Lines of Credit for Medical Students (Scotia is the best option)

[amh12]

30 minutes ago, xiphoid said:

If you're not a RBC client already, their LOC is quite competitive (free iPad, Visa Infinite Avion credit card, $1000 overdraft protection as the main tangible benefits). Otherwise, if you're like me and were already a RBC client, I would not go with them because you're not eligible for the iPad which makes the monetary value of their LOC benefits a lot less than Scotia and TD.

Hi! Do you know what kind of iPad RBC is offering to new clients?

[xiphoid]

9 minutes ago, amh12 said:

Hi! Do you know what kind of iPad RBC is offering to new clients?

9.7” iPad, 32GB. The one that came out last year.

[LittleDaisy]

47 minutes ago, xiphoid said:

Disclaimer: I have my LOC with Scotia, and while I don't regret it per se, I do wish I had initially signed with another bank and then switched to Scotia because they offered incentives to switch in the past few months that I'm now not eligible for since I signed with them from the start.

If you're not a RBC client already, their LOC is quite competitive (free iPad, Visa Infinite Avion credit card, $1000 overdraft protection as the main tangible benefits). Otherwise, if you're like me and were already a RBC client, I would not go with them because you're not eligible for the iPad which makes the monetary value of their LOC benefits a lot less than Scotia and TD.

If you travel by plane a lot and are in a city where American Express is accepted at most places, Scotiabank makes sense (6 complimentary airport lounge visits a year, Passport Visa Infinite, Scotiabank Gold American Express, $5000 overdraft protection as the main tangible benefits). 

If you already have an account with RBC and don't travel by plane a lot, TD has a pretty good LOC package ($500 Amazon gift card [this wasn't offered last year but instead it was $300 cash + smart bluetooth speaker], Visa Infinite credit card of your choosing [cashback, aeroplan or first class travel] as the main tangible benefits).

TD has really stepped up their medical student LOC in the past two years, to the point where I wouldn't say Scotia and RBC are the best two choices anymore. Also, I think customer service/the relationship you have with your financial advisor is pretty important especially as we're going into a profession that is going to make us "high income" earners. I met with multiple different advisors at a few different branches for each of the main banks last summer (Scotia, RBC, TD and CIBC), and I have to say that RBC does the best job at this, followed pretty closely by TD. Scotia and CIBC were without a doubt the worst.

Anyone able to get the annual fees waived for Scotiabank Infinite Visa Momentum?

They waived the annual fees for me last year (99$), but started charging this year. I wonder if anyone has been successful waiving the annual fee during medical school or residency. TIA

[xiphoid]

5 minutes ago, LittleDaisy said:

Anyone able to get the annual fees waived for Scotiabank Infinite Visa Momentum?

They waived the annual fees for me last year (99$), but started charging this year. I wonder if anyone has been successful waiving the annual fee during medical school or residency. TIA

First year free is the norm on that card (i.e. them waiving the fee for you last year had nothing to do with your LOC). I know a few people who were told by their Scotia advisor that they would waive the fee for them on that card last year, but have since run into the same problem of being charged for the card because the advisor had either left Scotia or is telling them that it's no longer possible to waive the annual fee. I was told upfront by my advisor last year that she would not waive the fee for me on that card after the first year so I'd have to either switch or pay the $99. I opted to just get the Passport instead. Good luck!

[Albert]

Hey everyone, need some advise as a new medical student. I'll be going to a med school that's not in my home town... Should I get the LOC from my home town bank or from a branch located in the medical school town? Probably going with RBC...Thanks!

[InternMed]

Hey guys,

Did any of you hear about the VIP account with RBC? How many years did you guys get it for free? I've heard some people got it for 4 years and others for the whole course of their studies (med school + residency). Any input?

[Distancea]

4 hours ago, Albert said:

Hey everyone, need some advise as a new medical student. I'll be going to a med school that's not in my home town... Should I get the LOC from my home town bank or from a branch located in the medical school town? Probably going with RBC...Thanks!

Honestly youre most likely not going to see them beyond the sign-up. Just do your hometown if its convenient and you can just visit them if you need to (trust me, you wont) once you are back. 

[ameltingbanana]

4 hours ago, Albert said:

Hey everyone, need some advise as a new medical student. I'll be going to a med school that's not in my home town... Should I get the LOC from my home town bank or from a branch located in the medical school town? Probably going with RBC...Thanks!

Hometown if your home town has a medical student with an advisor who knows what they're doing. Otherwise, branch located near medical school who will almost certainly have an advisor who knows what they're doing.

[medkunoichi]

I’m not seeing a whole log about CIBC on here but I was wondering why not? They have the highest limit that I’ve found (375k) and a pretty competitive interest rate (3.7 minus 0.25%). Thoughts?

[Medhopeful4]

Anyone have experience with BMO?

[xiphoid]

55 minutes ago, medkunoichi said:

I’m not seeing a whole log about CIBC on here but I was wondering why not? They have the highest limit that I’ve found (375k) and a pretty competitive interest rate (3.7 minus 0.25%). Thoughts?

Their website says $350k, not $375k. This is besides the point though because generally the $300k is more than enough, and the banks seem to keep increasing it over the years. I wouldn't choose a bank just based on the max LOC they're offering because they're all in the same ballpark.

The prime minus 0.25 is the standard rate for all Canadian medical student LOCs. If you are offered a rate higher than that, go elsewhere. This is the first year CIBC is offering that rate (it was prime in previous years), and it's about time because every other major bank has been offering that for years. With that being said, I would not recommend CIBC to any Canadian medical student (I've heard they're the only bank that will offer LOCs to those going abroad though). They don't seem to really care about getting our business, and it shows - they don't offer any perks with their LOC while other banks are offering the same financial package but throwing in free iPads (RBC), premium credit cards (Scotiabank, RBC, TD), free overdraft protection (Scotiabank, RBC), premium chequing and savings accounts (Scotiabank, RBC, TD), cash/gift card incentives (TD), etc. Banks want our business as medical students so let them give you free perks in competing for your business. Seriously. Go with Scotiabank, RBC or TD.

[LostLamb]

I do not know anyone who has a BMO LOC.

they are my main bank and when I approached them back in 2011 they told me they don’t do prime+0% LOC and were completely unhelpful. Walked out and straight to scotia and was approved immediately. 

They have since come to me begging me to take the LOC with them but I’ve declined politely.

that said, tread carefully with bmo. 

[LittleDaisy]

1 hour ago, LostLamb said:

I do not know anyone who has a BMO LOC.

they are my main bank and when I approached them back in 2011 they told me they don’t do prime+0% LOC and were completely unhelpful. Walked out and straight to scotia and was approved immediately. 

They have since come to me begging me to take the LOC with them but I’ve declined politely.

that said, tread carefully with bmo. 

I had the same experience, BMO doesn't really deal with physicians so they don't have much good products tbh!

[douchebaggage]

The scotiabank website has detailed info about their LOC offer (chequing accounts, credit cards, etc) but I can't find anything on the RBC website (what's this talk about an iPad?). Could anyone provide me with the details of the RBC offer? I'd like to know before going into talk to them.

[Elgar]

On 5/22/2019 at 4:01 PM, xiphoid said:

9.7” iPad, 32GB. The one that came out last year.

Can you give us the link with the info about the ipad for RBC's offer? thanks  

[DreamingOfMD]

On 5/22/2019 at 7:25 PM, InternMed said:

Hey guys,

Did any of you hear about the VIP account with RBC? How many years did you guys get it for free? I've heard some people got it for 4 years and others for the whole course of their studies (med school + residency). Any input?

I asked my advisor at RBC and they stated I could get it for the duration of medical school. However, I imagine that you may be able to negotiate to get it in residency as well.  

[JohnP]

Hi Everyone, 

First time poster here. Curious about bank options.

Currently with Scotia. They gave me $200k with a Momentum Visa and Amex Gold (no fees).  I'm charged for interac e-transfers  (over ~3), but reimbursed this at the end of the month. Unable to have my monthly CC bills and any debit overdraft automatically transferred from my LoC.  Looking for options with a higher LoC limit, autodebit from my LoC, and interested in bonuses (e.g. iPad).

Based on this board, I'll probably ask RBC what they can offer. Welcome to any other ideas from the experts here :)

[Instagrammar]

I really want to start my LOC, however it seems like this may be a little early to start looking. Last year MD financial offered the 500$ bonus in June for signing a LOC and the IPad offering with RBC was discussed around the last week of May/first week of June in 2018. I'm probably going to wait another week before making my decision, but if Scotia will waive the annual fees for the 4 years + residency, I'm leaning towards them. 

[chiynadoll]

16 minutes ago, Instagrammar said:

I really want to start my LOC, however it seems like this may be a little early to start looking. Last year MD financial offered the 500$ bonus in June for signing a LOC and the IPad offering with RBC was discussed around the last week of May/first week of June in 2018. I'm probably going to wait another week before making my decision, but if Scotia will waive the annual fees for the 4 years + residency, I'm leaning towards them. 

Depending on your advisor, some of them can help you bend the rules and submit the applications with just an offer letter and confirmation of paid-deposit. 

I'm going with TD and my advisor just submitted everything for me today to try and get the $400-value promo they have for one of their premium cards. It's do-able, just hunt around for the right advisor. 

[xiphoid]

2 hours ago, JohnP said:

Hi Everyone, 

First time poster here. Curious about bank options.

Currently with Scotia. They gave me $200k with a Momentum Visa and Amex Gold (no fees).  I'm charged for interac e-transfers  (over ~3), but reimbursed this at the end of the month. Unable to have my monthly CC bills and any debit overdraft automatically transferred from my LoC.  Looking for options with a higher LoC limit, autodebit from my LoC, and interested in bonuses (e.g. iPad).

Based on this board, I'll probably ask RBC what they can offer. Welcome to any other ideas from the experts here

Scotiabank is the only LOC that will automatically add your previous month's interest to your next month's principle. With RBC, you will need to manually transfer the monthly interest for your LOC from your LOC principle. I'm not sure if you'd be able to have monthly credit card bills and overdraft payments automatically drawn from your LOC with RBC, but you'll need to log in monthly anyways to pay your LOC interest. At least that's one less thing to worry about with Scotia. Also just a note, Scotia's overdraft is $5000 a month, while RBC's is $1000. I've never used debit in my life so it doesn't matter to me, but if you're consistently relying on overdraft, it may be something to consider.

If you ask your advisor at Scotia, your limit should be increased to $300k with no hassle. The new limit was only introduced near the end of last summer, and everyone I know who had been approved before then were able to get the new limit with no problems just by emailing their advisor. Also just to note, if you have had any RBC accounts within the past 5 years, you will not qualify for the free iPad offer.

[xiphoid]

33 minutes ago, Instagrammar said:

I really want to start my LOC, however it seems like this may be a little early to start looking. Last year MD financial offered the 500$ bonus in June for signing a LOC and the IPad offering with RBC was discussed around the last week of May/first week of June in 2018. I'm probably going to wait another week before making my decision, but if Scotia will waive the annual fees for the 4 years + residency, I'm leaning towards them. 

I would wait to apply because most offers tend to be announced in early June, but it's not too early to start looking. Advisors will be able to tell you most of the details of their LOC, and will generally tell you whether or not to wait to apply at their institution based on upcoming promos. (I met with RBC last year the week before the iPad offer was announced, and the advisor I met with told me to wait until the following week before applying for a LOC at any institution because there would be an announcement that could influence my decision.) MD Financial is Scotiabank now though, so I'm not sure they will be offering a LOC anymore (because their LOC would be Scotiabank's LOC, whereas MD Financial used to offer LOCs through National Bank). 

[xiphoid]

20 minutes ago, chiynadoll said:

Depending on your advisor, some of them can help you bend the rules and submit the applications with just an offer letter and confirmation of paid-deposit. 

You should be able to apply and be approved for a LOC at any of the major institutions with just your Canadian medical school offer letter regardless of your advisor. You may not have access to the entire LOC until you provide proof of enrollment, but usually they will offer you a small amount of the LOC if you need it for this summer.

[chiynadoll]

3 minutes ago, xiphoid said:

You should be able to apply and be approved for a LOC at any of the major institutions with just your Canadian medical school offer letter regardless of your advisor. You may not have access to the entire LOC until you provide proof of enrollment, but usually they will offer you a small amount of the LOC if you need it for this summer.

That's good to know, I couldn't get anything from BMO until I had proof of registration so I jumped ship to TD. 

[xiphoid]

Just now, chiynadoll said:

That's good to know, I couldn't get anything from BMO until I had proof of registration so I jumped ship to TD. 

Would generally not recommend BMO for medical students. Scotia, RBC and TD really are the clear choices for Canadian medical students. I think CIBC is the only/best choice for IMGs.

[allycm30]

I first contacted MD Financial - I know the advisors pretty well. LOC is under Scotia now. In talking with Scotia didn't seem any promos or bonuses upcoming. They feel their overall package is competitive enough. Because of mat leave benefit likely 90% going with them. But I am wit TD and my partner is RBC .....so seems like a lot of effort!