but some people have no other option. You should see the ones near my place when the welfare or UI cheques are issued. The line ups are out the door. A LOT of people don't have bank accounts at a major financial institution......
You don't need a bank account to cash a welfare cheque. You can cash them at any RBC branch. The government agency makes this a requirement of whichever financial insitituion they award the contract to.
HOWEVER, you DO NEED proper identification:
http://www.toronto.ca/socialservices/faq.htm#cash
Ironic thing is that the reason alot of people don't have a bank account is because they can't meet the identification requirements to open one. If this is the case, not sure how they can produce the ID needed to cash a welfare cheque either?
I have no idea how much the average monthly welfare cheque is, but assuming it is $1000, and you pay 3% to cash it at Money Mart or some other place, you are paying approximately $30 in fees!
Most of the banks have low-fee accounts that would give you around 10 free withdrawals per month for about $4. Problem, as mentioned earlier, is that alot of the Welfare recipients don't have proper ID!
The government needs to come up with a way to allow these individuals to meet the legal requirements for opening a bank account, and then make Direct Deposit of Welfare, UI, OAS, CPP, etc MANDATORY!
Think of the thousands of dollars of taxpayer money that is going to companies like Money Mart, instead of going into the hands of the people who need it most!
