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

[jumbocup 3]

1 hour ago, MacPreMed said:

Hey guys, 

Please advise.

Is it better to go with:

Scotiabank Passport Infinite + Amex Gold? 

OR

Scotiabank Passport Infinite + Momentum Infinite?

Were you able to get an annual fee waiver on the Momentum Infinite? I inquired about it but my rep said it wasn't an option for an AF waiver though I could get a pre-approval. 

[rmorelan 2,563]

19 minutes ago, ScotiabankMedsAdvisor said:

We did change our plan a couple years ago and now give access to the full approved amount up front as well.

Ha - I am out of touch - although one of your colleagues last week said it was still broken up (new to the position I believe). 

More examples of competition in action

[ScotiabankMedsAdvisor 36]

1 hour ago, rmorelan said:

Ha - I am out of touch - although one of your colleagues last week said it was still broken up (new to the position I believe). 

More examples of competition in action

I see how they could be confused.  Quite a few of our professional programs have annual limits still.  Medicine is one of the exceptions to this however.

Competition at its finest alright.  The amount of changes that have taken place over the last 10 years since I started working with medical students is astonishing.

[fz90 0]

@ScotiabankMedsAdvisor Thanks for the updates, they are much appreciated! I have a question with regards to LOC eligibility. If I have a mortgage under my name (as a co-owner) for my primary residence does that jeopardize my eligibility for the LOC? Would it affect the amount of money I can qualify for with a LOC? 

 

 

[ScotiabankMedsAdvisor 36]

56 minutes ago, fz90 said:

@ScotiabankMedsAdvisor Thanks for the updates, they are much appreciated! I have a question with regards to LOC eligibility. If I have a mortgage under my name (as a co-owner) for my primary residence does that jeopardize my eligibility for the LOC? Would it affect the amount of money I can qualify for with a LOC? 

 

 

My pleasure.  Having a mortgage will not affect the amount that you will be approved for on the professional line.

[AAAmeds 32]

I am with Scotia LOC right now, but when I asked if they could match MD Financial's $500 offer, they refused. So now I am thinking about switching to MD Financial. Does anyone know how easy it is switching LOCs, and what the process is like?

[WannaBeRadOnc 0]

Hi All, 

First post here on premed101 :O

Question regarding O-week and advisors. I like to get stuff done early rather than wait for the last minute, but I've heard that Financial Advisors usually come on Campus (in my case Queen's) presenting to students. Can anyone confirm if they offer more perks compared to if you go shopping by yourself? If they do, then I might hold off on signing through my Scotia advisor in Toronto and wait for the Scotia advisor in Kingston.

tl;dr: do packages offered during Orientation week differ from what you'd get from shopping around yourself?

[rmorelan 2,563]

22 minutes ago, AAAmeds said:

I am with Scotia LOC right now, but when I asked if they could match MD Financial's $500 offer, they refused. So now I am thinking about switching to MD Financial. Does anyone know how easy it is switching LOCs, and what the process is like?

I mean the process is actually very easy - that is one of the reasons there is so much competition.

only thing that is confusing me is that MD Financial was just bought by scotia - to what extent that means anything will change is something I am not all that sure about. You cannot actually get an LOC from MD F - they partnered with National bank that actually did the loan. 

What are the details of this 500 dollar thing? What to make sure that is correct when I summarize things

[CanaD0c 3]

Does anyone have the contact info for a Scotia advisor in Ottawa? The list on the Scotia website seems to be outdated.

[rmorelan 2,563]

13 minutes ago, WannaBeRadOnc said:

Hi All, 

First post here on premed101 :O

Question regarding O-week and advisors. I like to get stuff done early rather than wait for the last minute, but I've heard that Financial Advisors usually come on Campus (in my case Queen's) presenting to students. Can anyone confirm if they offer more perks compared to if you go shopping by yourself? If they do, then I might hold off on signing through my Scotia advisor in Toronto and wait for the Scotia advisor in Kingston.

tl;dr: do packages offered during Orientation week differ from what you'd get from shopping around yourself?

They should not   and for an example my LOC probably has been upgraded half a dozen times as new deals are worked out for incoming classes, or change that come up in the future.

I haven't seen a situation where getting a LOC in the summer produced ultimately a worse deal ultimately though sometimes the advisor had to be reminded of the change. 

[rmorelan 2,563]

2 minutes ago, CanaD0c said:

Does anyone have the contact info for a Scotia advisor in Ottawa? The list on the Scotia website seems to be outdated.

Bo Messaoudini
Small Business Advisor
____________________________________________
Scotiabank | Ottawa Main Branch

118 Sparks St. PO Box 865, Station B. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 5T2

T 1.613.564.0130   F 1.613.564.5298
boussad.messaoudini@scotiabank.com

I am beginning to feel like the central switch board for all LOC advisers in Canada here

(side note to all those banks out there - update your contact lists.......)

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by rmorelan

[CanaD0c 3]

6 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

Bo Messaoudini
Small Business Advisor
____________________________________________
Scotiabank | Ottawa Main Branch

118 Sparks St. PO Box 865, Station B. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 5T2

T 1.613.564.0130   F 1.613.564.5298
boussad.messaoudini@scotiabank.com

I am beginning to feel like the central switch board for all LOC advisers in Canada here

(side note to all those banks out there - update your contact lists.......)

 

Hahaha thank you!!

[xiphoid 139]

21 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

What are the details of this 500 dollar thing? What to make sure that is correct when I summarize things

I've yet to be able to find this on the MD Financial website itself, but it's in an ad that keeps popping up on my Facebook newsfeed. 

[rmorelan 2,563]

1 minute ago, xiphoid said:

I've yet to be able to find this on the MD Financial website itself, but it's in an ad that keeps popping up on my Facebook newsfeed. 

hmmm ok - any chance you can capture a picture of it etc? 

I know MD F must be in a lot of flux right now - one of their advisers chimed in here a week(?) ago dropped some vague information and vanished (ha, you don't want your adviser to vanish). I would have to guess they are still working through things which makes sense. 

[xiphoid 139]

2 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

hmmm ok - any chance you can capture a picture of it etc? 

They must've stopped running the ads, since their Facebook page says they have no active ads at the moment (perhaps as a result of the Scotiabank acquisition?)

I found this link with the terms and conditions of the $500 though: https://pages.mdm.ca/1696-SRLOC-tc.html

[AAAmeds 32]

This is the offer. https://pages.mdm.ca/1696-SRLOC.html. And the full eligibility criteria seem pretty straightforward too:

"The Student and Resident Line of Credit (SRLOC) Incentive Program is available only to MD Management Limited (MDM) clients who are at the time of opening the SRLOC a CMA Member in good standing (“Participant”). A Participant must open a new SRLOC through the MDM/National Bank of Canada referral arrangement between May 22nd, 2018, and September 30th, 2018 (the “Eligible Student and Resident Line of Credit Period”).

MDM will deposit to the Participant’s bank account on file with the National Bank of Canada, the amount of $500.00 (the “SRLOC Incentive Amount”).

The SRLOC Incentive Amount will be deposited within 60 days of the SRLOC being opened."

[rmorelan 2,563]

Just now, xiphoid said:

They must've stopped running the ads, since their Facebook page says they have no active ads at the moment (perhaps as a result of the Scotiabank acquisition?)

I found this link with the terms and conditions of the $500 though: https://pages.mdm.ca/1696-SRLOC-tc.html

hmmm that at least in that form has to be out dated because they aren't with national bank anymore etc. 

Curious to see if that is still going on.

 

[rmorelan 2,563]

Just now, AAAmeds said:

This is the offer. https://pages.mdm.ca/1696-SRLOC.html. And the full eligibility criteria seem pretty straightforward too:

"The Student and Resident Line of Credit (SRLOC) Incentive Program is available only to MD Management Limited (MDM) clients who are at the time of opening the SRLOC a CMA Member in good standing (“Participant”). A Participant must open a new SRLOC through the MDM/National Bank of Canada referral arrangement between May 22nd, 2018, and September 30th, 2018 (the “Eligible Student and Resident Line of Credit Period”).

MDM will deposit to the Participant’s bank account on file with the National Bank of Canada, the amount of $500.00 (the “SRLOC Incentive Amount”).

The SRLOC Incentive Amount will be deposited within 60 days of the SRLOC being opened."

I mean their LOC wasn't known to be the best one other there (despite being MD F they had serious limitations etc) but it is interesting that that also talks about transfers as well. 

You used to have to be a member of the CMA to go through MD F so there was an extra cost I supposed there (reduced of course for residents and free for med students - still it was there in the background). 

This reminds me of those credit cards where you sign up and get XYZ for free - strong temptation to do it and then just tear up the card ha. People could join and then leave. 

[jul059 82]

10 hours ago, rmorelan said:

one of the reasons that isn't updated yet is some of the plans are in flux - there are both new overall adjustments being made, and some local variations (whether those are real or advisers not being fully updated on policy is sometimes a debate)

You may not get all of that perfectly from any one bank - I mean the best travel card I believe is the Scotia one, with meets everything else you asked for except often gives out a fraction of the money each year (a large fraction mind you - no one is starving on any of these plans). RBC would typically give it all to you but has weaker cards. Those two banks are "in it to win it" mode with med students and tend to have better deals and are more responsive to adjustments the other players are making. 

Since you're apparently the reference here... Do you know if Scotia has a signup promotion like RBC? (http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/dms/pba/open-an-account/offer-m-or.html)

And do you have a RBC contact for Montreal?

Thanks!

[PD23 17]

Out of curiosity, what is the 'average' amount that is taken from a line of credit for first-year med students?

In my case, tuition is around $25,000 and OSAP is covering about $17,000. Just signed a 1 yr lease for a condo ($2000/month) downtown Toronto which I am splitting with a roommate.

[F508 75]

8 hours ago, jul059 said:

Since you're apparently the reference here... Do you know if Scotia has a signup promotion like RBC? (http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/dms/pba/open-an-account/offer-m-or.html)

And do you have a RBC contact for Montreal?

Thanks!

you can easily find the RBC contacts online by searching "health care professional RBC". www.rbcroyalbank.com/student/specialist-locator/ 

[rmorelan 2,563]

2 hours ago, F508 said:

you can easily find the RBC contacts online by searching "health care professional RBC". www.rbcroyalbank.com/student/specialist-locator/ 

yeah RBC is pretty good with keeping organized with that sort of stuff - I find I have to spend more time tracking down the adivsers from the other banks. They still have better or worse advisers overall (variability is a less with LOC in general). 

 

[rmorelan 2,563]

11 hours ago, PD23 said:

Out of curiosity, what is the 'average' amount that is taken from a line of credit for first-year med students?

In my case, tuition is around $25,000 and OSAP is covering about $17,000. Just signed a 1 yr lease for a condo ($2000/month) downtown Toronto which I am splitting with a roommate.

I think the term average is hard in this sense - I mean people have different backgrounds going in, and if you are going to get parental support it seems to be more likely in year 1 (people are still extremely excited about you getting in). That is why in part there is just a wide range of usage in year one, and end amount for that matter).  Ha, it isn't a normal distribution to use the statistics term.

Your listed expenses so far do not seem out of line with most other people.  It isn't unusual to have people take the least amount out they ever do in year 1.  Going 20-30K in on the first year isn't usually. 

[Organeer 10]

On 6/3/2018 at 2:49 PM, Coronaxtra said:

For those looking to get infinite momentum + infinite passport with Scotia, go to your advisor and state that other branches of Scotia are offering it. Tell them to touch base with Scotia HQ in Toronto, the Plaza branch is approving Infinite Momentum + infinite passport visa annually fees waived as long as you have a LOC.

 

ScotiabankMedsAdvisor / Rod, would you be able to comment on what Coronaxtra's saying?

[ScotiabankMedsAdvisor 36]

8 hours ago, Organeer said:

 

ScotiabankMedsAdvisor / Rod, would you be able to comment on what Coronaxtra's saying?

I will do my best to explain.  The Momentum Infinite card is not part of plan.  The fee on this card is not to be waived.  To give you an idea I have the Momentum Infinite and I cannot get the fee waived on my card.

My opinion is the combination of the Passport Infinite & Gold Amex is the best cards that come with any of the plans.  The Amex gives you 4 times the points on gas, groceries, dining & entertainment.  Most gas stations and major restaurants accept Amex.  Passport Infinite comes with 2 times the points on groceries, dining & entertainment and transit purchases.  No 2.5 % premium on foreign currency transactions.  Also you receive 6 free lounge visits per year.  The points on the cards can be combined and redeemed post booking.  

I hope this helps as I know there seems to be a lot of confusion.  Sorry for my grammar i’m on a field trip with my son and listening to 40 screaming kids