Line of Credit - Question about already banking with a certain bank

[MichelleBA]

Hey all, 

From what I've seen so far, most people recommend Scotiabank when choosing a line of credit. 

However, up to this point, I have been banking with TD. Will my history with TD benefit me to the point where I should choose TD over Scotiabank? 

Also, if anybody has any general advice on where to seek my line of credit and which bank I should choose, I would really appreciate it. 

[luckycharm]

No

go with Scotia

[StephenToast]

1 hour ago, MichelleBA said:

Hey all, 

From what I've seen so far, most people recommend Scotiabank when choosing a line of credit. 

However, up to this point, I have been banking with TD. Will my history with TD benefit me to the point where I should choose TD over Scotiabank? 

Also, if anybody has any general advice on where to seek my line of credit and which bank I should choose, I would really appreciate it. 

What kind of history do you have with TD? If it's just a saving/chequing account, then you're probably not going to get any sort of preferential treatment. A mortgage, big account, business loan etc., maybe.

Anyway there's only one way to find out for sure. It wouldn't cost you anything (but time) to call them up and shop around for rates.

[99problems]

TL;DR: Go with Scotia. Others have done lots of research for you.

When looking for an student loan, I went to Scotia, RBC, and TD.

Scotia's deal was better than the other two: it gives you up to $140,000 (much higher than TD and RBC); up to two credit cards cumulatively giving $10,000. I got one card with $10,000 limit. It is a cash-back. And, it is arguably the best cash-back card. The mobile app looks good and works fine. The grace period is two years (I guess that's true of RBC and TD too).

The only downside of Scotia's offer was its interest. If I remember correctly, it was prime+0.5 but it is easily negotiable as the other banks offer the prime rate. I met the branch manager and told him the exact same thing: I want your plan but your interest is higher than others'. He called me a day later saying prime works.

Overall, I'm happy with it and I'd go with Scotia if I had to choose again.

[undertheletter]

Go to scotia to get their terms (write all the details down) and then ask TD to match. They were able to do that for me (although they only got back to me after I signed with Scotia haha). Either way, if you want to stay with TD you can try asking for a match.

[GGrievous]

3 hours ago, not not a lawyer said:

TL;DR: Go with Scotia. Others have done lots of research for you.

When looking for an student loan, I went to Scotia, RBC, and TD.

Scotia's deal was better than the other two: it gives you up to $140,000 (much higher than TD and RBC); up to two credit cards cumulatively giving $10,000. I got one card with $10,000 limit. It is a cash-back. And, it is arguably the best cash-back card. The mobile app looks good and works fine. The grace period is two years (I guess that's true of RBC and TD too).

The only downside of Scotia's offer was its interest. If I remember correctly, it was prime+0.5 but it is easily negotiable as the other banks offer the prime rate. I met the branch manager and told him the exact same thing: I want your plan but your interest is higher than others'. He called me a day later saying prime works.

Overall, I'm happy with it and I'd go with Scotia if I had to choose again.

Scotia is prime

[clumsyandcapable]

I'm currently in the process of setting up a PSLOC with Scotiabank, but have only banked with BMO in the past (just basic chequing/savings) - they had me get a guarantor because of my lack of banking history with Scotia... not sure if the same may happen to you, but something to look out for just in case (and if a guarantor is out of the question for you)! 

[luckycharm]

10 hours ago, clumsyandcapable said:

I'm currently in the process of setting up a PSLOC with Scotiabank, but have only banked with BMO in the past (just basic chequing/savings) - they had me get a guarantor because of my lack of banking history with Scotia... not sure if the same may happen to you, but something to look out for just in case (and if a guarantor is out of the question for you)! 

I had no banking history with Scotia too and no guarantor was required.

 

[TobyFlenderson]

I also had no banking history with Scotia and did not need a guarantor. Signed my agreement in 2019. It’s possible that there was an increase in guarantor reqs this year because of COVID, there was some concern previously that the pandemic would create some lending hesitancy.

[SNAILS]

There is nothing wrong with RBC either. $110 000, interest is 0.5% over prime (and can possibly be negotiated to 0% over prime), no cosigner for me.

I am aware that @Barry said is better, but only very narrowly better if you are like me and you have no intention of actually maxing the credit line.

[TobyFlenderson]

12 minutes ago, SNAILS said:

There is nothing wrong with RBC either. $110 000, interest is 0.5% over prime (and can possibly be negotiated to 0% over prime), no cosigner for me.

I am aware that @Barry said is better, but only very narrowly better if you are like me and you have no intention of actually maxing the credit line.

Having access to extra money isn’t a bad thing. And I wouldn’t encourage anyone to settle for a higher than necessary interest rate.

[SNAILS]

Yes, yes.

If a person knows for a fact they can get Scotia 0.5% cheaper, then great. But both banks offer some people 0% above, and (I think) Scotia offers 0.5% above sometimes. Shopping around would be best.

Edited July 27, 2021 by SNAILS

[SoIWantToBeALawyer]

I had no history with Scotia and didn't need a guarantor. I only called my school's representative for scotia and said I'm interested in getting a PSLC for law school and the offer he gave right off the bat matched what I'd seen on the forum (135k, prime rate, 2 credit cards 10,000 total credit, 2 year grace period) so I didn't bother shopping around or negotiating. I did talk to a friend who works at CIBC before I signed and she told me she would recommend Scotia over CIBC LOL

[PlayALawyerOnTV]

I've used TD for both my personal and business banking needs for the past 20 odd years. They still insisted that I would need a co-signer for my PSLOC. 

Scotiabank approved me immediately without a co-signer ($135K, prime, all the standard terms and conditions), and offered me some incentives to move my business banking over to them as well. 

Needless to say I went with Scotiabank and am trying out some of their business banking services as well.