FAQ – Quebec
- How can I avoid paying service charges?
- The minimum balance requirements for the service charge exemption are high.
- Why are service charges reviewed each year?
- Why doesn't a cooperative financial institution like Desjardins offer lower service charges than other financial institutions?
- If Desjardins service charges are almost equivalent to those of banks, what makes Desjardins special?
- Why are service charges at the ATM lower than those at the teller counter?
- Why are there now fees for cashing cheques at the teller counter?
- Why was the qualifying age for Desjardins Merit Services upped to 60?
- Why have direct payment fees increased?
- Why have stop payment fees increased?
- How can I avoid paying service charges?
- Select the plan that is right for you. Use the How to reduce your service charges simulator or ask a caisse advisor (or call 1-800-CAISSES) to help you determine your transactional profile to find the plan that best suits your needs.
- Maintain the minimum monthly balance allowed by your plan (if needed, transfer money from other accounts).
- The minimum balance requirements for the service charge exemption are high.
- Why are service charges reviewed each year?
- Why doesn't a cooperative financial institution like Desjardins offer lower service charges than other financial institutions?
- If Desjardins service charges are almost equivalent to those of banks, what makes Desjardins special?
Ownership: The members of a caisse own it together and take part in its capitalization.
Power: Members can take part in major caisse decisions and projects and elect officers to guide and manage the caisse.
Sharing: A part of the caisse's surplus earnings stay in the community and the rest is distributed among members in the form of member dividends, which is not the case for banks.
Commitment: The caisses support the development of the community and commit to many economic, social, educational and cultural endeavors.
Education: The caisses promote cooperation with programs such as the school caisse, student caisse and the Young Intern Officer Program and provide members with financial management advice.
Presence: Desjardins is present throughout Quebec and has the largest service centre and ATM network in the area. In this way it fulfills its mission to bring quality financial services to all, regardless of their place of residence or assets.
- Why are service charges at the ATM lower than those at the teller counter?
- Why are there now fees for cashing cheques at the teller counter?
- Why was the qualifying age for Desjardins Merit Services upped to 60?
- Why have direct payment fees increased?
- Why have stop payment fees increased?
To avoid paying service charges:
If you stay within the number of transactions prescribed by your plan, you will pay no service charges (every transaction beyond the limit allotted by the plan will be charged separately).
In fact, the amount you save with the service charge exemption is equivalent to a net annual return of more than 3% (see table below), which is generally better than what our competitors are offering. To maintain the minimum balance, you just have to transfer money from your other accounts or other financial institutions.
Plan
| Annual fee
| Minimum balance required for service charge exemption
| Return
|
|---|---|---|---|
The Economy Plan
| $30.00 |
$1,000 |
3.00% |
The Economy Plus Plan
| $47.40 |
$1,500 |
3.16% |
The Mid-level Plan
| $69.00 |
$2,000 |
3.45% |
The Autonomous Plan
| $90.00 |
$2,500 |
3.60% |
The Autonomous Plus Plan
| $107.40 |
$3,000 |
3.58% |
The Premier Plan
| $143.40 |
$4,000 |
3.58% |
The Premier Plus Plan
| $240.00 |
$5,000 |
4.80% |
 |
|||
In fact, only some service charges are reviewed on an annual basis to take into account operating cost increases with the aim of ensuring profitability, dependability and your Desjardins cooperative's future.
Desjardins's operating costs are equivalent to those of its competitors. Expenses related to equipment, office space, labour and financing products are generally the same for all financial institutions, as are available income sources.
Desjardins also has to maintain good profitability in order to have sufficient leeway on the markets, which ultimately benefits members. Surplus earnings earned by the caisses belong to all members and is paid back to them in the form of member dividends once the caisse's development and financial standing is assured. A portion of the member dividends can even be used to cover the service charges. Meanwhile, when banks turn a profit, only shareholders benefit.
Desjardins stands out by its cooperative nature, which is based on the following principles:
Teller services are more expensive because they involve caisse employees, unlike other access methods like ATMs, direct payments or AccèsD.
Service charges must encourage the divergence of transactions to less costly methods for both our members and our caisses. However, members are fully entitled to choose personalized service.
The cost of processing transactions made at the teller counter is high since it requires additional manual work by caisse personnel, as opposed to other access methods such as ATMs or direct deposits.
Desjardins has put fees in place for cheque cashing at the teller counter to reflect these costs, as have competing financial institutions.
The $4 discount can no longer be offered to members below the age of 60 because there are fewer and fewer members that age to cover the cost of the service and because the number of members age 60 and over is ever increasing. This situation could impact your caisse’s profitability and long-term viability.
Moreover, the majority of financial institutions only offer this advantage to clients aged 60 and over.
The fee was revised to enable us to get a better return on investment while staying within our competitor’s rates. A large proportion of our members, however, are not affected by the increase, since their plan includes these transactions free of charge provided they maintain the minimum monthly balance required.
The fee to put a stop payment on a cheque remains the same if all the information about the cheque can be provided. The new $20 charge only applies when incomplete information is provided. It then covers the additional work required to retrace the cheque.
The stop payment fee for a series of cheques or preauthorized payments has actually decreased since it is now $20.00 for the series instead of $12.00 for each item in the series as before.
Find out more
See the Reference guide – Fees and frequently used services for individual members of the Québec Desjardins caisses (PDF, 254 KB)
