Effective May 23rd, 2016 Royal Bank of Canada will be deducting a $25 fee plus VAT from all savings accounts at the bank. Freedom FM News desk visited RBC Royal Bank at the Circus on Monday where several customers were closing out their accounts. Freedom FM spoke to some of these clients and asked them why they were withdrawing their funds and closing down their accounts.
All the clients we spoke to had over 20 years of doing business with RBC and said the imposition of the new fees amounted to highway robbery. They regretted that RBC had not informed them in a timely way of the new structure, but was going ahead with the fees from May 23rd. SKNLP MP for constituency #2 Hon Marcella Liburd spoke to Freedom news desk on Monday.
Liburd said that it was devastating news from RBC and that people at the lower income brackets would be adversely affected. Liburd said the $30 fee plus vat was not fair and called on the RBC heads office in Canada to review this latest policy going forward. Freedom Fm also spoke to Ken Birch, RBC business relationship manager, who said the imposition of the $25 fee plus VAT was part of current rolling out of new checking and saving accounts packages at Royal Bank. Birch confirmed that there were now 4 checking account tiers from a high end VIP checking with a minimum service charge of $65 to regular checking with a $15 service charge plus some free checks.
Birch said a similar package would be rolled out for savings. When asked why RBC had not issued public service announcements regarding the new fees, Birch indicated that he thought it was being done. He said the savings and checking accounts were being upgraded to give RBC clients “a better fit”. An RBC public relations release indicated “AT RBC Royal Bank, we are committed to providing you with a wide range of products and services that offer convenience, flexibility and value to meet your needs.
Effective May23rd 2016, we will be introducing a new suite of personal deposit accounts and changing some of our fees and charges. Should you have any questions regarding these changes or if you would like to review your current personal banking requirements we would be happy to discuss the options that are right for you. We value your business and thank you for choosing RBC bank as your financial partner”.