Unprecedented billing error at Desjardins

A tiny $2.25 can cause a lot of confusion, questions and even outrage, as evidenced by an error made by Desjardins. “Account maintenance fees” were wrongly charged to more than 2 million people on Saturday.

Usually, Saturday evenings are quieter for Desjardins employees.

But last weekend, some $4.5 million was mistakenly withdrawn from the accounts of more than 2 million customers. Questions and criticism regarding these new $2.25 fees obviously did not take long on social networks.

“I have this new charge in all my accounts? Are there others who have had this? If so, what is it and have we been warned about it? “, asked a member of the popular Facebook group Money Never Sleeps, created by Youcef Ghellache. On Sunday, the post attracted 630 comments before a moderator decided that it would no longer be possible to add more.

At Desjardins, Olivier Nadeau, senior director, accounts, bank savings and personal pricing, explained to me that as of November, the fees for mailing monthly statements increased from $1 to $2.25. It was therefore necessary to program the systems accordingly, in preparation for November 30, the last day of the month.

“While coding into the systems, there was a human error and unfortunately it was also the virtual statements that were charged. »

The bad move can be explained as follows: “The pricing of paper statements had not been increased for around ten years. So, these are not tables at the TI level [technologies de l’information] with which we are accustomed to playing. »

Desjardins had already made certain billing errors in the past, but never of this magnitude.

Social media being what it is, outrage erupted. Desjardins was called a “thief” and a host of other epithets. Some customers had the good idea to contact the cooperative.

Since the error had been detected quickly, they received a voice message on Sunday morning telling them that an error had been made and that they would be reimbursed. This is what had to be done to contain the incident.

The calls were undoubtedly numerous. Desjardins swears, however, that it does not know how many of its customers called, since they hung up. Messages were also posted online and on the app AccèsD.

But this version of the story obviously did not convince everyone. A rumor that this was not a mistake and that Desjardins had decided to back down due to the large number of complaints did not take long to circulate.

The confusion was fueled by the fact that these new fees of $2.25 had been added to an information document recently sent to members. It was specified that they only targeted people wanting a paper statement, but this detail escaped some people.

It must be said that Desjardins is not helping itself by using the expression “account maintenance fees”… to send a document by mail. We are talking about costs for the envelope, printing and stamping, not for “keeping the score”. In fact, those who rely on online statements do not pay a penny.

Desjardins would not tell me what proportion of its customers continue to receive their statements by mail, but it is a minority.

It must also be said that everyone was reimbursed on Monday.

This case has the merit of highlighting the fees charged by traditional financial institutions. In the context where virtual banks like Tangerine, Wealthsimple and EQ offer free accounts with higher interests, it seems inconsistent that fees are increasing instead of decreasing. Recently, Desjardins has been charging fees for canceling Interac transfers, as its competitors do, because “Interac charges us for them,” says Olivier Nadeau.

You can always avoid fees by maintaining a minimum balance in your account. We thus deprive ourselves of interest, but we save from $3 to $30 per month. Which is more advantageous? The short answer is: “it depends.” Would you keep a balance of a few thousand dollars in your account anyway for direct debits? Do you make 5 or 45 transactions per month? The important thing is to pay for a plan that suits your needs and to remember that the small amounts paid into your bank are no different from those left at the local café.

After 10 years, a $29 package will have cost you $4,500 taking into account the 5% interest that you could have made by investing the amount. At the end of a 35-year career, your bank account will have cost you $33,000, which compares to $4,500 for a basic package of $4 and… $0 if you have maintained a sufficient balance to benefit from exemption from fees.