, then you can arrange your payments thought the RBC online banking.  I prefer to do the contributions from the comfort of my home as opposed to physically paying at the store.  

Your Brick Platinum Card should look like this:

Brick Platinum Card - The Brick

This is a comprehensive step by step guideline that will allow you to contribute to your Brick Platinum Card balance from the RBC Online Baking:

1. Sign-in to RBC online baking. Once you sign-in, you’ll see the Accounts Summary page.
2. Find and click the Pay Bills & Transfer Funds link. You will be redirected to the Pay Bills & Transfer Funds page.
3. Find and click the Add Payee link. You will be redirected to the Add Payee page.
4. In the Payee name text box type HSBC RETAIL SERVICES and click the Search button. You will be redirected to a page containing a list of possible payee matches.  Select the radio button labeled HSBC RETAIL SERVICES and click the Continue button. You will be redirected to the Payee Information page.
5. Type in your Brick Platinum Card number in the edit box. When doing so, add a leading zero to the 15 digit card number.   For example, if your Brick Card number is 0000 1234 5678 999, then you should type 0000 0123 4567 8999. Once you do this, click the Continue button. You will be redirected to the Add Payee Confirmation page. 
6. Click the Confirm button. You will be redirected to the Add Payee Completed page. At this point you have successfully added your Brick Platinum Card to your list of payees.
7. To make a payment go to the Accounts Summary page and use the Quick Payments & Transfers dialog. It’s as easy as specifying the source from which you want to take your funds (checking account, saving account, etc.), selecting Brick Platinum HSBC as the receiver of the payment and entering the amount of money that you would like to transfer.

The online transfer should be done 7 days in advance to the payment due date to guarantee it comes in time for processing.

That’s all folks :-) If you find this tutorial helpful, would you mind sharing it by clicking the Google Plus (G+) button at the beginning of this post? Thanks!

Avoid your Debit Card Monthly Fee by opening a Tax-Free Savings Account (Canada)

RBC clients have to pay a monthly fee as a compensation for using (or holding) their debit card (client card). The amount varies depending on the plan you have chosen. In my case, I have to pay $4.00CAD each month. This allows me to perform up to 13 transactions. Other clients, with higher privileges, are allowed to execute more transactions and for that a higher fee is applied.

If you want to avoid this Monthly Fee, I suggest you to open a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). For that, go to your near branch of RBC and ask for a banker (account manager). Tell this banker you want to set-up a Tax Free Savings Account. There is no minimum deposit to open this account; in my case I just put 10 dollars, which is a good idea if you don’t want to put much money in this investment.

By holding a TFSA you become an investor of the bank, which is why they refund you the $4.00CAD of your Monthly Fee.

The following picture was taken from my online banking account:

Notice a monthly fee of $4.00CAD applied on November 2nd (see red rectangle).  Notice also on November 2nd, a deposit of $4.00CAD (see blue rectangle). The deposit, labeled MultiProduct Rebate, was made as a compensation for being an RBC investor; in other words, I was rewarded with $4.00CAD for having a Tax-Free Savings Account with RBC.

It’s easy to figure out that the difference between the monthly fee and the MultiProduct Rebate is zero. This means, you will be saving 4 dollars each month…it’s like avoiding your Debit Card Monthly Fee. You will save $48CAD annually.

Holding a Tax-Free Savings Account gives you more advantages, but I will talk about that in further posts. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section, I will be glad to answer them if I can.

SERVICE FEE – 7EPMT/WD/TFR@$.150 at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

The other day I was surfing my savings account's details and I noticed a withdrawal of $10.50 (CAD) that I never did. The description was SERVICE FEE - 7EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50 and was done on September 2nd, 2010. See the red rectangle in the picture below:

Going back in time a little bit, I noticed that I also had a SERVICE FEE – 4EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50 on August 2nd, 2010. At that time I was charged with $6.00 (CAD).

I found a pattern in those withdrawals:

1. They apply always on the second day of every month.
2. The amount of the fee is the result of multiplying $1.50 by the number preceding “EPMT” in the description.

See the relation below for a trivial mathematical calculation of the fees:

Description:                                                                Fee value:

SERVICE FEE - 1EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>   $1.50 (CAD)

SERVICE FEE - 2EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>   $3.00 (CAD)

SERVICE FEE - 3EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>   $4.50 (CAD)

SERVICE FEE - 4EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>   $6.00 (CAD)

SERVICE FEE - 5EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>   $7.50 (CAD)

SERVICE FEE - 6EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>   $9.00 (CAD)

SERVICE FEE - 7EPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50       =>  $10.50 (CAD)

…...............................................................................................

SERVICE FEE - NEPMT/WD/TFR@$1.50      =>  $1.50 * N (CAD)

At this point I decided to go to the nearest branch of the RBC and ask about the reason for those fees. They said I was charged because I had withdrawn money from my “savings account”, which is intended for “saving” and not for “making payments”. So, if you plan to pay for anything, don't use directly your “savings account”, instead use your “checking account”.

Most Canadian institutions do unfair tricks like the one described above to eat your money. Fortunately, I found a bank in Canada (Tangerine) that does not seem to trick you and eat your money. If you are interested, you might take a look at the link below:

How to open a checking account at Tangerine?

Note: I am a client of Tangerine. These guys conduct a very clear business. They don’t trick, they don’t hide stuff and above all, they don’t charge any fees.

Please, if this article was helpful, then share it by clicking the Google Plus (G+) button at the beginning of this post. 

RBC online banking: Choose the right Savings Account type

Savings accounts are intended to save... or so RBC [1] says. There's one golden rule: the money that goes into the savings account should stay there. If you don't follow this norm, you will be charged $1.50 per each transaction you make directly from your savings account.These charges are named service fees.

Service fees apply in most situations that you have moved money out from your savings account. For example, whether you withdraw money in an ATM machine, pay with your debit card or make any kind of transaction using your savings account, you are busted and then you should pay the corresponding service fee.

If you need to use the  money in your savings account, first, transfer that money to your checking account by means of the RBC online banking. Then use your checking account to make the payments or withdraw the amount you need.

Even this way you might be charged, because sometimes transferring from savings to checking is penalized with $1.50 per transaction. This depends on the type of savings account your are using. My advice: use RBC High Interest eSavings™ account, which gives you higher savings interests and also allows you to transfer money from savings to checking without being charged.

A better advice, do you banking with an institution that is not waiting for you to make a “mistake” in order to fine you for it. So far, my best candidate is Tangerine. I outlined some of the benefits of banking with Tangerine and how to open a checking account at this institution in almost no time and from the comfort of your home. The details can be found here: How to open a checking account at Tangerine?.

If you decide to remain at RBC, this is how you can change your savings account type:

1.) Login into your online banking account.

2.) Expand your savings account details by clicking on the corresponding link.

3.) Click Personal Accounts --> Change Account Type or Add Owners in the left column of the page.

4.) At his point, follow the instructions your are given, but make sure to choose RBC High Interest eSavings™ as your new account type. [2]

Hopefully you can achieve more freedom with your new RBC High Interest eSavings™ account. It will give you the ability to move money from your savings account to your checking account  without being penalized by the unpleasant service fees. [3]

Notes:

[1]: RBC stands for Royal Bank of Canada.

[2]: There are 7 types of account by default:

• RBC High Interest eSavings™
• RBC VIP Banking™
• RBC Signature No Limit Banking™
• RBC No Limit Banking™
• RBC Day to Day Banking™
• RBC Enhanced Savings™
• RBC Day to Day Savings™

[3]: Important: The money being moved (transferred) is extent of charge only if you use online banking.