I’ve been with TD since back when it was still Canada Trust… before the merger. I stayed with TD because the branches were comfortable, convenient, and honestly felt like part of my routine. For an Etobicoke mandem doing long commutes, hospital visits, and life responsibilities, the bank was a neutral, reliable part of my day. There was trust. But the second I started coin roll hunting, TD went from being a comfortable institution to acting like I was trying to smuggle state secrets inside a roll of nickels.

Coin roll hunting wasn’t a financial activity for me, it was something grounding during one of the hardest stretches of my life. COVID hit, I was laid off, my daughter was abroad, and my mom was getting sick. I’d withdraw rolls, search them while watching shows with her when she was still at home or in the hospital room, and re-roll and deposit what I didn’t need. It was a simple cycle: withdraw, search, redeposit. Not profit. Not scams. Not schemes. Just a hobby that doubles as therapy.

I even started a YouTube channel for my mom to watch when she was bored. After she passed, the videos stopped, but the hobby stayed because it gave me something to do when life was heavy. This was never an adversarial relationship with the bank—until the bank made it one.

The switch flipped at Royal York and LaRose, a branch I went to daily. Staff knew me. I thought being a familiar face counted for something. Then one random day, with zero warning, I’m told there’s a “new policy”… every single roll must be opened and checked, and staff have “no discretion.” My deposit turned into nearly an hour of forensic coin inspection like I was suspected of running a counterfeit cartel. I complained, and Customer Care acted like I was unreasonable for wanting common sense applied to a long-standing, repeat customer whose rolls are visibly marked and who has never once caused a discrepancy. Suddenly, multiple branches started enforcing the same energy—like TD put out a GTA-wide memo titled “How to Make Loyal Customers Feel Like Criminals.”

TD’s slogan, allegedly, is about “respect.” But respectfully, no it’s not. Respect means recognizing patterns and applying judgment, not treating everyone like a first-time walk-in with a duffel bag of mystery coins. My rolls are marked with blue tape specifically so banks (and I) can track them. Staff know me. I have an unlimited account—which I pay for—and the bank has never once told me a roll was short. If I were actually tampering with coins, you’d know. The issue isn’t fraud; the issue is policy being used as a shield against thinking.

I’ve had branches tell me they can’t accept coins because there’s “no room in the vault,” which is wild because if a bank can’t store money, what exactly is it storing? I’ve had deposits refused because a roll contained U.S. coins—even though U.S. coins are accepted everywhere, worth more, and end up melted at the RCM anyway. I’ve had a teller tell me not to mark rolls at all, yet couldn’t provide any written policy, as if the rule exists only in vibes and scolding. I’ve even dealt with a teller who didn’t know whether nickels were five cents or ten—how do you enforce coin policy when you don’t know what a coin is?

I understand that people short rolls, and banks need to be careful. But are those people marking rolls? Are they repeat customers with trackable history? Do they come in multiple times a week, consistently balancing deposits and withdrawals? Probably not. The bank is applying zero nuance, zero institutional memory, and zero critical thinking. If TD can’t distinguish between a scammer and someone who literally supports coin circulation while building a hobby around Canadian currency, then TD doesn’t bank on respect—it banks on customers tolerating nonsense.

At this point, the slogan might as well be “We bank on you shutting up and paying fees.” Because that’s how it feels: loyalty in, suspicion out.

This letter isn’t a threat, a tantrum, or a demand for special treatment. It’s a reminder that customers aren’t NPCs in your policy simulator. If TD wants loyalty from everyday Canadians, TD should recognize and reciprocate it instead of defaulting to hostility the moment someone interacts with physical currency in a way that isn’t easily automated or profitable.

Sincerely,
Mandem Dayv, a longtime customer who rolls coins, not scams.