Canadians are savvy consumers who are driven by value in the majority of their everyday decisions, and like to be rewarded for their loyalty, too, according to a poll from RBC.

When RBC asked bank account holders to evaluate which is most important to them when making everyday decisions, they choose value first (80%); simplicity second (66%); and convenience third (64%).

Additionally, when survey respondents were asked about specific scenarios, “value” was the most important principle when buying a home (77%), buying a car (71%), investing (62%), retirement planning (56%), and vacationing (44%). Convenience shares the top spot for grocery shopping (45%) and banking (46%).

The poll also indicates 94% of respondents wish their bank would reward them for their business, while 92% agree they do not want to pay a fee for going over their monthly transaction limit. Eighty-nine per cent also agreed they would like more value for their monthly account fees.

“Part of the reason we do these polls is to better understand the mindset and banking habits of consumers so that we can tailor our products and services to better meet their needs,” says Chris Barber, senior manager, deposit products. “We chose to focus on the principles of simplicity, convenience and value because they transcend banking and give us a sense of the tradeoffs people make when making a decision or a purchase.”

When asked to further explore the notion of simplicity, 50% indicated they have taken recent measures to simplify their lives financially. The most popular course of action was banking online (12%). This was followed by consolidating bank accounts (10%); hiring a financial planner or advisor (9%); consolidating debts (7%); and preparing a budget (6%). All three principles were of greatest importance to women and older Canadians while Quebecers placed greater likelihood to make decisions based on simplicity and convenience.


The poll was conducted by Ipsos Reid between April 5 and10. The online survey is based on a randomly selected representative sample of 2,270 adult Canadians with a bank account. With a representative sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within +/- 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled.