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


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yeah it really depends on the situation. I already have an RBC infinite Avion with no fee (usually 170 for 2 cards) and RBC has no annual limits on your borrowing. Very nice if you have other debts to transfer to it. They will also increase it during residency if you need it. This is just not advertised.

 

No, but I have a long history with them: mortgage, previous LOCs and now MD one, many credits cards, cheque no, savings, and investment accounts... They are sometimes more flexible when you have multiple products with them.

 

Yes forgot to mention RBC waives the fee if you have multiple products.

 

At best RBC is just equivalent to Scotia. I think the majority of med students won't have enough products to have RBCs fee waived.

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  • 2 weeks later...
what do you do if you were off and sick leave for months and months. then it takes a it to show them you're ok to work (no income for 6 months) and the LOC is so close to the max. Live alone so no one else to help with. Probably can't bumb it up since I don't have a 'job' yet.

 

your best bet is to contact MD Physician Services and talk to someone there. They are apart of the CMA and can help in these situations. GL

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  • 2 months later...
Would opening a line of credit at a bank before applying for a student loan affect the amount of gov loan money I get?

 

No - LOC are not assets so the government doesn't consider them. Just don't take money out of it to just sit around in your bank account because now THAT would count as an asset.

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The best two are Scotia and RBC but Scotia is a clear winner.

 

Their visa points have almost equivalent value but Scotia charges no fee while RBC charges at least $80, if not $120 per year. Scotia also has higher max credit at 275k vs. RBC's 250k.

 

Where did you see 275k for scotia? I can't find any amount posted on their website.

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Hello,

 

I am a Senior Account Manager at RBC and I am specialized in the medical/dental lending process. I have dealt with many students and residents and would be more than willing to meet with you or reply to any email questions.

RBC offers many competitive advantages and is definitely well versed in your area of work.

 

My email : shanya.kaluaratchi@rbc.com

 

 

Kind regards,

Shanya Kaluaratchi

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Hello,

 

I am a Senior Account Manager at RBC and I am specialized in the medical/dental lending process. I have dealt with many students and residents and would be more that willing to meet with you or reply to any email questions.

RBC offers many competitive advantages and is definitely well versed in your area of work.

 

My email : shanya.kaluaratchi@rbc.com

 

Kind regards,

Shanya Kaluaratchi

 

Shanya, what exactly are your competitive advantages? Unless you can waive the Avion fee without multiple products with RBC, you have no competitive advantage over Scotia.

 

Your visa points are of equivalent value and you have a lower credit limit.

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I have to say - I went with RBC because I have been banking with RBC for years, but if I had it to do again, I'd probably go with Scotia.

 

I actually didn't get any kind of "perks" at all because I opened my LoC in the province where I was living, and then moved to Ontario for medical school, and apparently this prevented them from giving me any kind of deal on credit cards or anything like that. Somehow, having done this also prevents me from directly depositing money into my LoC, which is a pain.

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Shanya, I'm interested in the above two points that were brought up as well, if you were able to touch on them.

 

For the Avion card fee waiving, I have an account and several products with RBC currently, so if this is the requirement, will the fee be waived for all the years of my study, or only for the first year?

 

I'm also planning on studying OOP, will I be inconvenienced if I take an LOC from RBC as ellorie suggested?

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Tooty: The competitive advantage is mostly at repayment. We offer clients the option of negotiating their repayment in a way that allows them to convert the credit line to a professional credit line at Prime. This way students are not forced to pay it down at Prime +3.5% for example. When you complete your residency, we complete an applcation and in most cases, approve you for the full $250,000 at Prime as a professional LOC.

 

Ellorie- I am sorry to hear that there was such an inconvenience. Altough the two regions are treated as seperate, we do have a way of transerring your LOC to the region that you live in so all your accounts are together and most importantly viewed together through you online banking sign in. Please email me if you want me to look into this for you.

 

jfdes- We do not waive the Avion fee, unfortunately.

Please clarify what OOP is? Did you mean OB?

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Tooty: The competitive advantage is mostly at repayment. We offer clients the option of negotiating their repayment in a way that allows them to convert the credit line to a professional credit line at Prime. This way students are not forced to pay it down at Prime +3.5% for example. When you complete your residency, we complete an applcation and in most cases, approve you for the full $250,000 at Prime as a professional LOC.

 

This is not an advantage. Scotia offers the same repayment options while being superior for the reasons above.

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Seems like the original file is down from the first post. Is Scotia still better than RBC this year too?

 

and whaaat, the forum is bombarded with bank agents here????

 

ha it is somewhat nice to have them competing and explaining their options. It is something we have to directly control closely of course. This forum is about information first and foremost.

 

I would also suggest that it is very important to deal with overall support you get from your bank as well, and take a business attitude with it - they have to fight to KEEP your business, not just to get it initially. You have to be ready and willing to walk away if needed.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Congratulations all Medical Students and Graduates

 

If you have any questions regarding Medical Lines of Credit please don't hesitate to contact me. I would me more than happy to discuss and answer any questions regarding processes and general information regarding specials and options available.

 

Best Regards,

 

Adam

 

Adam Bonnell

Student Professional Advisor

Scotiabank | University Plaza

 

101 Olser Drive, Unit #138, Dundas, Ontario, Canada, L9H 4H4

T 1.905.627.9211 EXT 4300 F 1.905.627.2977

Adam.Bonnell@scotiabank.com

Scotiabank.com

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I think the RBC Avion card gets you a better return for your money compared to Scotia. If you spend 15,000 with Avion you get $350 towards a flight, or 2.3% return.

 

Scotia's Passport Visa is simply 1% cashback, so if you spend 15,000 you would only get $150 off a flight.

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I think the RBC Avion card gets you a better return for your money compared to Scotia. If you spend 15,000 with Avion you get $350 towards a flight, or 2.3% return.

 

Scotia's Passport Visa is simply 1% cashback, so if you spend 15,000 you would only get $150 off a flight.

 

As a rule (you can try to negotiate better)... RBC infinite avion is free for a year, while Scotia Passport is free as long as you're part of the professional program.

 

Also the 15k pt = 350 is the optimal return only for specific short haul flights, so you're most likely to get less, and way less if you're not looking at flights.

 

That said, I'm not a huge fan of the passport either... it has great travel insurance associated with it, but poor rewards earning. Best bang for your buck is to get the Scotia Gold Amex and have a complimentary Visa/MC for places that don't accept amex.

 

I was able to get the card for 2 years free, and after that discounted at $59 a year because of the professional program. It came with 15k ($150) points, and a bonus $300 travel credit if I spent $100 on travel. Was able to take $450 off a small vacation I was taking just for signing up.

 

Other great features about the Amex Gold is that you get 4 x pts on gas, groceries and entertainment and dining out and to redeem pts, you buy absolutely anything travel (hotel, flight, rental cars, train etc) and then you log into Scotia rewards and apply your pts to the cent. I booked a hotel recently and was able to take $172.27 off the total after it posted to my account. Very easy to apply the points.

 

It also comes with excellent travel insurance, warranty extension, price protection etc.

 

Scotia will arrange to give you a Visa for places that don't take amex, but if you're really after that maximum rewards, there are excellent no fee cards not affiliated with banks that would compliment the amex well. (Some with MBNA/Cap One and also a Amazon Chase Visa that has 1% rewards and no foreign exchange fees if you buy anything out of country.

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I don't know any short-haul flights that will run you less than $350, so you're going to get the full amount and pay the difference. Or you wait until one comes up that works the best for you. The annual fee is unfortunate though.

 

Right now I have the Scotia AMEX (first year's fee waived) and Scotia Passport Visa (no fee - always waived on my professional LOC). You can combine the points between both cards for travel so it works well.

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I don't know any short-haul flights that will run you less than $350, so you're going to get the full amount and pay the difference. Or you wait until one comes up that works the best for you. The annual fee is unfortunate though.

 

Right now I have the Scotia AMEX (first year's fee waived) and Scotia Passport Visa (no fee - always waived on my professional LOC). You can combine the points between both cards for travel so it works well.

 

Very true, apparently RBC had a good intro promo on the card in the winter too, but only one year free isn't really a perk when nearly anyone can find a first year free promotion on a card at the right time.

 

Sounds like a good combo you have going, I've been using the infinite momentum with amex gold with the emphasis on cash back at the moment. 2.6% earnings down to 2.05% when fees kick in. So slightly outperforming the avion even assuming 30k spending a year and two flight credits. However with the scotia cards, the rewards would be split between straight cash back and travel rewards for any travel expense.

 

Edit: I should note, that I'm in now in a dual income household once I start residency, so probably have larger annual spending especially on dining out, groceries, gas and recurring bills which make these cards better for me.

 

Anyone interested check out this site: http://canipayless.com/ which will give you a good quick comparison of what cards are good for you based on spending.

Then you need to figure out which have welcome bonuses/which you can get for free or discounted because of your LOC etc.

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