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Email this11:02 am
July 18, 2013
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CDF is offering, by email, a $100 bonus to existing customers who don't yet have a KeyDirect chequing account if they open one before March 31st. Here's a cut from that email:
"For a limited time, sign up for our no-fee KeyDirect Chequing account, and we’ll deposit a bonus of $100* into your account. Use your new KeyDirect Chequing account to complete at least one bill payment monthly for six months, and the $100 bonus is yours to keep!"
And here's the fine print on the conditions, again, cut from the email:
"*$100 is deposited to the KeyDirect Chequing account upon completion of the account opening. A hold is put on the deposited bonus and is ineligible to be withdrawn until the following conditions are met:
- Account must stay open for six consecutive periods of 30 days.
- Account holder must complete one or more bill payments every 30 days for the same six (6) consecutive periods listed above using the new KeyDirect Chequing account.
If the conditions are not met, the bonus will be debited from the account.
This offer is only available to the original recipient of this message and only applies to KeyDirect Chequing accounts.
This is a one-time offer that only applies to the first KeyDirect Chequing account opened. Any accounts that are subsequently opened do not qualify."
So the main condition on the promotion is being worded in two different ways: in the first, the account holder must "complete at least one bill payment monthly", and in the second the account holder "must complete at least one bill payment every 30 days". As most bills are issued monthly, and coming months in 2015 have 28, 31, and 30 days, this would necessitate at least two bills being paid in some months.
It's either sloppy marketing copy, or deliberately disingenuous...yes?
One other quibble I have with this initiative is that no promotional code is supplied with it, although the online application form has a field to enter one in.
Still, it's a free $100, just for moving filling out a form and moving a couple of bill payments for six months....
11:47 am
June 24, 2014
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I heard many times that banking does not need loyalty. This is yet another evidence. They only attract new customers, not existing ones.
12:32 pm
December 23, 2011
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Cautious....good find!!!
Their day to day banking looks better than what I have at Coast Capital, they are CDIC insured, and offer RRSPs.
BUT for investing in GIC's their rates are not that good nor do I see them offering RRIFs. And your point of paying a bill monthly is a good one.....I only have BC Hydro (every 2 months) and Fortis Gas (every month) and all other on credit card. I think I would miss the goal.
For $100 it is not worth the effort....but I do see a use for them.
James 1900 I agree no loyalty....number # is good GIC rates and good service is a must.
ie. Oaken...good rates....good service....CDIC.....INVEST
ie. Outlook Financial....good rates...decent service....lousy system.....DONT INVEST
Just one small thing.....is easy to make a move elsewhere.
2:11 pm
July 18, 2013
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Thanks, kanaka. I'll take a look at Oaken.
(And BTW, thanks to Calibre for the post on CDF's matching the PC Financial promo rate.)
I look at whether something's worth it by comparing it to an hourly wage. It took me maybe 10 minutes to fill out the KeyDirect application online, and it'll take me another couple of 5-minute phone calls to transfer two minor monthly bills to come out of the KeyDirect instead of my hub account or credit card. Add in another 10 minutes to read the fine print and think about it, and that's $100 for half an hour's work.
That makes my hourly wage $200 for that little project. I could do worse on a snowy day in January.
2:54 pm
December 23, 2011
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I think CDF might be ok for day to day banking if you can live with no store front. But for us older investors they are not suitable for GICs. And definitely no good for 5 year RRSP rates if you are 66 or over as I would assume they would not accept. Here is what I asked them today and the answers.
Do you have any store front branches in BC? No, we are an online banking institution.
Do you have RRIF accounts? We do not have an RRIF products at this time.
Do you have RRIF Savings Accounts? We do not have any RRIF Savings account at this time.
Do you have US$ accounts…if so where would you access it? We do not have any US accounts.
Do you deliver statements by mail, how often …..or? There are no statement to a savings account. You can access your account online to review it. There are statements to a chequing account and you would be able to print the statement via the online process.
Also take a look at Accelerates rates here http://www.acceleratefinancial.....rates.aspx
Also look here for a good overview of rates that are out there http://www.financialpost.com/p.....nnual.html
Click on the 1 yr, 2 yr etc. for sorting highest to lowest rate.
4:21 pm
February 17, 2013
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Ok...I'm not here to defend CDF, no doubt they have their issues, but I do use them as my main institution for everyday banking. Paychecks are deposited and all bills are paid through them without issue. They are a fairly new player in the battle for your everyday banking business, and they are not quite up to par with their web site and products to fairly compare to the other players like Tang, PC or even Coast Capital in regards to the features available. I put in a request with them to transfer funds from CC into CDF on Friday (after hours) and got an email Monday confirming that my transfer would take place overnight on Wednesday, meaning my funds would be in my account (on Hold) Thursday morning. Almost a week for a simple inter bank transfer that shouldn't take more than 3 days. So if you want to use them to shuffle funds around more than occasionally, they are not for you. The promo is designed to entice customers that already have savings or TFSA account into opening and using their checking account product (once again existing customers get ignored). That being said, I have been with them for about a year now and am satisfied with their products, rates, service, and staff. Your needs and results may be different. Kanaka; I don't need a brick and mortar bank to do my banking. They are on the exchange network and I use any one of the exchange ATMs to withdraw cash and, once in a blue moon, deposit a check. Works well so far. No, they do not have RIF accounts... YET, but I don't need one now, and have been informed that they will be offering RIF accounts in the future. Just the same, I have my RSP GICs with them all maturing months before I retire in case I have to move them to a RIF elsewhere in 4 years (3 years 10 months, 3 weeks and 5 days 
) Don't get statements from ANY of my banks, just print out a summary if the accounts I need for tax purposes. Saving trees. Don't know why you claim their GIC rates aren't that good. I looked at Accellerate's rates per your link, and if I take into account the .25% bonus for being a Canadian Direct Insurance customer, their rates beat Accelerate in ALL categories. They blow Tang, CC the big 6 right out of the water...not even close. Except for Luminus (WHO????) they are top of the list when you add in the bonus rate. Not only that, but CDI saves me hundreds on optional insurance on 2 cars and every year I try to get a better quote on house insurance and NO ONE even comes close, PLUS Save-On-Foods More points for all insurance products. If you live in BC, definitely worth your while to check them out. If you only have Fortis and BC Hydro (like me), and your credit card(s), to pay every month, that SHOULD qualify as counting towards the promo as a credit card payment is a monthly bill. I also pay my utility bill and property tax through them.
Do they have issues? Yes...haven't found the perfect fit bank wise for me and they say they are addressing the issues, and it is a slow process. But rates are most important right now in these low-interest times and their rates are good enough for me. I'm not into juggling half a dozen institutions chasing interest rates right now. After dealing with the brick wall that is Coast Capital, I'm not even too P/O'd I'm left out of the promo as an existing customer.
4:46 pm
August 9, 2014
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james1900 said
I heard many times that banking does not need loyalty. This is yet another evidence. They only attract new customers, not existing ones.
It is good for the bank to not run promotion as it is expensive for them compare with keeping their old customer because it need to provide incentive for people to switch. However, imagine every FI but one decide to not run promotion, the end result is that people will flock to that FI that did run promotion; this is another example of tragedy of commons. And as an end result, the people that didn't jump around got squeeze because bank need to save money in the end.
I am not sure is this the case, but consider that Kanaka really dislike promotion. I get a gut felling that he is either very wealthy or have a very high income to the point that he think his time is better spend somewhere else instead as that will earn him more money.
CDF have a bad system in terms of EFT transfer, but I am not sure why because they seems to only get licenses from the CU central to use the same online banking system as CU. Maybe Rick can try to give them a call for EFT transfer as it seems to be much faster this way from personal experience.
Added later:
I suspect they are trying to reduce their saving account rate further by making people reliant on their checking account to the point that they are reluctant to switch. Consider they have a big branch network (by their mother company, CWB), they maybe trying to reduce their cost further using CDF rather than run it as a separate business.
6:37 pm
October 21, 2013
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kanaka said
... definitely no good for 5 year RRSP rates if you are 66 or over as I would assume they would not accept.
Excellent point, kanaka.
However, I think we need to look out for ourselves, as I'm sure you'd agree, and not count on our financial institutions to have the wits to refuse a GIC under these circumstances.
My list of institutions which, the last time I looked, did not offer RIFs includes CDF, ICICI, CFF, Implicity, Peoples Trust, State Bank of India and Hubert. The latter two say they are going to start offering them this year.
Jon, I am not familiar with how CDF operates, but I think your chequing theory makes sense. People probably pay their monthly bills from a chequing acct, and many have pre-authorized withdrawals to make life easier. If you have to move those authorizations to another account, it's a real pain in the rear, so this is an incentive to stay put.
Rick, you may have been left out of this one as an existing customer, but it sounds like they are looking after you with the bonus rate anyway.
Luminus is an Ontario credit union in Toronto, and I don't think it's available to those who live outside of Ontario.
10:51 am
December 12, 2009
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cautious said
CDF is offering, by email, a $100 bonus to existing customers who don't yet have a KeyDirect chequing account if they open one before March 31st. Here's a cut from that email:
"For a limited time, sign up for our no-fee KeyDirect Chequing account, and we’ll deposit a bonus of $100* into your account. Use your new KeyDirect Chequing account to complete at least one bill payment monthly for six months, and the $100 bonus is yours to keep!"
And here's the fine print on the conditions, again, cut from the email:
"*$100 is deposited to the KeyDirect Chequing account upon completion of the account opening. A hold is put on the deposited bonus and is ineligible to be withdrawn until the following conditions are met:
- Account must stay open for six consecutive periods of 30 days.
- Account holder must complete one or more bill payments every 30 days for the same six (6) consecutive periods listed above using the new KeyDirect Chequing account.
If the conditions are not met, the bonus will be debited from the account.
This offer is only available to the original recipient of this message and only applies to KeyDirect Chequing accounts.
This is a one-time offer that only applies to the first KeyDirect Chequing account opened. Any accounts that are subsequently opened do not qualify."So the main condition on the promotion is being worded in two different ways: in the first, the account holder must "complete at least one bill payment monthly", and in the second the account holder "must complete at least one bill payment every 30 days". As most bills are issued monthly, and coming months in 2015 have 28, 31, and 30 days, this would necessitate at least two bills being paid in some months.
It's either sloppy marketing copy, or deliberately disingenuous...yes?
One other quibble I have with this initiative is that no promotional code is supplied with it, although the online application form has a field to enter one in.
Still, it's a free $100, just for moving filling out a form and moving a couple of bill payments for six months....
It's a neat bonus, but if I open a CDF Savings Account today and subsequently open a CDF Chequing Account, does that make me ineligible? If so, that really turns off new clients, a key demographic and quite the opposite of who Tangerine and PC Financial try to attract.
I suspect it's not so much "sloppy marketing" as their technology platform for bonuses/promotions isn't automated (or as automated as) like Tangerine and PC Financial so they have to have a staffer manually diarize and check account(s).
Cheers,
Doug
11:21 am
May 28, 2013
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cautious said
So the main condition on the promotion is being worded in two different ways: in the first, the account holder must "complete at least one bill payment monthly", and in the second the account holder "must complete at least one bill payment every 30 days". As most bills are issued monthly, and coming months in 2015 have 28, 31, and 30 days, this would necessitate at least two bills being paid in some months.
It's either sloppy marketing copy, or deliberately disingenuous...yes?
I did open a chequing account, and then asked them exactly what they meant by the 30 day limit, given that some months are longer at 31 days. Their reply to me was :
"We do understand that bills are due at different dates. We are looking for a monthly activity of bill payments on the chequing accounts. A 31 day gap will be acceptable."
So I set up a monthly bill payment with them for one of my regular utilities. I'm glad to accept their $100 for that little bit of work on my part.
3:21 pm
May 28, 2013
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I was checking my end-of-month statement in my new 'no fee' key direct chequing account, and was very surprised to see a $2 transaction fee! I immediately called CDF who informed me it was an 'error' as the new account was apparently set up under the old rules. They promised to fix this and reimburse the $2 fee. I wonder how many other account holders are subject to this error.
At least they have already given me the $100 bonus for creating this account.
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