RBC vs. TD Review 2023: Which bank is better?

But if you’ve narrowed it down to RBC Royal Bank and TD Canada Trust, two of Canada’s Big Five banks, keep reading this WealthRocket guide to RBC vs. TD.

RBC Chequing accounts

Instead of having a minimum balance requirement to waive the monthly fee, there’s the potential to have the fee waived or lowered with a MultiProduct Rebate.

To qualify for this rebate, you must have an active credit card and active investment account to waive the RBC Day to Day Banking and RBC No Limit Banking for Students account or for the RBC No Limit Banking fee to be reduced.

If you have an active credit card, active investment account, and a mortgage, the RBC No Limit Banking fee is waived entirely and reduced for both the RBC Signature No Limit Banking and RBC VIP Banking accounts.

All accounts come with unlimited Interac e-Transfers.

TD Chequing accounts

What’s good about TD’s chequing accounts is that you don’t need to have multiple products to get the fee waived. Instead, you must maintain a certain minimum balance.

The credit card rebate for the TD Unlimited Chequing Account and the TD All-Inclusive Banking Plan is available only for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum, TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite, TD Platinum Travel Visa, and the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite cards.

With the TD Unlimited Chequing Account, the credit card fee is only waived for the first year, while it’s waived annually with the TD All-Inclusive Banking Plan.

All chequing accounts come with free Interac e-Transfers.

RBC Savings account

For the RBC Day to Day Savings account, the interest rate is 0.005% if the balance is less than $1,000 and 0.01% if the balance is $1,000 or more.

For the RBC Enhanced Savings account, the interest rate is 0% if the balance is less than $5,000, 0.001% if the balance is between $5,000 and $9,999.99, and 0.01% if the balance is $10,000 or more.

RBC also offers a digital account called NOMI Find & Save with predictive technology, which you can link to a bank account. You need to turn on the feature in the RBC mobile app. NOMI Find & Save will review your transaction patterns and automatically set aside funds it doesn’t expect you to miss.

Transfers to and from eligible savings or chequing accounts are free of charge.

TD Savings accounts

The TD High-Interest Savings Account’s interest rate is 0% if the account balance is less than $5,000, but 0.05% if it’s higher. And the rate for the TD ePremium Savings Account is 0%  when the balance is less than $10,000, but 0.1% if it’s higher.

There are no transaction fees for transfers or pre-authorized transfers from a TD Every Day Savings Account to another TD chequing or savings account.

For the TD High Interest Savings Account, there are no transaction fees if the minimum balance is $25,000 at the end of every month.

Additionally, there are no fees for transactions from the TD ePremium Savings Account to another TD chequing or savings account if you use internet banking or the TD app.

RBC investing

There are a number of investment options with RBC. You can choose different GICs and mutual funds with or without investment advice, make your own investment decisions with RBC Direct Investing, or have RBC InvestEase—the bank’s robo-advisor—make your investment decisions for you.

TD investing

TD has GICs and mutual funds, a discount brokerage (TD Direct Investing), and a fairly new investing app called TD GoalAssist that allows you to trade the bank’s own ETFs for free or buy a selection of all-in-one ETFs (which cost less than a robo-advisor). TD also allows you to buy precious metals, such as gold and silver.

The verdict on RBC

Like any Canadian bank, RBC has a large selection of products that Canadians can utilize.

However, unlike most banks, a rebate on chequing account fees is only available if you use it for various RBC products. Most banks will waive those fees if you keep a certain minimum balance.

The verdict on TD

TD has a number of pros: the ability to have completely waived on chequing accounts, a variety of investment options, and some good credit cards. However, the rates on its savings accounts are atrocious.

Trying to choose a bank can be time-consuming when there are so many things to compare.

Neither RBC or TD Canada Trust has very good rates on its savings accounts than some competing online banks. Still, TD does offer the ability to have account fees waived completely if you maintain a certain minimum balance.

That’s helpful if you don’t want to have a mortgage and investments with the same bank, especially if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Keep in mind, other banks offer free chequing accounts with no minimum balance requirements.

TD has all-in-one ETFs that can be bought for free through TD GoalAssist and offers the ability to buy precious metals, giving it an advantage over RBC.

It also has Aeroplan-branded credit cards, which is also a plus, although not so much since travel is restricted across Canada due to the pandemic.

Overall, the ability to get fees waived on chequing accounts, the opportunity to buy some ETFs for free, and better investment options give TD an edge over RBC.