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Loblaw's PC Financial launches no-fee bank account tied to PC Optimum

A PC Financial (owned by grocer Loblaws) banking card is inserted into a bank machine in Toronto March 5, 2007.  PC Financial does not charge customers service charges for bank machine transactions at their in-house or CIBC banking machines. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is in Toronto on Monday talking to banking executives about excessive fees charged on bank machine transactions.     REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski (CANADA)
Loblaw's PC Financial is getting back into the banking business, offering a new no-fee bank account. REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski

Canada’s largest grocery retailer Loblaw (L.TO) is getting back into the banking business, launching a no-fee bank account through its financial subsidiary that will allow customers to collect PC Optimum points through purchases.

PC Financial, Loblaw’s financial services subsidiary, announced on Monday the creation of the new PC Money Account, adding an “everyday banking option” to the company’s list of financial offerings.

The account features no monthly fees and unlimited transactions, and will allow account holders to collect PC Optimum points in a range of ways. Customers will get 10 points on every dollar spent, 25 points for every dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart, 10,000 points for linking to an external bank account and 25,000 points for setting up direct deposit.

“The PC Money Account fills a gap in the everyday banking landscape, giving Canadians a no-fee account to spend, send and save, all while being rewarded with loyalty points they can actually use on the essentials they need,” PC Financial president Barry Columb said in a statement.

The move comes three years after PC Financial ended its nearly 20-year banking partnership with CIBC. In 2017, PC Financial’s everyday banking products – including its savings, chequing and mortgage offerings – were transitioned to CIBC’s then-newly created Simplii Financial division. PC Financial said at the time that the move would allow the company to focus on its MasterCard credit card products and its loyalty program.

PC Financial reported $233 million in revenue in the most recent quarter, $51 million less than the same time a year earlier as credit card spending fell during the COVID-19 pandemic. About three million customers are signed up with PC Financial.

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