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

[Speculator]

Is there any Med students who have chosen to go with CIBC? Such as the Aventura? 

[88rising]

I'm about to apply for Scotiabank's LOC. I heard that there is the potential for more offers/perks in June or July. Can anyone speak from their personal experience whether it's worth waiting for such perks with Scotia? i.e. other free stuff (on top of the free $300)

[SoonTibiaDr]

The $300 isn’t free btw. You have to meet some criteria to receive that and they all require you to spend $. 

[Mel96b]

8 minutes ago, SoonTibiaDr said:

The $300 isn’t free btw. You have to meet some criteria to receive that and they all require you to spend $. 

These criteria are extremely easy to meet... it's pretty much free lol

1 hour ago, 88risingsun said:

I'm about to apply for Scotiabank's LOC. I heard that there is the potential for more offers/perks in June or July. Can anyone speak from their personal experience whether it's worth waiting for such perks with Scotia? i.e. other free stuff (on top of the free $300)

I'd like to know too!

[medicmac]

1 hour ago, 88risingsun said:

I'm about to apply for Scotiabank's LOC. I heard that there is the potential for more offers/perks in June or July. Can anyone speak from their personal experience whether it's worth waiting for such perks with Scotia? i.e. other free stuff (on top of the free $300)

do you mind if i ask what kind of sign up points they  offered?
i was told a total of 50k reward points over both the visa and amex gold, however i think i saw higher benchmarks within the forum

[88rising]

46 minutes ago, medicmac said:

do you mind if i ask what kind of sign up points they  offered?
i was told a total of 50k reward points over both the visa and amex gold, however i think i saw higher benchmarks within the forum

Sure, the PDF an advisor gave me says earn up to 45,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points in your first year for the Passport Visa Infinite Card and 30,000 for the Gold American Express Card. So combined total of 75k.

[xyzzz]

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[medicmac]

21 hours ago, Peakapuff said:

 I've decided to settle for Scotia. With my current lifestyle I would get just 50$-100$ more reward points with RBC but the 360$ value of free lounges, the larger flexibility in using points and also the purchase insurance, purchase protection and no FX fee is a huge plus for me.

I wish Scotia came with an all inclusive account like RBC but realistically I'm never going to use any of those fancy features and if I do it will likely be as a working professional.

I asked the advisor I was talking to if he expected any new offers to appear in the next months and he doesn't seem to think so. At most when the 300$ offer goes away it may get replaced by something else. 

Any second thoughts?

Are you a current RBC or scotia client?
two different RBC agents offered me up to 45 000 points while scotia offers a 50 000 point over two cards.
what do you mean by more inclusive? i ask because as a current RBC client i really see no advantage to remain with them vs moving to Scotia

[xyzzz]

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[Anon1]

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[JayKay]

So I have a bank account with Scotia - just a checking and savings account which I haven't really touched in 2 years. I mainly use TD - will that deter me in for any perks if I choose to go with Scotia for my LOC? 

[xyzzz]

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[medicmac]

10 hours ago, Peakapuff said:

Haha that's a typical other case of advisors giving different info everywhere

RBC advisor only offered me 15 000 points = 350$ travel value while scotia offered me UP TO 65 000 points (I can only meet 55 000) = 550$ travel value + 300$ if new account conditions met. (total 850$) That's also what's advertised on their website so I'm surprise it's not the same number as what your advisor gave you...

If you got 45 000 with RBC that's awesome but I'm a bit sad to see that their reward does not follow a linear curve. 15 000 points = 350 but 45 000 points is not 3x 350$ it's 900$. Unless you only use your points at 15 000 increments at a time.

Are they offering you the platinum or infitine avion? The platinum has no medical insurance  so this is something you will have to pay out of pocket for each trip. The infinite does "Under 65 years of age, 15 days of coverage. For age 65 and over, 3 days of coverage." but this is less than what scotia offers (25 days for under 65 and 10 days for over 65). That's important for me because my mom will turn 65 soon. Most of my family lives on a continent across the world. I've never had a chance to visit them more than once every 10 due to financial reasons which I plan to change now. That being said it'll give me plenty of opportunities to use the free 6 lounges you get with scotia so that they won't exclusively be useful during carm interview season.

By all inclusive I mean the chequing account scotia gives you is the second best they offer (not the best). Which means no global unlimited ATM without charge if the ATM belongs to another bank, no free draft etc. But you still get free cheques, unlimited e-transfer, unlimited debit use etc. (basically anything you would need and actually use on a daily basis). I was a bit bummed about the ATM but realistically I use cards 99.99% of the time. lol

I am neither with RBC nor scotia! I currently bank with TD. The 325k they offer instead of the 350k doesn't bother me but their credit card can't compete.

Regardless of which bank you go with just make sure you go over the conditions to redeem the points to make sure you will be able to meet them. I honestly think it comes down to personal preference and how you see yourself using the perks. 6 free lounges is pretty useless if you see yourself using it once in the next 10 years Does the majority of your purchases go towards food (5x points with scotia) or other stuff? (better point/money ratio for rbc). Do you shop on amazon.com/other foreign currency website often or travel enough to benefit from the no foreign exchange fee? Do you usually pay for your travel insurance? How much? Are there any other family members who could benefit from your CC medical insurance?

Hope this was somewhat helpful!  

Edit: the advisor I've been speaking with at scotia is kyu.tompkins@scotiabank.com. He's been great, knows his stuff and very friendly. He's the one in charge of Ottawa. I'm sure he'll be happy to answer your questions and redirect you to the right person based on your university though. 

 

thank you for such a detailed response.
Yeah RBC initially offered 15k points but I had the advisor look into what she can do and she said something about moving or qualifying for healthcare worker/field which grants you an extra 30k points.
I am an RBC existent client and didn't want to see myself change, but Scotia is really putting effort in their recruitment. I mention the above RBC point for those of you who will be signing up with RBC for whatever reason.
Best of luck to all.
And as always, health and wellness to all,

[moonlitocean]

There’s no point in rushing to sign up now. Usually the banks have special offers out by June/July

[dooogs]

How long does it take to have in our accounts? Just want to make sure I have it in time for tuition payments

[Dr. House's Good Leg]

I've contacted a Scotia advisor based on the agent list that's floating around this thread somewhere. The agent for U of A is no longer working in that department so I'm wondering if anyone has a recommendation for an agent that they've been happy with? I'm currently in the Toronto area if that makes a difference. I can't help but feel like never get the best deal with these types of things so research on my end and great agent who knows what they are doing would be great. Thanks!

 

 

[lolz3]

9 hours ago, moonlitocean said:

There’s no point in rushing to sign up now. Usually the banks have special offers out by June/July

The offers typically don't change too too much between years. Some banks/friendly advisors also have a history of honouring the new offer if you ask nicely. In addition, there's nothing at all prohibiting someone from switching their LOC over from one bank to another. In fact, this is one way to 'double-dip' the benefits, as long as you're willing to put in the effort. All this being said - one notable offer that many people (i.e. current Scotia LOC customers) missed out on was when MD Financial Management + Scotiabank offered $500 cash (in addition to the credit card sign-up bonuses) to new clients sometime in the last few years.

8 hours ago, dooogs said:

How long does it take to have in our accounts? Just want to make sure I have it in time for tuition payments

Depending on the bank and your own availability, the process can take 1-3 weeks to complete. The main rate-limiting steps are needing to go into the branch to sign documents, how long the bank's internal credit underwriting office takes to process your account, anything you might need to do to fulfill the underwriters' requests (e.g. close credit cards, provide details on current student loan amounts, etc.), and then potentially going into the branch again to sign final documents.

[heartandsoul]

If my regular checking account is with TD but I would like to get the RBC LOC, do I need to keep a minimal balance in the RBC chequing account to get the whole package (including the credit card)?

[DrOtter]

51 minutes ago, heartandsoul said:

If my regular checking account is with TD but I would like to get the RBC LOC, do I need to keep a minimal balance in the RBC chequing account to get the whole package (including the credit card)?

Nope. They waive all the minimum balance requirements and fees associated for the duration of your LOC. 

[dooogs]

Does anybody know if the RBC rewards points are offered to existing clients? On the website it says to new clients.... wondering if anybody was able to get as an existing client

[FrannieLydon]

I am wondering if anyone knows anything about transferring your LOC. I am thinking that Scotia has the best offers right now especially to sign up, but I think that in a perfect world I end up with RBC on a more long term basis. Is it possible to start with Scotia and then switch to RBC down the road? Does anyone have any other thoughts on this? 

[JohnGrisham]

9 minutes ago, FrannieLydon said:

I am wondering if anyone knows anything about transferring your LOC. I am thinking that Scotia has the best offers right now especially to sign up, but I think that in a perfect world I end up with RBC on a more long term basis. Is it possible to start with Scotia and then switch to RBC down the road? Does anyone have any other thoughts on this? 

You can change whenver you want.   Some people even change a few times before the end up where they settle into.

[FrannieLydon]

1 minute ago, JohnGrisham said:

You can change whenver you want.   Some people even change a few times before the end up where they settle into.

What is the process for changing? 

[FingersCrossedPls]

Hey I have a quick question -- I am looking into getting my LOC from CIBC since the majority of my banking is with them. The problem is that the advisor is telling me that you only have access to 1/4 of the funds every year. For example, if I take a 200K LOC then I get access to 50K every year. Is this normal? It doesn't make sense to me since tuition changes, housing changes, and I am only paying for the amount that I use in the first place. Do other banks do this? 

Thank you!

[hbmed]

9 minutes ago, FingersCrossedPls said:

Hey I have a quick question -- I am looking into getting my LOC from CIBC since the majority of my banking is with them. The problem is that the advisor is telling me that you only have access to 1/4 of the funds every year. For example, if I take a 200K LOC then I get access to 50K every year. Is this normal? It doesn't make sense to me since tuition changes, housing changes, and I am only paying for the amount that I use in the first place. Do other banks do this? 

Thank you!

RBC and Scotia don't, but I know BMO has an 85K(?) annual access limit too.