Savers Roundup July 2020: Summer promos, EQ Bank joint accounts, and a primer on deposit insurance

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2.00%+ savings accounts are getting rarer

At the top of our savings account comparison chart are Bridgewater Bank, Motive Financial, and EQ Bank, which all have interest rates of at least 2.00%. The only TFSA rate currently above 2.00% is Motive Financial at 2.05%.

There have been a few interest rate decreases since last month’s roundup, at MAXA Financial (from 2.00% to 1.80%), motusbank (from 1.65% to 1.40% for regular savings; from 1.75% to 1.60% for its TFSA), Peoples Trust (from 2.00% to 1.80%) and LBC Digital (from 2.05% to 1.65%).

Speaking of LBC Digital, we recently started to track its GIC rates on our GIC comparison chart, where it is at least tied for the lead on 1-year (2.10%), 2-year (2.05%), 4-year (2.15%), and 5-year (2.30%) terms. The top 3-year GIC rate is currently 2.10%, which you can find at both AcceleRate Financial and MAXA Financial.

Various versions of Simplii Financial and Tangerine Bank promotions

Simplii Financial has a new offer targeting some existing customers: 2.00% on new deposits made between July 1, 2020 and October 30, 2020. Others have reported getting an extension of a previous 2.80% offer through the end of August, and yet others have reported getting no new offer at all.

Over at Tangerine Bank, there is another round of targeted new deposit promos, although at 1.85%, it’s the lowest promo rate we’ve seen in a while. If you are an existing client and did not receive an offer, you can always try calling in to ask for a better rate. Someone reported getting 2.25% for 90 days on their entire balance.

Do you have a Canadian Tire credit card? If so, you might be eligible for a 2.00% savings account interest rate (only 0.20% above its current regular rate, but still something) if you sign up for emails and make a deposit by July 31.

We’re tracking the above promotions and more on our promos page.

EQ Bank joint accounts are here

On our forum, some people have been waiting for EQ Bank to support joint accounts since 2016. The wait for EQ Bank joint accounts is finally over. We’ve documented the process to set up an EQ Bank joint account.

Know the types of Canadian deposit insurance

Do you know the difference between CDIC coverage, provincial deposit insurance, and CIPF coverage? CFA Christopher Liew breaks them all down, explains why you should care about the differences, and provides tips on how to maximize your coverage.

Unfortunately, the question of what CIPF coverage provides — guaranteeing that you have shares, but not the value of your shares — is too relevant with the shut down of Pace Securities wiping out a lot of people’s hard-earned savings. The story continues to develop, with Pace Credit Union working on a solution.

More July reading

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