Tag Archives: chequing

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.

How to Transfer Money into Your PC Financial No Fee Bank Account

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When we opened our PC Financial joint chequing account, we also applied to link the account to our joint chequing account at one of the Big 5 Canadian banks. After some confusion because they linked the accounts but the only for my Husband we eventually could both transfer money to and from the two chequing accounts. Here’s how to transfer money into your PC Financial no fee chequing account from another bank.

This article is obsolete as of November, 2015 and has been replaced by:

How to Transfer Money Between Your PC Financial Account and Another Bank Account

Sign In to your PC Financial Bank Accounts

  1. Go to http://www.pcfinancial.ca/
  2. Make sure Online Banking is selected from the drop down list in the top right corner of the screen, then
    Click the Go button.
  3. In the Card Number field, type the number on your ABM card.
  4. In the Password field, type the password you set up for online banking.
  5. Click on the Sign In button.

To Transfer Cash from your Bank to PC Financial

  1. From the link list on the left side of the screen, click on: transfers
  2. From the drop-down list, select from which account to take the money.
    • For example, I selected our Big 5 chequing account.
    • NOTE: you cannot see how much money you have in your account except for your PC Financial account. You might need to update your passbook or check your balance some other way to make sure how much money you have before making a transfer.
  3. From the drop-down list, select to which account the money should be deposited.
    • For example, I selected our PC Financial no-fee chequing account.
    • I could also have selected our PC Financial savings account.
    • Because this is a PC Financial account, it does show the current balance in the account.
  4. In the How much? field, type the amount you want to transfer.
  5. From the drop-down list, select How Often to make the transfer.
    • I selected Once.
    • Choices include:
      • Once;
      • Every week;
      • Every two weeks;
      • Once a month;
      • Every 3 months;
      • Every 6 months;
      • Once a year.
  6. In the When? Field, select the month and type the day and year.
    Or select the date from a Calendar by clicking on the icon.
  7. Read the warning notes.
    For example, the account balances shown for the PCF accounts include funds on hold that may not be able to be transferred.
  8. Click on the continue button.
    • If, like me, you left the date as today’s date, you will get a rejection message that states:
    • “The transfer date is invalid. The transfer date must be dated at least one day in the future. Funds transferred to and from another financial institution usually take 1 to 2 business days to process.”
    • Don’t ask why it waited till this point to reject my request. Anyway I changed the date to tomorrow and clicked on the Continue button again.
  9. On the Transfers – before you finish screen, review the details.
    • In particular if you have several bank accounts make sure the correct account numbers are selected.
    • Read the warnings about Holds placed on the incoming funds and delays.

    Click on the set up transfer button.

  10. Copy the Confirmation screen or make a note of the Reference number if desired for future needs.
  11. If you are finished banking,
    1. At the top right of the screen, click on the Sign Out button.
    2. Click on the OK button.
    3. Close your browser to increase the security of your banking information.

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Do you regularly transfer money to your PC Financial no fee chequing account? Have you ever encountered any problems or glitches? Please share your experiences with a comment.