Line of Credit and Credit Cards Comparison

[sirnoodleton]

Hi guys.
Well, I did a bunch of research, and he is what I found.
I compiled a list of the TOP travel cards from a few of the best Line of Credit offers from financial institutions. Their LOCs are pretty much the same.
What might separate them is their credit cards.

Here is a link to a compilation of lines of credit that was done by UBC.
http://med.ubc.ca/files/2012/02/SLOC-2012-2013.pdf

Here is a spread sheet that compiles the credit cards.

Some are comparable to eachother. Others are not.
Remember, these are the top cards, and I'm not even sure that the banks will offer them to us, even if we ask.

Here it is http://www.weebly.com/weebly/apps/readDraft.php?draftId=105034883822802961&userId=88 87647

All the best

[repede]

Sir Noodleton is right - they are mostly the same, with subtle differences.

If it will help anyone, I'll detail my experience here. I went with BMO, and while their terms are pretty standard, they denied me any Mastercard beyond the SPC card, and I was only given a student chequing account.

I know one other person that was able to secure the BMO World Elite with fees waived... which is their BEST card, better than Gold. And since the banking business is competitive, I decided to try asking for plan-matching with other banks. I brought up the comparison between banks quite specifically before making the appointment to sign documents. Scotia is giving unlimited transactions (ScotiaOne account) with fees waived, and RBC is giving the Rewards Gold VISA, while BMO is just giving student plans and credit cards. In the return call, the upgrade to a Perfomance Plan with fees waived was flat-out denied, quoting that there's basically no difference with the student plan. One noteworthy difference (which is incorrectly stated on the chart above) is that you DO NOT earn Air Miles on debit card purchases with the student plan. Students get the Plus Plan, which don't have that perk; you need the Performance Plan or better. But he said he'd drop the branch financial advisor a message to make sure they were on "the same page" about the Mastercard.

Then I went into sign the papers and I waited for someone to mention something about the Mastercard, but it was not brought up. So I had to ask about it (especially since he was there), and the branch financial advisor said she didn't have a chance to talk to her branch manager about it yet. It seems to depend on the branch you go to, whether they will waive fees for an account or Mastercard. But since it was the meeting to sign the contract and it was so hard to coordinate times that worked for all 3 of us, I signed the LOC documents anyway. Especially since the other guy got the World Elite, I thought I might have some luck. Perhaps that was stupid of me and demonstrated my lack of business sense. Then I got a call back the next day saying that they will not waive fees for any credit card, so SPC Student Mastercard it is unless I want to pay $99-149/yr. I don't think it was planned it that way (sign first then deny) - it's just not part of the Medical Student LOC offering and there's not much incentive to give me any more perks if I've already set it up.

I'm okay with it, since I doubt I'll be making more than 30 transactions per month and I don't typically make debit card purchases to earn Air Miles on. And I don't plan to spend that much, so I doubt I'd earn many extra Air Miles for Gold (or have enough Miles to take advantage of the 25% Air Mile redemption discount). I will say that the guy I dealt with in BMO's professional program was REALLY good and a pleasure to work with. He knows his stuff and was happy to answer all my questions. I never felt that I was being tossed around, and they didn't badger me for budgets, extra documents, co-signers, or anything. In that sense, I'm happy with what I've got, it was a great experience to get a standard Medical Student LOC.

But I can't help but feel a little shafted because the basic offerings from RBC and Scotia seem slightly better (unlimited chequing, gold credit cards). If a simple, hassle-free experience is what you're looking for, then I can recommend BMO as a great place to set up your LOC. But if you're looking for the better deal I think you're better off going to RBC or Scotiabank, which is where most students seem to be going.

[sirnoodleton]

Also a good redeeming schedule comparison.http://www.rewardscanada.ca/ccrewardcompare.html

[Starhivest]

repede I had a similar experience - BMO's been my primary bank all these years so I went ahead and signed their LOC, only to later realize that I could do much better. After much research, I'm probably gonna go with Scotiabank cuz they offer their best credit card and chequing account without much hassle, plus their interest rates are better than other CAN banks like TFSA and money market funds at 1% higher; but then again at prime rate paying off LOC is a better investment so I supposed interest rates don't matter that much. A plus nonetheless.

You'd think that with physician's job stability and high earnings all the banks couldn't wait to offer med students competitive plans; where do you find professionals with better credit ratings? Anyhow, Scotiabank's got the right idea and when I start making six figures my investments are going to them first.

EDIT: I gave BMO an ultimatum: either I get the world elite mastercard with fees waived or else I'm packing up n giving my business to another bank. This was more than a week ago, so haven't heard back. Most likely it's gonna be a no so I'm going with scotiabank instead.

[medisforme]

Just so all readers are aware, the VISA gold through RBC is the least competitive/easiest to get card, that they offer. I personally don't see it as much of an incentive when comparing LOC packages between banks.

Having said that, I am meeting with a rep at RBC tomorrow to discuss a LOC plan and will see what they offer (since I have been a signature rewards card user for over a decade I might see if they could waive the $39 annual fee or get an upgrade (though it sounds like they don't offer the AVION card to people anymore).

[sirnoodleton]

I just had a meeting with RBC. I only asked for 200K, said I would get it for sure. THEN, came the more important questions about banking and credit cards.

I was OFFERED, without any coaxing, unlimited chequing account with a VISA Infinite Avion with 15,000 bonus points, no fees for the duration of medical school and wait for it...residency. Booya!

If NB can't match this offer, including the bonus reward points AND all the extras, I'll be signing with RBC. The reason I'd like to give NB a chance is that they have such good travel coverage. 60 days! and extended warranties of up to 2 years extension (RBC is 15 days and 1 year).. iMacs anyone? extended warranties are expensive. And travel insurance can be pricy too.

Anyways,
I think that's pretty much all I'm going to say about that. I will continue shopping around.
Cheers

[jamesvoly86]

Credit cards could be tricky, When i flew once to london/uk I was really worried about losing my luggage, and was about to purchase additional insurance through the airlines! But a last minute advice from a friend about cc insurance saved me, I checked with my credit card and surprise!! they had insurance on my luggage, flight status, and other delay related matter! So I would strongly advice that you go about getting the best cc to match your needs.

One great tool that I have used myself to compare credit cards is this one ( https://insureye.com/insurance_toolk...ard_comparison) I would start by comparing credit cards associated with your bank first and then the rest!

Good luck,
Cheers

[sirnoodleton]

Originally Posted by jamesvoly86

One great tool that I have used myself to compare credit cards is this one ( https://insureye.com/insurance_toolk...ard_comparison) I would start by comparing credit cards associated with your bank first and then the rest!

Good luck,
Cheers

This is a great resource!

[medisforme]

I went and had my initial meeting with RBC. Re: the credits cards etc... They offered to wave the yearly fee of my signature rewards visa ($39) or they would reduce the yearly fee of the Avion visa by $39 (this is with my prodding, they didn't offer up any of this on their own) but stated they would not wave the yearly fee completely. I don't understand how different branches are offering different incentives (in terms of waving Avion fee etc...) to applicants. You'd think they would have a company wide policy or something.