Banking
Banking in Canada is widely considered the most efficient and safest banking system in the world, ranking as the world's soundest banking system according to a 2008 World Economic Forum report. According to the Department of Finance, Canada's banks, also called chartered banks, have over 8,000 branches and almost 18,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country. In addition, "Canada has the highest number of ABMs per capita in the world and benefits from the highest penetration levels of electronic channels such as debit cards, Internet banking and telephone banking".
In everyday commerce, the banks in Canada are generally referred to in two categories: 1) the five large national banks and 2) smaller second tier banks (notwithstanding that a large national bank and a smaller second tier bank may share the same legal status and regulatory classification. The five largest banks in Canada are:
- Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
- Toronto Dominion Bank (TD Bank)
- Bank of Montreal (BMO)
- Bank of Nova Scotia, and
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
Notable second tier banks include the National Bank of Canada, The Desjardins Group, and ING Bank of Canada. These second tier organizations are largely Canadian domestic banking organizations. Insurance companies in Canada have also created deposit-taking bank subsidiaries.
