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Customers of the newly-minted online banking unit will have the same, no-fee daily banking and interest rates as under PC Financial, and terms and conditions of the mortgages issued by CIBC will remain unchanged, the bank said.

“The offer is very similar out of the gate to what they have today. That’s by design — certainly our intent,” Boluch said. “We want to minimize any impact of change on our clients.”

While customers will be able to retain and use the points they have acquired through Loblaw’s PC Plus loyalty program — which are redeemable for free groceries at its vast network of retail stores — they will not be able accrue any more under the Simplii offering after Oct. 31.

PC Financial MasterCard products, however, remain unchanged as they are offered by President’s Choice Bank which has a Schedule I banking licence, giving it authorization as a domestic bank to take deposits under the Bank Act. These credit cards will continue to accrue PC points, as usual.

CIBC’s decision to wind down the arrangement — during which it built a customer base of roughly 2 million users — with President’s Choice Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Loblaw, was a “mutual” one for various reasons, including a changed banking landscape, said Boluch.

“It was a good business,” he said in an interview. “I think bringing our direct banking fully in-house gives us a degree of control and greater flexibility for the future.”

Loblaw subsidiary President’s Choice Financial also said it was a mutual decision to end the relationship.