High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Banking and Saving strategies, maximizing interest rates, budgeting, GICs, HISAs.
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Peculiar_Investor
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High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Getting ready for the new year. This is the topic to post rate changes, questions, special offers, etc. Please do not use this topic to discuss the relative merits of HISAs and GICs as an investment vehicle.

For newcomers to FWF, our wiki covers Cash management, High-interest savings account, Guaranteed Investment Certificates and Money market funds.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by NorthernRaven »

izzy wrote:2016 comments on Hubert's 1-year cashable quarterly stepper GIC at average 2.05%
This is actually an interesting alternative to current HISA rates for investment purposes for the next year. EQ is at 2%, but it would be entirely unsurprising if that didn't drop by 25 or even 50 basis points somewhere along the way - they have over $1 billion in deposits now, and their friends at Oaken are at 1.5%. Alterna may or may not stay at their current level. You could hope that hopping around between Tangerine and PCF and whatever will work, but that's a crapshoot (Tangerine seems to be maxing out at 2% on the current cycle, and not for everyone). Or you could hope that the Bank of Canada has to bump up rates and float all boats, which seems unlikely.

With Hubert's GIC, you can lock in 2.05% for the full year, with 90-day cashability windows at little penalty in case something really nice appears out of nowhere.
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Descartes
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Descartes »

Some facts about EQ and its deteriorating HISA rate:

January 1 2016 - 3.00%
April 18 2016 - 2.25%
August 25 2016 - 2.00%
In January, Moor said that although the rate was not a promotional one, there were no barriers to lowering it. At that time, he said the new bank was targeting opening 10,000 accounts by tapping into an estimated $400 billion held in Canadian bank accounts that pay little to no interest.

On Thursday, Moor said EQ Bank has just over $1 billion in deposits and about 24,000 customers.

“Our rate at two per cent is very competitive for an account that can be used to directly pay bills and offers free interac e-transfers,” he said. “So we think this will continue to attract new customers.”
http://business.financialpost.com/news/ ... the-market

My read on this is that EQ wants to stay at or near the top of the HISA rates.
My interest in them is currently just leverage with Tangerine.
If they go below 2% then I fully expect Tangerine to follow suit with their select 90 day "bonus" rates.

The Hubert laddered GIC thing is interesting but..
1. it is only 0.05% better and only if the full amount is kept there for a year
2. no partial deposits or withdrawals permitted
3. that old bugaboo: no CDIC protection
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by schmuck »

Called Tangerine again to try for the 2% rate that some members have recently been offered, and which I was denied on Dec 19. Was told the wait time was 15 minutes or more after entering all my ID numbers, so, called back as a potential new client and the call was answered PDQ. Withdrew another substantial amount from my own and wife's act as the best they could do was still 1.6%.

Tempted to go for the GIC at Hubert, but am somewhat discouraged that they still appear to be shut down for the holidays and their transaction time is 4 business days. Always hate having large amounts of cash sitting around without earning interest over a weekend. :(
May just have to stick with Zag.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by NorthernRaven »

Descartes wrote:
Equitable wrote:“Our rate at two per cent is very competitive for an account that can be used to directly pay bills and offers free interac e-transfers,” [EQ's Moor] said. “So we think this will continue to attract new customers.”
My read on this is that EQ wants to stay at or near the top of the HISA rates.
The only problem is that his sentence could easily be converted to "our rate at 1.75% is very competitive", or even 1.5%. 25 basis points on $1 billion in deposits (and growing) is $2.5 million a year. That's a hefty marketing cost to attract the flighty end of the deposit base. At what point to you say, "let's drop a bit, and spend a small chunk of the savings to advertise to people who'll still find our total package appealing."
Descartes wrote:The Hubert laddered GIC thing is interesting but..
1. it is only 0.05% better and only if the full amount is kept there for a year
2. no partial deposits or withdrawals permitted
3. that old bugaboo: no CDIC protection
Yes, but for (1), the whole point is that it may be hard to get 2% over all of 2017 - this provides downside protection in a year where down is certainly a possibility. For (2), this is about the people who have a significant chunk that they aren't taking dribbles out of - for smaller amounts these sorts of marginal differences aren't worth much hassle. And everyone has to make their own mind up about (3), but if one is worried about the Manitoba economy dissolving into utter chaos on 90 days notice, one has more urgent investment decisions to make than HISAs... :)

There's no single right answer, since everyone has their own slightly different situation, but this seems like a useful alternative. It will be interesting to see how long Hubert keeps this rate.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by thegov »

Re: Hubert GICs & partial withdrawals.
You don't have to buy 1 big GIC. You could buy 3 or 4 or whatever of whatever individual values you choose.
So you could redeem a small amount (1 GIC) after 90 days if you wish. At least gives you a bit more flexibility if that's important.
I've sometimes also staggered by time -- but if you think rates are going down soon that may not be helpful.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Descartes »

NorthernRaven wrote:
Descartes wrote:
Equitable wrote:“Our rate at two per cent is very competitive for an account that can be used to directly pay bills and offers free interac e-transfers,” [EQ's Moor] said. “So we think this will continue to attract new customers.”
My read on this is that EQ wants to stay at or near the top of the HISA rates.
The only problem is that his sentence could easily be converted to "our rate at 1.75% is very competitive", or even 1.5%
If you read again you'll see I'm not saying anything that contradicts that. 2% is not a floor for any institution. I am suggesting that being at or near the top for HISA rates seems to be for EQ.

The fact that EQ now limits the total deposit per client to 100K (from 500K originally) may also be telling: forcing the deposits to be spread over more clients probably lessens the impact of some irate clients withdrawing their funds if/when they reduce their rates again in the future.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by poedin »

Called Tangerine again to try for the 2% rate that some members have recently been offered, and which I was denied on Dec 19. Was told the wait time was 15 minutes or more after entering all my ID numbers, so, called back as a potential new client and the call was answered PDQ. Withdrew another substantial amount from my own and wife's act as the best they could do was still 1.6%.
3% retention rate expired. Phoned in to their customer casino centre and was told that 0.8% was the only available rate. Asked why members were getting 2% (referred to RFD & FWF as proof), waited for a moment - bingo - 2% for the next 90 days. The game continues ... :roll: :?
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Money101 »

3% promo expired at Tangerine. I called asking for a competitive rate or I would move my money. They offered 2%, which I accepted, as that matched the EQ Bank's rate, who I also have an account. If they offered lower, I would have moved the funds to EQ.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by rhenderson »

Money101 wrote:3% promo expired at Tangerine. I called asking for a competitive rate or I would move my money. They offered 2%, which I accepted, as that matched the EQ Bank's rate, who I also have an account. If they offered lower, I would have moved the funds to EQ.
Looks like they are still up to their old games, others at RFD were offered 2.83% at the same time as you, that's quite a difference. :roll:
For people that were wise enough to have moved out on Dec31 are now being offered 3.25 (targeted again).

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/tangerin ... 061002/17/
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Money101 »

rhenderson wrote:
Money101 wrote:3% promo expired at Tangerine. I called asking for a competitive rate or I would move my money. They offered 2%, which I accepted, as that matched the EQ Bank's rate, who I also have an account. If they offered lower, I would have moved the funds to EQ.
Looks like they are still up to their old games, others at RFD were offered 2.83% at the same time as you, that's quite a difference. :roll:
For people that were wise enough to have moved out on Dec31 are now being offered 3.25 (targeted again).

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/tangerin ... 061002/17/
Darn. Thanks for the notice.
I may call them back in a few days and demand these higher rates and move my money if they don't give a better rate.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Spudd »

I moved out in November or so, and just logged in to see that I'm being offered 2.83% now, not 3.25. Still, I'll take it!
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by jeremy »

I got an offer for 2.59% from tangerine. It looks like their rate offers are all over the place.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by ig17 »

I moved out the entire balance in mid-December. No offers for me so far... :(
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by goleafsgo »

Hi everyone. Long-time lurker, first-time posting.

While making substantial withdrawal last night from Tangerine, I was offered 2% for 90 days (which seems to be common in this thread). For those in the Markham, Ontario area, my local Meridian Credit Union branch has been, and continues to offer a 'new branch' promotion on NEW money. Until February 24th their offer is 3% for a 90-day GIC. This may be of interest to anyone in the area.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by Spudd »

ig17 wrote:I moved out the entire balance in mid-December. No offers for me so far... :(
You might not notice it; I didn't get an email, but when I logged in I clicked on the account details and saw the offer there in the interest rate section.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by ig17 »

Spudd wrote:
ig17 wrote:I moved out the entire balance in mid-December. No offers for me so far... :(
You might not notice it; I didn't get an email, but when I logged in I clicked on the account details and saw the offer there in the interest rate section.
My account shows 1.6%. That was their best offer back in mid-December, before I moved the balance out.

DW's and DD's accounts show 0.8% and no offers.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by snowback96 »

After a long period of stability, Peoples Trust GIC rates are down across the board. Happy New Year!

1 yr - 1.85% from 1.95%
2 yr - 1.95% from 2.20%
3 yr - 2.00% from 2.25%
4 yr - 2.05% from 2.30%
5 yr - 2.10% from 2.45%
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by poedin »

Yikes! But then again they're now in line with the competition. Noticed that offerings at TDDI & BMOIL also dipped - I would have thought that the recent spike in bonds would have had a greater pull on the longer term GICs. Banks just taking advantage of the spread, a positive for those stocks?
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by izzy »

Its RRSP time,lots of uncertainty and lots of money seeking a "safe"resting place!
I would expect rates to climb a bit once the February rush is over.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by THEMAINEVENT »

Just logged into Tangerine and got a pop-up message indicating special rate of 2.83% on new deposits until March 31, 2017.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by optionable68 »

I got a Tangerine offer for 2.59%
Mrs optionable68 got an offer for 2.83%

Mr optionable68 Sr got an offer of 2.59%
Mrs optionable68 Sr received NO offer (i.e. 0.80%)
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by schmuck »

No offers for me or Mrs. Schmuck above the 1.6% I accepted Dec19.
Gonna give it one more shot as soon as my account application at Hubert is acknowledged. If I can't get at least 2% from Tang, will make another substantial withdrawal and move it into the 12 month quarterly term at Hubert. Tempted to tell Tang to stuff it but I doubt that they'll care. Will probably keep the acts open for future opportunities.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by ig17 »

schmuck wrote:No offers for me or Mrs. Schmuck above the 1.6% I accepted Dec19.
Ditto. Accepted 1.6% on Dec 15, emptied the account a few days later, didn't receive a better offer. I wonder if their system thinks that we are happy with 1.6%. We accepted it, didn't we.
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Re: High interest rates for savings, GICs and MMFs (2017)

Post by 2of3aintbad »

If you are considering a Credit Union alternative to Hubert, Luminus Financial has a one year GIC at 2.10%. Might make sense if you have maxed out your TFSA and RRSP already, and are saving up for next year's contributions.
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