Best way to switch to another bank
 

So what is the best and hassel free way to switch to another bank.

I have a lot of direct deposit and pre-athorized payment set up ( Money in & out)

Loans and RRSP ..etc..

should I open up an account with the new bank and then transfer everything there item by item ?

Is there a process time between transfering ? can it be done within couple of hours ?

I would think that this would take a little time. Write a cheque to the neww account to transfer a majority of the the funds over. Then one by one make the switches on the pre authorized payments. Then finally transfer the leftover amount that you have in the account.
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I think you can ask the new bank to cancel everything at the old bank on your behalf if you sign an authorization?

RBC has something like Easy Switch
TD also offers something similar
not sure about BMO/Scotia

There is Power Switch with bmo
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I'd definitely wait at least one billing cycle before you close your old account. Unfortunately, there's more than just the bank you have to deal with when switching to a new bank. Outside entities sometimes take a long time to process account changes. Verify that the changes (pre-authorized payments and withdrawls) you made have gone through on your new account before closing the old.

Just recently I switched from BMO to TD. Several things took a while to switch over:
*Paypal - you basically have to go through the account confirmation again with them. That took about a week.
*MSP - I sent in a new form for authorization of transfer for my MSP premiums and waited 2 weeks before I closed my account. Unfortunately, being a government entity, they're horribly inefficient and apparently 2 weeks isn't enough time for them to process the change. Nor will they send you a confirmation that the transfer is complete. As a result, I got dinged a $30 penalty because they couldn't get their money. In the end it took them about 5 weeks to complete the withdrawals from my new bank account.

Electronic bill pay will need to be set up again with your new bank as well. Not really a big problem as those are easy to do. The only other pain of switching to a new bank - you'll need to establish a new relationship with them and you'll be subjected to holds on your deposits - even if you've got enough cash in your bank account to cover it. It might be an issue for some if money is tight.