Just got this offer in my email. Apparently Shoppers and RBC have teamed up to offer a new bank card.
There’s a new and exciting way for you to earn Shoppers Optimum Points even faster. Simply open an RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking account and you’ll earn Shoppers Optimum Points every time you use your banking account accessed by your debit card – at any store, for whatever you buy!
Earn 1 Shoppers Optimum Point for every $1 you spend anywhere you shop
when you use your RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking Account; including gas, entertainment, clothing, groceries, and other purchases.
Earn 10 Shoppers Optimum Points for every $1 you spend at Shoppers Drug Mart
using your RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking Account – that’s in addition to the 10 Shoppers Optimum Points you earn for the same purchase by presenting your Shoppers Optimum Card.
Enjoy unlimited debits and more for only $10.95 a month –
giving you the freedom to earn Shoppers Optimum Points everywhere
10 points if you visited the link and spotted the typo.
And like airmiles, this will drive up the points needed for rewards for everyone who doesn’t have the RBC card.
Really cant assume that until the time comes.
50,000 Shoppers Optimum Points◊ for moving your payroll deposits to your new RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking Account and completing 2 bill payments online using RBC Royal Bank® Online Banking*.
5,000 Shoppers Optimum Points4 for using the convenient, hassle-free CustomSwitch® service4,^ of RBC Royal Bank to transfer your pre-authorized transactions, close your banking account at another financial institution and transfer the balance to your new RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking Account.
so there is a big catch to the 50k in points….
$10.95 a month that is crazy.
i now pay $4 for my banking at rbc and that is even to much if you ask me.
totally agree George. $10.95 a month is basically paying for your optimum points. not worth it.
I pay $14 a month for my RBC account, may as well get some Optimum points. I will be signing up for this for sure.
George…what account do you have that is only $4 a month??
Sally, just read back through and saw your comment. Should have known there was a gigantic string attached.
$10.95 a month for them to have MY money, no way! I pay nothing for my BMO club Sobeys, unlimited transactions, no fees, free cheques plus got free groceries.
It depends on how much you use your debit and such in a month. THis would be beneficial to us as we use debit for everything.
I pay 15 already a month over at td
Rip off!
I pay $0/mth as long as I keep a $1000 balance at TD, we get no interest though. We’ve had the account for a long time, so I don’t know if that’s still available.
Why are people not using the free online banking sites like ING or PC?
I so agree with you Chi of Steel. I hate to pay bank fees they already make so much money ….. Like WOW
I also agree with Chi of Steel and mickpalace, if you go with PC Financial you pay absolutely no fees on the debit or credit cards. And you get points towards free items in Loblaw chain of stores including No Frills, Superstore, Loblaws, Fortinos, etc…
I’ve been with PC for almost 15 years and have never paid a single cent for my banking, no matter how little I put on my debit or credit card. Paying the banks to use your card is absurd!
I think it’s all about what your bank has to offer. The customer service, the rates, the products (mortgage, loans, investments), etc. I am willing to pay a monthly service to have the ability to talk to someone 24/7 for any questions/problems I might have.
@Theresa: The “Day to Day Banking” account is $4/month and includes 15 transactions.
It’s an absolute rip-off when you consider I also have an ING Chequing account and that costs me $0/month for unlimited debits.
$10.95/month sounds like a co-branding of the RBC “No Limit Banking” account so you’d expect exactly the same features with the addition of optimum points. Not worth it, IMHO. Especially when you can get a Sobeys BMO chequing account for $0/month and get access to the branches and unlimited transactions if that’s your main concern.
Wow, I also collect a card from this bank.
No thanks. I put everthing on my Mastercard for Airmiles, my Visa & Costco for a cashback except for small purchases at the grocery store for under $10. or where they don’t accept credit cards. I’ve had PC since it has started and don’t think we should have to pay for fees if the banks are using our money & only giving such a small amount for interest. I don’t like to use debit cards as it’s too much work for me to keep track. I just set aside $100 a month for my cash purchases and usually don’t use it up & put what I have left in the change jar for fun money or if I’m looking at doing a small splurge. I can collect SDM Optimum Pts so easily by taking advantage of the bonus pts that are offered. However, if you do plan on using this RBC program, it’s nice that hpefully, you can double dip & get extra Optimum Pts by using the new debit card to get a new SDM gift card card & also collecting Optimum Pts by buying a SDM gift card like how we can now and then using that SDM gift card on your purchases.
Considering this site is geared towards people who want to save money, I think this is an awful offer. When there are so many options to avoid paying bank service charges (PC Financial, ING Direct etc.) why pay $10.95/month for points? In my opinion, you are buying the points with this bank plan.
So in less than 1yr you’ve given back your $$ to RBC/Shoppers
Thanks but no thanks..
Why would people do this when there are so many free choices out there? We have been with Presidents Choice since the very beginning (we are in the first 1000 customers) and we have not paid any fees for over a decade now for any withdrawals including debit or cheques. And on top of that we have saved over $4,000 in groceries (we also have the MC) so I don’t know how this SDM deal would be very beneficial to people. But I guess that if you are paying a monthly fee, then maybe it’s a good deal for you. Maybe instead of looking at this deal you should consider switching to PC Financial, unless of course you need the brick and mortar building to do your banking. Just my 2 cents worth.
Shame on you SDM! I found this out the hard way after seeing this front page news…thinking wow, what a great deal. I got to the 3rd page and noticed the $10.95 monthly fee. RBC sucks! Why would anyone pay money when there are so many free options.
i suppose this is sorta like Scotia Scene, but its RBC and Shoppers. Except same banking fees apply to Scotia account regardless of whether you have Scene, but this RBC Shoppers account comes with $11/month charge!? No way! And there are free banking options available, like PC Financial and ING. ING has a promo till end of March to give $100 if you open a banking account and direct deposit your payroll in it, and it’s like PC Financial, free and no fees. I am seriously considering it, cos I’m with Scotia and they recently upped their banking fees, now I’m paying over $5 for my bank account and don’t like it.
I just want to say thank you to everyone above that mention the $4mth fee from RBC. Was paying $10.95 per month after reading everyone post I called RBC and got the $4 monthly fee
-RBC Day to Day Banking®
A basic banking account that includes up to 15 transactions for a low flat monthly fee of $4
Free access to online and telephone banking
Access to digital cheque images with Electronic Statement
I do have a account with ing, used it for bills etc as there is only one ing machine near where I live.
About 5mths ago I had call Rbc and ask for a low mthly rate (was paying $13.95) as I wasn’t using most of the features in my present plan. The “nice” lady and the phone recommend $10.95 plan and never mention $4 package. That will teach me not to do my own research.
Again Thanks everyone.
To everyone hating on someone for paying monthly bank fees. I agree, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in most cases. However, I’ve also seen some of you state that you are using the president’s choice mastercard. Why would you use this when you can get cards that pay up to 2% in cash and have much better perks than that card?
Probably because you aren’t aware of those cards or are too set in your ways to switch. Changing bank accounts is a much bigger hassle than changing credit cards too!
@SavingMentor. Can you suggest which card/s would offer offer 2% cash back?
Thanks.
MBNA Smartcash
I too was very tempted to jump on this offer….presently I only have my mortgage at RBC. After reading the comments here I have to ask myself, why would I give up my TD Visa @ 9.9% just to pay RBC for HAVING my money? I have earned my low interest CC. Quite right: shame on SDM!!! If it’s too good to true, it usually is.
RBC is the devil.
Offtopic but for those who pay monthly fees, please reconsider PC Financial (or other free accounts). I don’t work for them – I just hate that banks charge monthly feels to use your own money!!! For those who like the option of walking in and talking to somebody for investments/mortgages/other services, have another bank account that allows you to do this at a low/no cost!! I have multiple bank accounts. PC is what I use for anything debit card related. I don’t need to worry about how many times I’ve used it a month. ALL FREE.
A lot of employers allow you to have your paycheques direct deposited into multiple accounts, and split them by percent or dollar amount.
Don’t let the banks steal your money!!
I see you guys saying that you use all your fancy visa and mc to pay for all your purchases but most of you don’t realize that you end up still paying to use that card. what the banks don’t tell you is that visa and mc will charge 1.59% & 1.65% on just a regular card to the business just for the luxury to be able to have you use that card at there store. if you have the ones with the fancy rewards on it it can cost the store close to 2.50% don’t even get me started on amex where it can cost close to 4% so in the end the business owner needs to pay those fees by increasing the price of the goods. the reason why debit cost us is because the bank is not making any money off a debit transaction the business owner will typically pay 5-7 cents on that transaction no matter how much it is. sure this card is not for everyone but if your paying for a bank account already and don’t like using credit cards or cant get one this is a great option.
@Annatree – you’re welcome. Please also note that the $4 is rebated back to zero if you have a qualifying investment, credit card or mortgage. I have a cashback card ($19.95/year) with RBC (flat 1% back on all purchases) so get the chequing account free.
However, I use my ING account for actual day-to-day chequing and only go into an RBC branch if I either have a more complicated transaction to perform or a cheque I don’t want to post / put into a machine.
Works well for me, YMMV.
@Samantha
The MBNA SmartCash is the best for most people because it has no annual fee and gives 3% cash back on gas/groceries up to a monthly maximum amount and then it drops down to 1%. All other purchases give you 1% with no tiers or limits to that. It’s great to combine with another card for non gas and grocery purchases. They mail you a cheque everytime your rewards balance reaches $50.
The MBNA Worldpoints World MasterCard gives you straight 2% back on all purchases and will give you your reward any way you choose (statement credit, EFT into your bank account, cheque, payment for travel purchases, etc). It has an $89 annual fee though with some pretty decent perks. For those people who had the MBNA Starwood Preferred Guest MasterCard like myself years ago and then got converted to the MBNA Travel Rewards Elite and now to this card – the annual fee is waived. Unfortunately new customers aren’t eligible for that offer though.
The Capital One Aspire World is also another great option. It gives you 2% cash back on travel purchases or 1.5% straight cash if you choose that option. To get the 2% on travel you have to work within a tier system but it isn’t that hard to get a purchase split into multiple transactions so you always redeem the best possible way. The insurance perks on this card are the best in Canada (truly amazing really). There is a $120 annual fee with it but they give you a 10,000 point bonus EVERY year which equals $100 in free travel so really it only costs $20 a year for a really amazing card. Earning 2% vs 1% will pay for that $20 in no time. Use the price match feature of the card (as people on this site would be good at) and you can pay for that $20 every day 🙂
@john
That’s a very true statement, but as long as credit cards are out there and businesses don’t give a discount to people paying with cash, then you might as well take advantage of it. The rest of the population who doesn’t take the time to understand credit card rewards systems get to subsidize the rest of us.
I wouldn’t complain too much if credit cards went away completely, but while they are here I am going to take advantage of them.
It’s really no different than how people who buy stuff at full price without looking for sales subsidize those of us who always buy stuff on sale.
@john
the problem is the business owner will increase the price of the goods anyway. So when you pay with your debit card or even cash you are still paying for that “luxury”. So I’d rather use my fancy visa and mc and get at least something back, than nothing at all and still pay for it.
I think this offer stinks,and I’ve had it shoved in my face at different shoppers locations,as well as a set up table inside my rbc branch.I get lots of bonus pts buying chocolate bars for myself and another family member.
I get a full $10.95 rebate. I have all my banking with RBC. Mtg, visa and investments, so I’ve never paid a cent for my account. I will be opening this account as this also gives me the rebate as well and not pay a fee .
Bank as always given me the right kind of advice. I have a great manager who contacts me to review my banking needs and I can easly walk in or book an appt.
@SavingMentor. Thank you…so very helpful. Now I just have to see which option would be best for me.
@John,
” … don’t even get me started on amex where it can cost close to 4% … ”
I had a retail business and the Amex had a flat charge to the business -I don’t remember if it was 3 or 4% – but both other cards added all sorts of “other” Merchant Services charges that essentially nickel & dime-d their fees up higher than Amex.
As for RBC, I missed a payment by 2 days and they charged me interest on every transaction until the balance was brought down to zero. All those free points in signing up were gobbled up this way. No deal here.