Scotiabank chequing accounts provide some unique perks for big 5 banks. In total, you'll have 4 main options, anywhere from the Scotiabank Basic Bank Account to the high-end Scotiabank Ultimate Package – which happens to be the best chequing account in Canada.
In this article, we'll compare all of Scotiabank's options, along with their pros and cons and some other banks' alternatives. That way, you can make an educated decision as to which one is best for you.
Key Takeaways
- Scotiabank has 4 main chequing accounts, ranging from basic to full-featured.
- The best chequing account from Scotiabank is the Scotiabank Ultimate Package.
- Each Scotiabank chequing account has different levels of perks depending on the annual fee.
Overview of 4 Scotiabank chequing accounts
Here are their main chequing accounts, laid out side by side for easy comparison.
 | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account | Scotiabank Basic Bank Account | Scotiabank Basic Plus Bank Account | Scotiabank Preferred Package | Scotiabank Ultimate Package |
| Genius Rating | ||||
| Why You Want It | Free for seniors + Low $3.95 monthly fee. | Get 25 free debit transactions + unlimited Interac e-Transfers per month. |  $50 GeniusCash + Get up to a $700* welcome bonus + Earn Scene+ points on all debit purchases. | $100 GeniusCash + Get up to a $700* welcome bonus + Up to $150 annual credit card fee waivers. |
| Minimum Balance To Waive Fee | N/A | $3,000 | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| # Of Free Monthly Transactions | 12 | 25 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| # Of Free Monthly Interac E-Transfers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Monthly Fee | $3.95 | $11.95 | $16.95 | $30.95 |
| Excess Transaction Fee | $1.25 | $1.25 | N/A | $0.00 |
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Scotiabank chequing account perks
But what really sets Scotiabank chequing accounts apart from the crowd are their perks. Let's take a look at what they have to offer.
The perks you get with all Scotiabank chequing accounts
Before we talk about the specific perks you can get with each account, let's take a look at what you'll get no matter which one you go with at Scotiabank.
Most of these are pretty standard when it comes to the big banks these days, with access to your free credit score being a nice touch, but there's one unique feature they didn't mention that's worth talking about…
Earn Scene+ points with your debit card purchases
If you get the Scotiabank Ultimate, Scotiabank Preferred, or Student Banking Advantage Plan, you'll earn Scene+ points on your debit purchases. It'll be at a rate of 1 point per $5 spent on your debit card, which isn't amazing, but it's better than nothing.
This is a rare treat that not many other big banks offer on their chequing accounts.
Now that all that is settled, let's go over each of Scotiabank's accounts for a full comparison.
Scotiabank Ultimate Package
The Scotiabank Ultimate Package is the chequing account that offers everything. From unlimited transactions, credit card fee waivers, a free safe deposit, rewards on debit purchases, increased interest rates on GICs and savings accounts, and more, this account includes everything you might need from a chequing account.
- Get a $100 GeniusCash boost
- Get up to $700 in welcome bonus cash
- Unlimited transactions
- Plenty of physical bank locations
- Save money on premium credit cards
- Exclusive rates and fee rebates for other accounts
- Earn rewards
- Minimum balance to waive fee
- High monthly fee
- Minimum balance is a wasted investment opportunity
- You may still be charged for non-Scotiabank ATM withdrawals
- You must be at least 16 years old
- A Canadian resident or you're here for work or study
- Opening this account in your own name
$100 GeniusCash + Get up to a $700* welcome bonus + Up to $150 annual credit card fee waivers.- Earn Scene+ points on debit transactions
- No monthly overdraft protection fee
- Unlimited free Scotia International Money Transfers
- Up to $150 annual fee waiver each year on select credit cards
$100 GeniusCash + Get up to a $700* welcome bonus + Up to $150 annual credit card fee waivers.The Scotiabank Ultimate Package is the most premium chequing account offered by Scotiabank. Here are 4 categories of perks in addition to the standard perks and the debit card rewards.
1. $700 welcome bonus
The first perk we'll talk about is the welcome bonus. With this account, you can earn $400 by simply completing 2 of the following 3 actions in the first 60 days of opening the account:
- pay a bill of at least $50 online or in the app,
- set up 2 recurring pre-authorized payments of $50+ for at least 3 months, or
- set up a recurring direct deposit for a minimum of 3 months.
If your account was opened by October 30, 2025 and you did 2 of the above, you’ll get the $400. To get the other $400, you must then open two new eligible RRSP, TFSA, or FHSA accounts. Once you deposit $5000 in both new accounts, you’ll get the other half of the $700.
Lastly, if you sign up through us, you'll also earn $100 in GeniusCash, another nice chunk of change to go with your welcome bonus.2. Credit card annual fee waivers
One of the coolest things about this account is that you'll get the annual fee for your credit card waived every year if you have one of the following cards:
- Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
- Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite
- Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite
- Scotia Value Visa
The best of the bunch?
The Scotiabank Gold Amex will get you up to 6 Scene+ points per $1 spent on all purchases, plus a nice welcome bonus.
Check out more info here:
$60 GeniusCash + Up to 50,000 bonus points + No foreign exchange fees.*The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is one of the best flexible rewards credit cards around. Earn 6 Scene+ points when shopping at any Sobeys store (including Safeway, Foodland, IGA, and Freshco), while earning up to 5 points per $1 spent on all other purchases. You can also earn up to 50,000 bonus Scene+ points.
- Genius Rating:
- Rewards rate: around 2.45%
- Our credit estimate: Good (660-725)
- Welcome bonus: up to 50,000 bonus Scene+ points* (Ends 2025/10/31)
- Annual fee: $120, 1st year free
- Interest: 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash*
- FX feature: 0% FX fee
- * See rates and fees
- It'll take you to the bank's secure site.
- You'll get the chance to read the offer and product details.
- If you choose to apply, filling the form should take between 10 to 15 minutes.
GC: $60
- It'll take you to the bank's secure site.
- You'll get the chance to read the offer and product details.
- If you choose to apply, filling the form should take between 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Perks for other accounts and products
But since this is a “package” – it's not just a chequing account. It'll get you perks for other accounts too, so you can make the most of your full bank experience.
To start you off, you'll get bonus interest on your Momentum Plus Savings Account.
And if you want to buy a Scotia GIC to supplement your savings, you'll get bonus rates there too. This is applicable for certain non-redeemable options with terms between 1 and 10 years.
More interested in trading and self-directed investments? If you join Scotia iTrade, you'll get 10 free equity trades in your first year, which is worth roughly $100. Then every year afterwards will get you 5 free trades.
And last perk – you'll get the monthly fee waived on a Scotiabank Basic Plus Bank Account, which means a savings of $143 a year.
Want to see how this account stacks up against the rest of the big banks? Check out our comparison of the Big 5's most expensive accounts.
4. Other perks offered by the Scotiabank Ultimate Package
Lastly, there are a couple of minor perks that we shouldn't ignore:
- unlimited free non-Scotiabank ATM withdrawals outside of Canada,
- no monthly overdraft protection fee,
- free personalized cheques and drafts, and
- $60 annual fee waiver on a safety deposit box.
We listed this at the end since not everyone may use or care about them, but it's nice to know for review's sake. For instance, having a chequebook may not be particularly useful for everyone, even if it is free.
If you do think you'd take advantage of what's been listed here, then this account may be more than worth its high monthly fee of $30.95.
Scotiabank Preferred Package
There's not much better than unlimited free transactions, but the Scotiabank Preferred Package comes packed with even more perks to seal the deal. These include a bonus interest rate on the top Scotiabank savings account, a first year annual fee waiver on select cards, and points on every day purchases with the Scene+™ program.
- Kickstart your account with a $50 GeniusCash bonus
- Get a welcome bonus worth up to $700 (ends October 30, 2025)
- Unlimited debit transactions and Interac e-Transfers
- Ability to waive monthly fee with a minimum balance of $4,000
- Earn Scene+ points on your debit transactions
- First year annual fee waiver on select Scotiabank credit cards
- Age of majority
- Canadian citizen
$50 GeniusCash + Get up to a $700* welcome bonus + Earn Scene+ points on all debit purchases.- First year annual fee waiver (up to $150) on select credit cards
- Earn Scene+ points on debit transactions
- Earn an additional 0.05% on your Momentum Plus Savings Account
$50 GeniusCash + Get up to a $700* welcome bonus + Earn Scene+ points on all debit purchases.Another more mid-priced choice for a chequing account with plenty of perks is the Scotiabank Preferred Package. You'll enjoy unlimited transactions and e-Transfers, as with the Scotiabank Ultimate Package, but a few key differences bring the monthly fee down to a more manageable $16.95 – and there's always the option to keep a minimum balance to waive the fee.
Scotiabank Preferred Package account holders can get credit card fee waivers for the first year on the following 4 cards:
- Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card
- Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite
- Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite
- Scotiabank Value Visa
A sweet offer from Scotia iTRADE comes with the account too, offering a BOGO deal for trading and 20 free trades (stock or ETF) on the mobile app during your first year – plus 10 more free trades every year going forward.
Here are a few more perks included with the Scotiabank Preferred Package:
- preferred rates on certain GICs,
- a special interest rate for the Scotiabank MomentumPLUS Savings Account,
- a $0 monthly fee for the Scotiabank U.S. Dollar Daily Interest Account,
- one free non-Scotiabank ABM withdrawal each month, and
- the ability to earn Scene+ points with each debit purchase.
Lastly, there's a sweet $700 welcome bonus offer – in addition to our own $50 GeniusCash offer.
Open an accountScotiabank Basic Plus Bank Account
This basic account has everything you need, without the bells and whistles. It includes 25 transactions and unlimited Interac e-Transfers. And you don't have to pay a monthly fee if you keep the $3,000 minimum in the account.
- Lots of physical bank locations
- Decent amount of free transactions
- Ability to waive monthly fee
- Full suite of Scotiabank’s basic features
- Only get a set amount of free transactions
- Monthly fee if you dip under a $3,000 balance
- Charged for each non-Scotiabank ATM withdrawal
- You must be at least 16 years old
- A Canadian resident or you're here for work or study
- Opening this account in your own name
- Send money globally for $1.99
- $4 senior's discount
For a lower monthly fee of $11.95, you'll get fewer benefits but could save a lot of money in the long run, especially if you don't really need what's being offered by the aforementioned accounts. As a note, you can waive this fee with a minimum balance of $3,000, which is less than the other 2 accounts.
One limitation you'll run into is that there is a hard cap on transactions per month – 25 debit transactions in total. However, you're still good with Interac e-Transfers – these are unlimited.
Otherwise, that's pretty much it when it comes to perks and benefits, so you can save yourself some money every month if you go this route.
Open an accountScotiabank Basic Bank Account
Don't like keeping a ton of money in your chequing account to waive the fee, but still love the convenience of a big bank? The Scotiabank Basic Bank Account only has a low monthly fee of $3.95 to worry about and comes with 12 free transactions. If most of your purchases are made with your credit card, that's probably more than enough for you.
- Low monthly fee
- Discounted fee for seniors
- Teens can open an account too
- Free Interac e-Transfers
- Big bank convenience and reliability
- Low transaction limit
- No fee waiver with minimum balance
- Lack of welcome bonus
- You must be at least 16 years old
- A Canadian resident or you're here for work or study
- Opening this account in your own name
- Free for seniors aged 60+
- Available for teens too, age 16+
- Free Interac e-Transfers
The basic account, as expected, has the smallest monthly fee at $3.95, but you're going to be even further handcuffed when it comes to transactions. Another downside is that there is no way to waive this monthly fee.
One small positive is that we're currently running a $75 GeniusCash offer, so that should cover off some of the fee.Scotiabank chequing account fees to look out for
So you know about the monthly fees, but what else should you be keeping an eye on?
Extra transaction fees
This doesn't apply for the Ultimate Package, but all other accounts are subject to some or all of the following fees:
- International Money Transfer: $1.99 per transfer
- Non-Scotiabank ATM (in Canada): $2 per access*
- Non-Scotiabank ATM which is a Visa or PLUS system (in Canada & U.S.): $3 per access
- Non-Scotiabank ATM (global): $5 per access
- Getting a bank draft: $9.50
* The Scotiabank Preferred Package gets 1 free per month.
You can see all the account fees on the Scotiabank Day To Day Banking Companion Booklet.
Minimum balances and fee waivers
We mentioned a few times that 3 of the 4 Scotiabank chequing accounts have ways to waive the monthly fee.
Here are the minimum amounts for each account (the Scotiabank Basic Bank Account isn't included):
- Scotiabank Basic Plus Bank Account: $3,000
- Scotiabank Preferred Package: $4,000
- Scotiabank Ultimate Package: $6,000
Just note that you must maintain the balance forever. If you go under it even for a single day, you'll be charged for that month.
It's not always recommended to leave money sitting in the account either. Keep in mind that there are better ways to invest the money, so do a little bit of math to see what works best for you.
Want to start investing but feel a bit overwhelmed? Why not check out our comparison of Canadian robo advisors.
Scotiabank chequing account alternatives
So are Scotiabank chequing accounts any good? Let's take a look at how they compare to their competition.
Comparison to Big 5 banks
When it comes to chequing accounts at the Big 5 banks in Canada, most of them follow a similar structure.
- Basic account with limited transactions that's about $4 a month.
- A step up that's about $10 a month and features slightly more transactions, but not much else.
- A more premium account with unlimited transactions and some perks, for about $15 a month.
- Then the most premium account, costing about $30 and overwhelming you with perks.
The main thing separating Scotiabank from the rest of them is your ability to earn Scene+ points on your debit transactions.
Comparison to online banks
When it comes to online banks, the stakes are slightly different.
Online banks will give you unlimited transactions and Interac e-Transfers for no monthly fees. The downside is you won't get any of the fancy perks, plus there won't be any physical branches for you to visit if you run into some issues.
If you like having the option of walking into your closest branch and talking to someone face to face, online banks won't have that.
Do you think Scotiabank is the best bank in Canada? Check out our comparison of 10 Canadian banks.
How to open a Scotiabank chequing account
If you're ready to open a Scotiabank chequing account, you can do it 1 of 3 ways:
- online,
- in person, or
- over the phone (the number is 1-800-472-6842).
No matter which method you choose, you'll have to show specific types of identification.
For most people, that will be a driver's license or passport. But if you don't have either of these, you do have other options – as outlined by the Canadian government on the Opening a bank account page.
You don't have to worry about making minimum deposits with Scotiabank. Just follow the instructions on screen or from the customer service agent, and you'll be set up with a new account before you know it.
What about you?
Are you interested in a Scotiabank chequing account?
Are you thinking of taking advantage of some premium perks?
Let us know in the comments below.
$75 GeniusCash + Unlimited transactions for $0 + Ding-free non-affiliated ATM usage.
$25 GeniusCash + $50 bonus for funding a new account, and $0 commissions on stocks & ETFs
$12 GeniusCash + Access trusted news coverage 24/7 + Digital and home subscription options.
$25 GeniusCash + Delicious meal choices with fresh ingredients + Front-door delivery.FAQ
What's the best Scotiabank chequing account?
The best Scotiabank chequing account is the Scotiabank Ultimate Package. This has all the best perks, including a large welcome bonus, credit card fee waivers, bonus earn rates with investment accounts, and more.
Do Scotiabank chequing accounts have fees?
Yes, all 4 of the main chequing accounts have fees ranging from $3.95 a month to $30.95. But most of the accounts have the option to get the fees waived if you keep a certain amount in the account.
Is there anything special about Scotiabank chequing accounts?
The main thing that sets certain Scotiabank chequing accounts apart from their other Big 5 counterparts is your ability to earn Scene+ points on your debit transactions.
Does Scotiabank have a free chequing account?
No, none of Scotiabank's main chequing accounts are free, though the monthly fee can be waived if you keep a certain amount tucked away.
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