LOC: RBC vs MD Management

[White-Tiger]

I recently received the great news that I've been accepted to McGill's MDCM program. I will be moving out in July and will need a source to fund myself. I was looking at both RBCs and MD Management's LOC program for medical students and both seem really good.

 

Anyone have any experiences to share on the difference, which is best, why?

[hippie]

Why not AFE? they should cover you? eh?

[HaliEngineer]

Depends on your current debt situation, your ability to get a co-signor, and your current banking relationship with both National Bank and RBC.

 

National Bank wanted to count my current student loans and lines of credit against my "max", and if I wanted to up my limit, I needed a co-signor who's income was sufficient to carry that debt (In other words, a doctor/lawyer/professional athlete.)

Royal Bank counted my LOC's against my Max, but allowed my wife, a teacher, to co-sign with me, to get me up to the required level. Some of this may have been due to my relationship with RBC (LOC's, mortgage).

 

Also, on the East Coast, royal banks are ubiquitous - National Banks aren't in Halifax at all. So you do most of your work over the phone - a bit of a hassle, especially if you're looking for some sort of exemption of special consideration.

 

Good luck!

[Satsuma]

Probably you should meet up with the reps from both and see which rep you like best.

 

I have had great experiences with the medical professionals RBC rep in Ottawa. But I had met with RBC reps before coming to Ottawa and didn't like them so much...so region dependant I am sure.

 

I personally went with RBC for pure convenience. There are alot of RBC branches around me and not really any National Bank branches.

And even if I bothered to find some near me...I figured going home and such would be a pain to find a branch too, though pretty much no matter where I go there are RBCs.

 

Cause there aren`t that many branches for National Bank, when I was looking into it, you could mail in things like cheques etc for depositing to your account. But I just didn`t like that idea. I like to deposit my money and know it is there right away.

 

Most banks will give you more than enough money...even if it isn`t advertised. If it is a matter of keeping your business, if you need more $$ down the road they'll give it to you (as long as you don`t have a bad credit rating). So don`t let small differences in max amounts be your deciding factor. Just make sure no matter who you go with you don`t pay more than prime interest.

 

Find a bank with a rep you like (hint for RBC make sure you get the medical student/med professional rep...other reps aren`t so familiar with the program) and a bank you think can offer you the other services you need besides the LOC.

 

Congratulations and good luck

Sats

 

Just read HaliEngineer's post, I think his situation may be a bit different since he already has maybe alot of debt (mortgage etc.). I had no problems getting approved for the max amounts at RBC or with MDM (150k) without a co-signor and they didn`t count any of my outstanding student loans or LOCs against me.

[miss_sunshine]

I went with RBC as well for the convenience. There are so many RBC branches in Montreal and most of the ATM's at school are royal bank and since I withdraw cash frequently from the ATM, I save on service charges. I've also been an RBC customer for many years and I've been very happy with them and decided to stay. Other banks offer similar packages and will all give you more than enough money in LOCs. At RBC, no co-signor was needed (and the same thing goes for mD managment, from what I've heard).

All of the banks offer the same basic (free package) with LOC. I paid 100$ per year extra for a better package because I wanted the safety deposit box, unlimited debits/transactions/cheques, the platinum card because of the great travel rewards plan, among other benefits. I think the only other bank that offers a really good travel rewards/platinum card is National bank but it's only free for the first 1-2 years, then you have to pay around 100 dollars a year. The points add up and hopefully by carms time, i will have enough to exchange them for airfare.

Unless you desperately need the LOC right away, wait until school starts to pick a bank if you are still unsure. The banks give presentations and give free food as well as other goodies like USB keys, water bottles, etc... They can also give you all the info you need. I don't think it's hard finding a med specialist in a big city like MTL because all of the main branches downtown deal with med students and are knowledgable abou t the plans. Also, if you pick RBC, there is a way to get free $ if you tell them another med student referred you, they give that med student 100$ that you can later split 50/50.