With the federal government attempting to crack down on ATM fees, they have recently added to this pursuit by creating MoneyTools.ca that does comparisons between various financial products such as credit cards and bank accounts. They also have additional useful financial publications that cover various topics like banking, insurance, credit scores, loans and debt.

In the bank accounts comparison portion of the site is well done where they narrow down the best product for you based on:

• where you live
• your age
• min balance that you maintain
• typical number of transactions per month.

For me personally, here was my criteria:

Step 1:	You requested banking information for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Step 2:	Special accounts do not apply to you.
Step 3:	Your minimum balance per month is typically $1,000 to $1,499.
Step 4:	Your total day-to-day in-branch transactions = 0. Your total day-to-day self-serve transactions = 13. Your total monthly transactions = 13.
Step 5:	You do not use any specialized banking services.

Here are the results for the most cost effective bank accounts based on my criteria:

Institution	Min Balance	Max self serve trans	Monthly Fee	Other
Manulife Bank – Advantage Account	$0	Unlimited	$0	$0.50 / direct payment, $1.25 / ABM withdrawal
PC Financial – No Fee Bank Account	$0	Unlimited	$0	Free travellers and personalized cheques
Citizen’s Bank – Chequing Account	$1,000	Unlimited	$8.00	Personalized cheques included, free Interac network fees

What do you know, I did make a good choice in opening an account with PC Financial. :) I did learn something though, I had no idea that I could get FREE travellers cheques with PCF. Something to look into for my future vacations.

Now, onto the credit card portion of the site. This portion of the site is fairly comprehensive, but was missing some favorites such as the MBNA SPG credit card along with the AMEX GOLD travel cards. Perhaps they will add more cards on an ongoing basis. They narrow down the best credit card based on:

• where you live
• features
• rewards/benefits
• annual fees
• typical number of transactions per month.

Here is some sample criteria:

Province:	Newfoundland and Labrador
Most important feature for you in a credit card:	Reward and benefit programs
Your credit card balance:	I pay my balance in full, and on time, every month.
Annual fees:	I don’t want to pay an annual fee.
Reward and benefit programs:	Cash back, and purchase protection and extended warranty

The credit cards that MoneyTools.ca came up with based on the above criteria:

Institution	Rewards
BMO – Mosaik M/C	AirMiles or Cash back
Capital One – Cash Back Platinum M/C	1% Cash Back
Amex Bank of Canada – Costco Cash Back	up to 2% cash back
National Bank – Ultramar M/C	2.5% cash back with ultramar and 1.25% cash back on other purchases.

I think this site is a great idea and LONG overdue. It’s great to have a one stop shop for useful unbiased financial information.

Check out MoneyTools.ca, and see if you’re using the best financial product for your needs.