Canadian Bank Milestones
Banks in Canada have long been leaders in the development and adoption of new technologies and innovation that make banking and payments safe, simple and convenient for customers.
1791: Canada's banking vision - First Bank of the United States established following a proposal by Alexander Hamilton, the first American secretary of the treasury. Hamilton's vision for a banking framework inspired the Canadian system of Banking.
1817: First bank in Canada - Bank of Montreal, Canada's first bank is founded on June 23 and opens on November 3.
1867: Canadian Confederation
1891: Canadian Bankers Association - CBA founded in Montreal on December 17, 1891.
1981:George Hague, first president of the CBA
1893: First issue of the CBA's magazine published - The first issue of the CBA's quarterly magazine, The Journal of the Canadian Bankers Association, published. Subscriptions can be purchased for one dollar per year.
1939: WWII - Canada joins allies
1957: Chequing accounts - Banks introduce personal chequing accounts.
1961: First women branch managers - Shirley Giles (Toronto) and Gladys Marcellus (Ottawa), both employees of the Bank of Nova Scotia, become the first women branch managers in Canadian history.
1961: First computer - Royal Bank becomes the first bank to install a computer, an IBM 1401 which occupied an entire room, for accounting purposes.
1961: Drive-in banking - Banks introduce first drive-in teller windows.
1967: Computer assisted banking - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce becomes the first bank to provide online services, where branch staff use a terminal linked to a computer to bring a customer's passbook up-to-date.
1968: Farm financing - The Royal Bank becomes the first bank to introduce a program call "Farmplan", designed to look at a farmer's total credit needs in terms of a "single package".
1968: Credit cards - Toronto-Dominion Bank, The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Royal Bank and National Bank of Canada jointly introduce the Chargex Card.
1972: Automated Banking Machines - The Royal Bank is the first Canadian financial institution to install automated tellers (called a "Bankette") offering 24-hour banking for withdrawals, deposits, transfers and bill payments.
1975: CN Tower is built
1984: Discount brokerage - TD Bank is the first bank to form a discount brokerage (Green Line Investor Services)
1986: First national ABM network (Interac) launches - The network, founded by CIBC, Royal Bank, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia and Caisse Desjardins gives customers broader access to ABM services.
1989: Braille keypads - Bank of Montreal introduces Braille keypads on ABMs.
1994: Ombudsman service - CIBC appoints Canada's first bank ombudsman, Cliff Shirley.
1995-2001: Dot com bubble
1995: First bank website - Royal Bank is the first Canadian bank to launch an Internet website.
1996: Internet banking - Bank of Montreal's mbanx is the first financial institution to offer Internet banking services.
2004: Cheque imaging - Royal Bank is the first bank in Canada to provide digital images of paper-based cheques online.
2007: Canada moves to chip-based technology - Banks, major credit card companies and Interac begin to introduce chip technology for debit and credit cards.
2008: Financial crisis
2010: Mobile banking app launches - CIBC launches the first mobile banking app in Canada.
2016: Use of biometrics for identification - BMO Bank of Montreal becomes the first bank to offer a biometric identification program for corporate credit card users (Selfie Pay). And Tangerine offers the first banking app using eye verification (Eye Verify).
2018: Bank Act Amendments allow banks to invest or partner with Fintech - The 2018 amendments to the Bank Act, the federal legislation that governs how banks operate in Canada, allow banks to invest in or partner with financial technology companies.