Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, honourable members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
TD employs about 58,000 people and has over 14 million customers around the world, over 10 million here in Canada. At TD we place a premium on customer service, a fact recognized by external surveys that place us first in customer service. We ask more than 400,000 customers each year how we are doing and what we can do better to ensure we offer the service they want and deserve. This is reflected in the wide array of accounts, products, and services we have designed to suit the needs of our customers, including low-cost accounts and special accounts for students and seniors.
Our customers also choose how they want to bank with us. If they prefer dealing with the branch, we have an expanding network across the country and the longest branch hours in the industry. In the past three years, TD Canada Trust has opened 63 new branches, the highest number of all the banks, and we plan on opening another 30 this year.
If customers choose to bank online, TD offers EasyWeb, an award-winning, full-service online banking experience. We also offer telephone banking through EasyLine, and of course we are expanding our network of automatic banking machines. We offer ABM services exclusively through our network of conveniently located Green Machines. TD does not own or operate so-called white label machines.
Our bank is very proud to have invested over $250 million installing more than 2,500 brand new Green Machines across the country, all of which feature the latest in security and assisted technology for disabled customers.
Recently we announced that we would install a TD Green Machine on or within walking distance of large university and college campuses in Canada to help make sure more TD customers have convenient access to their money. We did this because we recognized that we did not have a presence on all campuses and wanted to ensure that students, particularly TD Canada Trust customers, had access to our ABMs. We have now written to the identified schools and look forward to moving forward with this plan.
TD owns and operates its ABM network to maximize the service we offer to our TD clients. TD customers pay very low or no monthly charges to access their funds via our Green Machines. Eighty-one percent of all TD Canada Trust accounts do not pay any transaction fees when using TD Green Machines. Seniors who belong to the Plan 60 account do not pay any fees at all.
TD ABMs are linked to a wider network that allows non-TD customers to access their money through our machines, and as you know, there is a transactional fee associated with this service. This system is very transparent. TD and the banking industry have worked very hard to ensure Canadians understand the fee system, and over 75% of ABM withdrawals in this country are made by Canadians using their own bank's ABMs. In terms of the TD experience, over 80% of TD Green Machine transactions are made by TD customers.
On the issue of electronic payments, I would be happy to answer any questions about TD's role in the bill payment process. I would like to make the point, however, that all bills our customers pay online get processed by us that day, but it can sometimes take two business days for the payment to get processed by the billing company. It's worth noting, though, that 95% of TD's billers recognize the transaction date as the payment date, thereby minimizing the customer impact. Information advising customers of processing times has always been available on our EasyLine and EasyWeb online service.
As my time is short, I would just conclude by saying that TD has always encouraged customers who have questions or concerns about any aspect of their banking experience to talk to us about the account options that best suit their needs.
Thank you. I'm happy to answer your questions.