Savers Roundup June 2020: where to lock in your money; changes to cash back credit cards; Pace Securities drama

Another round of cuts

In terms of savings account interest rate changes, it had been a relatively slow drop since the last Bank of Canada policy interest rate cut on March 27. However, since June 1st, 10 out of the 17 financial institutions on our comparison chart have decreased their interest rates, including Hubert Financial and Alterna Bank, who have both dropped their rates twice this month, to rest at 1.80% and 1.69% respectively. Oaken Financial’s savings account interest rate decreased from from 2.00% to 1.65%. Only 6 out of the 17 financial institutions we track now have a savings account interest rate of 2.00% or higher.

For the time being, Bridgewater Bank has the top savings account interest rate on our chart at 2.10%, while Motive Financial leads the TFSA rates at 2.05%.

GIC rates have continued to trend lower, with the current leaders being:

• 1-year GIC at 2.00% at AcceleRate Financial, Achieva Financial, Implicity Financial, MAXA Financial, and Outlook Financial
• 2-year GIC at 2.10% at Wealth One Bank of Canada
• 3-year GIC at 2.20% at Wealth One Bank of Canada
• 4-year GIC at 2.20% at Achieva Financial, Hubert Financial, Peoples Trust, and Wealth One Bank of Canada
• 5-year GIC at 2.30% at Hubert Financial, Oaken Financial, and Peoples Trust

There are some promotions left

Promotions have been drying up, but there are still some available, including:

• CIBC: 2.50% interest for 120 days when you open your first eAdvantage Savings Account
• Tangerine Bank: 2.50% interest for 5 months when you open your first Tangerine Savings Account

We have a page to track all current promotions, including savings accounts, chequing accounts, GICs, and our cash back offers.

Credit card reward program devaluations too!

Recently, some Rogers Mastercard devaluations took effect on June 2. If you use the Rogers Mastercard for purchases in foreign currencies, you might want to review our list of credit cards with no foreign currency exchange transaction fees.

Some changes are coming soon on August 1 to the Canadian Tire Triangle Mastercard: its earn rate on grocery store purchases is going up from 1.00% to 1.50%; but its earn rate on non-Canadian Tire, non-grocery store purchases is going down from 0.80% to 0.50%.

Interesting forum threads to catch up on

• Sorting out the details of RRSP withholding tax
• Pace Securities shut down, leaving many investors hanging dry
• Where to invest $7,000?