Minimum Balance Calculator: What Does a Waived Bank Fee Really Cost?
Most Canadian chequing accounts will waive the monthly fee if you keep a few thousand dollars in the account. That money earns nothing while it sits there. This works out what the waiver actually costs you, and whether paying the fee — or leaving for a no-fee account — would leave you better off.
Short answer: Keeping $4,000 in a chequing account to waive a $17.95 monthly fee costs you about $96 a year in interest you could have earned in a high-interest savings account at 2.40%. That is cheaper than paying the fee, which would run $215.40 a year — but it is not free. The balance waiver only stops being worth it once the required balance climbs above roughly $9,000 for a fee that size. A no-fee chequing account with the same money kept in savings costs nothing and earns the $96.The comparison rate is the highest rate available with no conditions among the savings accounts we track · see how we rate bank accounts
Run Your Own Numbers
Pick an account or enter your own figures. The comparison rate is what you could earn on that money somewhere else — change it if you have a better rate available.
What the Waiver Costs at Every Account We Track
Seven of the chequing accounts in our ranking waive the monthly fee on a balance. All figures use the 2.40% comparison rate.
| Account | Monthly fee | Annual fee | Balance to waive | Interest given up | Real annual cost | Break-even balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TD Every Day ChequingTD Canada Trust | $11.95 | $143.40 | $3,000 | $72.00 | $72.00 | $5,975 |
| CIBC Smart AccountCIBC | $16.95 | $203.40 | $4,000 | $96.00 | $96.00 | $8,475 |
| Scotiabank Preferred PackageScotiabank | $16.95 | $203.40 | $4,000 | $96.00 | $96.00 | $8,475 |
| BMO Performance ChequingBMO | $17.95 | $215.40 | $4,000 | $96.00 | $96.00 | $8,975 |
| TD Unlimited ChequingTD Canada Trust | $17.95 | $215.40 | $4,000 | $96.00 | $96.00 | $8,975 |
| TD All-Inclusive Banking PlanTD Canada Trust | $30.95 | $371.40 | $6,000 | $144.00 | $144.00 | $15,475 |
| Scotiabank Ultimate PackageScotiabank | $30.95 | $371.40 | $6,000 | $144.00 | $144.00 | $15,475 |
TD and Scotiabank publish lower fees for customers 60 and over — $8.20, $11.95 and $22.45 depending on the plan. Enter those above to see the reduced figure. Scotiabank Ultimate can also be waived with a $100,000 total relationship balance instead of $6,000 in the account itself, which costs far more in foregone interest.
Common Questions
Isn’t a Waived Fee Just Free?
No. The bank is not giving you the account for nothing — it is asking for the use of your money instead of your money. Several thousand dollars sitting in a chequing account earns nothing, and the same amount in a high-interest savings account earns a few percent a year. The difference is what the waiver costs you, and it is a real number even though it never appears on a statement.
What if I Would Keep That Money in Chequing Anyway?
Then the waiver costs you very little in practice, and taking it is a straightforwardly good deal. This is the honest case for balance-waiver accounts: if you keep a large buffer you never touch and never intended to invest, you are giving up interest you were never going to earn. The cost only bites if you are stretching to reach the minimum, or if that money could be working somewhere.
Why Does the Calculator Show a No-Fee Account as a Third Option?
Because it changes the comparison. The choice is usually framed as “pay the fee or keep the balance,” but several Canadian chequing accounts charge nothing and require nothing. Keeping your buffer in savings and your day-to-day banking in a no-fee account costs nothing and earns the interest. The trade-off is branch access, and for some people that is worth paying for.
Which Comparison Rate Should I Use?
Use the rate you could actually get on that money today, with no conditions attached. The default is 2.40%, the highest unconditional rate among the savings accounts we track. Promotional rates are usually higher but run for three to five months, so using one would overstate the cost of the waiver across a full year.
Does This Apply to Savings Accounts Too?
Sometimes. A few savings accounts pay nothing at all below a threshold rather than charging a fee — Scotiabank’s High Interest Savings pays 0% until you hold $10,000 across your relationship, for example. That is a different mechanism but the same idea: a balance requirement with a cost attached.
How This Is Calculated
Two numbers are compared. The first is the fee you would pay if you ignored the waiver: the monthly fee multiplied by twelve. The second is the interest you give up by holding the required balance: the balance multiplied by the comparison rate.
The real annual cost is the lower of the two, because you would rationally choose whichever is cheaper. The break-even balance is the annual fee divided by the comparison rate — the point at which tying up the money costs more than simply paying.
The calculation assumes you hold the required balance for the full year and earn simple interest on it. It does not account for compounding, tax on interest earned, or months in which your balance dips below the minimum and the fee is charged anyway.
Where the Figures Come From
Fees and balance requirements are taken from each bank’s own account pages and are re-checked when the account review is updated. The comparison rate is the highest rate available with no conditions among the savings accounts in our ranking, and it moves when that rate moves.
The same method sets the real annual cost shown on each account review and feeds the cost component of our chequing ratings, so the calculator and the rankings agree. See how we rate bank accounts, best chequing accounts and best high-interest savings rates.
Fees, balance requirements and interest rates change without notice. Confirm current terms on the bank’s own page before opening or closing an account. This calculator is a simplified model for comparison purposes and does not account for tax, compounding, or your individual circumstances. MoneyMint may earn a commission if you open an account through some links on this site; that does not affect how accounts are ranked or how this calculator works. General information only, not financial advice.