Author Archives: BetCrooks

Joint No Fee PC Financial Accounts are Dis – Jointed

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Not that long ago, my husband and I opened a joint no fee chequing account at PC Financial. We linked it to our joint bank account at one of the Big 5 Canadian banks to make it easier to transfer in funds. I set up some bills and paid them successfully from the account. I also managed to order some new cheques and have used them to pay for several school-related expenses. But every so often I’ve encountered a surprising quirk. It appears to me that the account isn’t really being treated like a “joint” account at all. In fact, it seems rather dis – jointed at times.

Two Joint Chequing Accounts are Linked by PC Financial but Only One Spouse Knows It

The first clue that something was odd was when weeks after my husband requested an electronic link between our Big 5 bank joint chequing account and our PC Financial joint chequing account nothing seemed to be done. Daily for two weeks, I would login to check whether I could transfer money into our account from our other account.

Finally I used my brain and considered why it might not be linked. I had my husband login to the PC Financial account using his card number and his password: and there it was: the option to make a transfer to or from our Big 5 bank account.

Why didn’t this option show up when I logged in using my card and password?  As both accounts are joint, it doesn’t make any sense to me. I explore this further in PC Financial’s Computer Can’t Believe My Husband and I Want to Share Our Joint Bank Account.

Honey, Could You Please Pay That Gas Bill from our PC Financial Bank Account?

The next clue that this Joint account was being treated as two separate accounts came when we needed to pay the bills. Usually I pay them because I am a major control freak, er, like to stay on top of our financial details. Because of another commitment, I asked my husband to pay a bill instead.

Obligingly, he logged in and clicked on the “bill payments” link. Instead of being greeted by the usual list of various bloodsuckers, er, companies whose services we purchase, he saw a cold blank screen stating:

“To pay bills, you must Add bills to your personal bill list.”

Yes, he would have to re-enter the same information I had already put in for each company if he wanted to pay all of our regular bills. This is a JOINT account. Doesn’t that seem rather silly?

Why Don’t You Just Use Each Other’s Cards and Passwords?

If I use my husband’s card and password to login to our joint account, he is liable if there is ANY security breach and theft from our account. So, no, sharing passwords is not an option.

Only One of Us Gets Warned of Cool Deals

The final clue was when I was perusing the Personal Finance section on Red Flag Deals. Someone announced a 2% interest deal on new contributions to a PC Financial Account. They said they received a personal message about the promotion when they logged in to their account.

I was a bit puzzled when I logged in to our account and didn’t find a similar message. I re-checked Red Flag, wondering if the information was about some old, expired deal. No. It started in July 2013.

When my long-suffering husband had time, I asked him to login to his side of our “joint” account. Sure enough, he received the promotional message!

Are These Problems Bad Enough to Cancel our PC Financial No Fee Account?

I don’t consider any of these problems to be so severe that we will withdraw our business from PC Financial. But I do find them all irritating. When an account is joint, I expect it to be equitable. It’s annoying to feel like a second-class citizen because my online bank treats me as a lesser stakeholder in our joint account.

The solution seems simple to me. Have one account number to login with and one password. Both parties should use it. If necessary, have the option of a secondary method of access based on the debit card number and its unique password.

It doesn’t seem particularly reasonable to me that to make the system work as it is now, I either have to get my husband to do all the transfers and get me to pay all the bills, or to have to submit more paperwork to set it up so I can do the transfers and to have to re-key all sorts of account numbers so he can pay the bills.

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Does anything bother you about your PC Financial no fee account? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Insurance: When It’s Worth It; When It’s Not

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Most of us probably make mistakes when buying insurance. I know I do! Sometimes and some things are worth insuring, others are not. Here’s a roundup of some articles to consider.

Travel Insurance

MoneySense shares a horror story in “Are you really covered?” and reminds readers that “even if your emergency wasn’t related to your [medical] condition, because you didn’t fully disclose it, the policy would still be revoked.”

James Daw in The Star reported in “An 89-year-old man’s travel insurance mistake”  the tales of two men, one who successfully claimed on his travel insurance and one who didn’t.

Water Heater Insurance
I ponder the value, or lack thereof, of insurance for your water heater tank in: Is Hot Water a Matter of Life and Death? If Not, Why Are You Insuring Your Water Tank?

Life Insurance
On Life Insurance Canada they answer the question most of us ask ourselves when at 30,000 feet, namely is there: “Life Insurance for Pilots“?

Gail Vaz Oxlade explains Term vs Permanent Insurance for those of us who don’t understand the differences.

Mortgage Insurance
When we bought our first house, our mortgage lender asked us if we wanted to buy Mortgage Insurance. As soon as I heard that it pays the remaining balance of your mortgage at the time of your death, I said “No thanks.”

Big Cajun Man uses life insurance instead of mortgage insurance. He explains his recent round of renewing in “Term Insurance Over 50.”

Disability and Critical Illness Insurance
Boomer described Why You Should Protect Your Earnings With Disability Insurance. She knows: She’s lived through it.

My Own Advisor suggests that “Insurance needs follow a lifecycle.” He suggests that people in their 50s may have kicked the kids out. I think many parents in their 50s still have young kids, for a variety of reasons including starting later and/or starting again. The article suggests useful things to consider at various points in your life.

Extended Warranties
I still remember buying a computer printer for $40 at a large electronics warehouse 11 years ago. At the till the clerk asked if I wanted to buy the $25 extended warranty. For a minute I could just look at him in awe. He managed to ask that with a straight face! There may be times and prices at which an extended warranty is worth investing in. This was definitely not one of them. And yes, 11 years later the printer is still working fine.

Ellen Roseman fought for some customers whose extended warranties on “bonded” leather furniture were as tattered as their couches. As a result of her work and others’ complaints, the Brick is re-working its extended warranties, as she describes in “The Brick reviews its furniture warranties.”  Just to be clear, “bonded” leather has nothing to do with bondage. And very little to do with leather, either, for that matter.

Michael James was offered an extended warranty on a very unexpected item in “Extended Warranties are getting out of control”  You’ll have to read the story to find out if he accepted the offer.

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What are your experiences with insurance? Please share your stories, horror or heartwarming, with a comment.