This is a guide to RBC Express pricing as of August 2020.
Here are some highlights of the post:
To send one US wire from Canada, your startup cost is $266 ($100 setup for two modules + $100 for two RSA keys + $30/mth + $36/wire)
RBC Express is great for companies who need multi-users and want to send higher value wires immediately.
It looks and feels like you're operating in 2002, but speed, security and function beats form (for some).
$50 Setup fee for each module.
$50 RSA key (valid for 4 years).
Each module has pay as you go and monthly options (for larger volume users).
There are a lot of small fees that you should make yourself aware of with your account rep before deciding to move all of your payment activity to a tool like this.
Caveats:
These prices are subject to change and may be negotiated with your account manager.
The purpose of this article is to show approximate prices that give you an idea of what you could be spending.
These prices are not easily accessed RBC Express Canada website and you should reach out to your account manager to discuss specific pricing for your company.
This is a simplistic overview and not meant as a comprehensive review.
What is RBC Express?
RBC Express is a Cash Management tool for businesses that sits on top of a regular RBC business bank account.
Yes, you can keep your old RBC business banking account for things like making email money transfers, paying bills under $25k and moving money around.
It's a multi-user environment that allows you to send higher value wires, have approval tiers/limits and provide greater audit trails on transactions than a regular business banking account.
How does RBC charge for RBC Express?
RBC can really nickel and dime you when it comes to getting this set up and running, so there should be a compelling argument for using the service.
Here are three ways they make money from you:
Setup Fees
Monthly Fees
Per Transaction Fees
What RBC Express modules are available?
Core Services
ACH-Direct Deposit
Wire Payments
Pricing - Core Services
One Time Setup Fee - $50
Monthly Fees:
1 User = $0
2+ Users = $30/mth
Addition of accounts for up to 5 other legal entities - $20/mth
Core services include access to the following options:
Balance and transaction reporting
Images of statements
View images of cheques and other account items
Account transfers
Bill Payments
Stop payments
Downloading transactions into accounting software such as: QuickBooks, Sage 50/300 and generic OFX format. OFX is handy when importing into Xero manually if you don't want to trust the bank feed.
Pricing - ACH Direct Deposit
Option 1 - Pay as you go
$50.00 One-time set-up (per account)
$0.85 per transaction
$50.00 per RSA token (valid for 4 years)
Option 2 - Monthly fee
$50.00 One-time set-up (per account)
$150.00 One-time connectivity fee (*with file transfer option only)
$50.00 per RSA token (valid for 4 years)
$27.00 monthly fee (per account)
$6.00 per file\batch
$0.65 per report (3 reports per every file, and a report for every return payment, etc...)
$0.20 per transaction for payments to CDN banks
*$100.00 blocked file- charged only for files you sent that got rejected due to errors
The monthly fee option is advantageous for companies who upload files with large amounts of recipients. The math here shows that you should consider using the monthly option after 41 payments ([27+6+0.20+0.65+0.65+0.65]=35.15 / 0.85) if you were to ignore the $150 connectivity fee.
RBC usually encourages you to use wire transfers when paying into US based banks, however you can use the ACH platform here to pay into USD banks in America from your Canadian USD or CAD bank account. There are additional fees for this (~$3/each) with a sliding scale if you pay over 100 per file, along with cross-border monthly maintenance fees, etc.
ACH vs EFT
RBC uses the term ACH to pay between bank accounts. In Canada, we refer to this as EFT (electronic funds transfer) for Canada to Canada transfers. It's easy to be confused, especially when they start charging more for true ACH (automated clearing house) payments to the USA.
Pricing - Wire Payments
One Time Setup Fee - $50
Token fee - $50 each (valid for 4 years). If you already have a token from any services above, you don't need a new one here.
Option 1 - Pay as you go (3 wires or less)
$20 per wire administration fee; PLUS
$6 RBC to RBC Wire Payments
$13 to another Financial Institution in Canada
$16 to a Financial Institution in the USA
$30 to an Int’l Financial Institution outside Canada and the US (with or without currency conversion) + (possible fees based on destination of the payment)
Example sending 3 wires to the USA from Canada: [3 x (20+16) = $108]
Option 2 - Monthly Package (4 or more wires)
$60 module monthly fee; PLUS
$6 RBC to RBC Wire Payments
$13 to another Financial Institution in Canada
$16 to a Financial Institution in the USA
$30 to an Int’l Financial Institution outside Canada and the US (with or without currency conversion) + (possible fees based on destination of the payment)
Example sending 3 wires to the USA from Canada: [(3 x 16)+60 = $108]
Pro Tips
CORE ONLY - Sign up for the core module for RBC Express so that your accountant can have access to the system in a read-only environment. This will save both of you tons of time in back and forth, bank feed issues and general Q&A. You can always add other modules at a later date.
USE THE ORIGINAL - Don't sign up for any of the additional payment services if you keep your wires under $10K and your Canadian payments under $25k each. The regular business banking account can do this with an RSA key and you'll avoid all the setup fees and additional frustrations using an older system.
WAIVE SETUP FEES - Ask your account manager for a credit to the setup fees. You never know, it's worth a try!
USE OTHER TOOLS - If you don't need to make your payments same day, think about using other payment tools available in the market. LiveCA customers gain access to our specialized treasury team that walk through multiple options for your own unique situation using popular Fintech tools, FX brokerages and bank accounts to keep your fees low and your vendors happy.
Appreciate you making it this far and if you're ever in the need for a complete back-office finance team for less than the price of a full-time hire, feel free to have a chat with our CEO here.
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