Thanks for the detailed post. I recently moved to Canada and have found bank account fees extreme and basically not worth it.
If Tangerine is owned by Scotiabank why can't Scotiabank just reasonably lower their fees themselves? Because they open physical banks and would have to help their customers?
This reminds me of how the small Telcos are owned by Rogers and Bell, and have created just another abstraction from where your money is actually going.
Hey FreedomPains,
You're welcome! I too think that banks are overdoing it with the fees.
I don't have an absolute answer to your question, however Tangerine does offer help over the phone/online chat. I also mentioned something about saving money by not having physical branches but there might be a lot more to it. I guess Scotia Bank only could answer that question..
In any case, here is the part where I put out what I believe makes the lower fees possible:
''They can afford to offer us better rates or less fees by being DIGITAL. (That's one of the part I love) Being a digital bank means everything is online. You cannot go to the bank. However you can contact them by phone or chat if needed.
Just think about all the CASH they save by not having to pay RENT + ELECTRICITY + INSURANCE for every branch. This money they save goes back in OUR pockets.''
Hope this help. Hopefully other banks will take example on Tangerine and lower their fees eventually.
Cheers.