Me to Me Transfers | Alterna Bank | Discussion forum

No you cannot. They claim they don't have that functionality... Yet Implicity uses the same system and they allow you to set up recurring transfers

I never tried to set up recurring M2M transfers with Alterna, so I investigated my own account in response to this discussion.

Recurring transfers can be set up between Alterna accounts, eg personal account to/from Joint acct. However if an externally linked account is selected as the incoming or outgoing destination, the fields for setting up a recurring choice are removed from the webpage.

Incoming/outgoing recurring M2M transfers at Alterna are not possible.

I can see the rationale for doing so, to preclude the possibility of unintended /unexpected overdrafts.

Stephen

According to Alterna's site, it would appear that you can set up recurring transfers. See below.

The Alterna Difference - NEW! Me-to-Me Money Transfer Feature

https://www.alternabank.ca/Personal/EverydayBanking/Me2Me/  
What can you do?

Transfer funds into your account from another financial institution
Send money from your account to an account at another financial institution
Fund new accounts (created through Alterna Bank Online Banking) from external accounts if other financial institutions support it
NEW! Now you can conveniently set-up recurring and future dated Me-to-Me Money Transfers

Although the response does seem negative, I would want to parse the word "from" more closely in the response you received.
Technically, you would not be making a deposit "from" your TFSA. You would be making it "to" your TFSA. IN that sense, your question was not answered.
Would there be an option to, for example, transfer from Big Bank to AlternaBank unregistered savings on a recurring basis, than another one to move it from unregistered savings to TFSA, once cleared?
Failing that, could you set up some kind of notification to let you know that the transfer from Big Bank to nonregistered had occurred, reminding you to make a manual transfer to TFSA?
I'm wondering if the sticking point is a direct transfer from external bank to a registered account. I can see where that might not be possible, but should be able to do it through Alterna nonregistered.
I'm just looking for a workaround for you. sometimes it's better to actually speak to someone on the phone in order to be sure you've got a complete answer, even though that doesn't give you a transcript.

Thanks, Norman.

You guys have to remember that though many of you use your TFSAs as tax-sheltered HISAs (a mistake, in my view, in that the government is loving you all the way to the bank by letting them lose much, much less and easily forecasted income tax revenue! Suspect @AltaRed and @Briguy will agree with me here ), certain functionality available in non-registered accounts like Me-to-Me Transfers (a proprietary term; the generic term is bank-to-bank transfers) is not available because the TFSAs and RRSPs are registered plans held in the name of your plan's custodian/trustee, with you as beneficial owner. Often, you can initiate a registered plan withdrawal through online banking, but is not immediate. You are provided with a reference number in case of any problems, but it still must be, at minimum, approved next day by a bank representative.

Cheers,
Doug

Doug, I'm not following, can you elaborate on how the gov't loses tax revenue when people put money into HISA TFSAs? Money going into a TFSA is after-tax money, and whether that dollar in the TFSA grows to $2 or $20 while in the TFSA when the amounts come out of the TFSA there are no tax implications. What angle are you thinking of?

Good strategy, Doug.
The ideal RSP contribution would be the one that, in retirement, keeps you within a lower tax bracket than when earning. With tax-free TFSA income this might be possible. Hard to predict though, and all rules subject to change.
I imagine the TFSAs will be subject to a lifetime cap at some point though, either in contributions or assets. Otherwise, there will be way too many people paying way too little tax and qualifying for way too many freebies in their old age.