Savers Roundup July 2024: Motive Financial will have a new parent; Hubert’s GIC rate went up

Last month, we asked readers how they feel about interest rates heading back down. 70% of respondents don’t like it, which is unsurprising, since this is a newsletter called the Savers Roundup!

The fallout from last month’s key interest rate cut has continued, with GIC and savings account interest rates continuing to drop. Ontario-only Saven Financial decreased its savings account interest rate from 4.20% to 4.05%; Wealth One Bank of Canada’s drop was from 4.00% to 3.50%. This has left Motive Financial at the top of our comparison chart at 4.10%. Neo Financial and Wealthsimple rank behind Saven Financial at 4.00%.

Will Motive Financial be affected by its new parent company?

The 6th largest bank in Canada (National Bank of Canada) is buying the 8th largest bank in Canada (Canadian Western Bank). Of particular interest (no pun intended) to savers is what will happen to Motive Financial (with the aforementioned market-leading savings account interest rate), which is owned by Canadian Western Bank. In the short term, we have received some good news, as Motive Financial’s Savvy Savings account has added some features typically reserved for chequing accounts: unlimited transactions, free Interac e-Transfers, and free withdrawals at any ATM in Canada. This makes it more similar to hybrid accounts like EQ Bank’s Personal Account and Wealthsimple’s Cash account.

Good news for Hubert Financial’s 1-year quarterly GIC

Most of the forum discussion since Hubert Financial joined Access Credit Union last year has been negative. But Hubert Financial’s popular 1-year quarterly GIC recently increased its rates (with a larger difference than before between each quarter’s rate), which is especially notable since GIC rates have been trending downward elsewhere. The simple average for this GIC is now 5.25%, or 5.35% when compounding is taken into consideration. This would easily top our GIC comparison chart, including Hubert’s own standard 1-year GIC at 4.90%. For those who are unfamiliar with the 1-year quarterly GIC, it offers a different rate every 3 months, and is cashable after each 3-month period. Its current rates are as follows:

• First 3 months: 4.50%
• Months 4 to 6: 5.00%
• Months 7 to 9: 5.50%
• Last 3 months: 6.00%

Quick hits

• Current promotions include a 5.50% 6-month GIC from DUCA Credit Union (Ontario only) and a 5.50% 120-day non-registered GIC from Motive Financial (new deposits only).
• Neo Financial no longer supports American Express bill payments through their bill payment feature