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Email this7:33 pm
I noticed that in asking for another institution to be added to the chart, someone suggested a couple of the BC resident-only ones to be removed. Perhaps a better solution would be to add some notes or indicators to the chart. I hacked up a copy of the chart with an extra column just as a temporary example.
I'm a programmer, not a designer, so this is just to get the discussion going, but something like this could show which accounts are CDIC institutions versus the provincial credit union outfits, which ones aren't available in Quebec (I just put in three for the example), and so on.
5:37 pm
December 12, 2009
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I like that idea and showing their respective deposit insurers (provincial or federal) is a good idea too.
The only issue I have with keeping two B.C.-only institutions on the chart, it opens the door to various credit unions only available in other provinces or perhaps ATB Financial being added to the chart, which could make the chart quite cluttered.
I like your mock-up and encourage its implementation but still support removing VanCity and Coast Capital Savings.
Cheers,
Doug
7:37 pm
It is only my personal opinion but the Comparison Chart would be easier to see at a glance and much more useful to those searching for those financial institutions with the higher interest rates if only the following was listed : Institution, Account, Rate, TFSA Rate.
Any individual looking for all the particulars such as : CDIC/CUDIC coverage, Account services, etc.,etc. should be able to seek out this information on their own without cluttering the Comparison Chart.
Most people I am certain are seeking the institution with the higher rates.
It is also my own personal opinion that no more than the top "10" financial institutions (rates) be considered as this would be more than adequate for most people.
I too believe, that if an institution or its products/services is not offered Canada wide then they should be removed from the list. Less is more !
7:56 pm
Correction to the last sentence in the above post.
The exception being Quebec where some of these institutions do not do business for what ever reason.
4:05 am
May 15, 2007
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You've convinced me to remove Coast Capital and Vancity from the chart 🙂 Perhaps if their rates weren't at the bottom range, that would have made up for the BC-only restriction.
Thanks for the mock-up of a revised chart. I have to agree with IHGAPTPI that we have to be careful to not clutter the chart (and also keep it maintainable!), although the mock-up did bring up a good point in that we should identify which institutions are not available to Quebec residents. Is that the definitive list of Ally, Canadian Direct Financial, and Canadian Tire Financial? Are we missing any others?
7:35 am
August 4, 2010
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No, I just chose three francophobes I could find easily so as to have examples. ING seems to do Quebec, and I don't know about the rest (although ICICI has a French website and presumably accepts Quebecois customers).
While avoiding clutter, there should be some way of indicating the CDIC sheep and the Manitoba goats. I also liked the idea of a Notes column for other significant info, like perhaps a "no online transfer" note for People's Trust.
10:50 pm
August 4, 2010
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I've done a quick hack for my own use which loads Peter's page and inserts some additional information. I think he's planning to consider adding additional info to the chart, so I thought I'd post a link here temporarily for discussion purposes:
http://www.northernraven.ca/fi.....Achart.php
It inserts a column indicating Manitoba credit unions (non-CDIC), those that don't accept customers from Quebec, and those that have no fee for transferring out a TFSA.
10:08 pm
December 12, 2009
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Yes, that looks nice, but I'd suggest have mouseover text on the image icons so we know what they mean. I don't know what the flying green bird is? Is there an icon for "no online banking"?
One possibility is to make a separate page & chart for TFSAs to reduce the number of columns in each chart.
Cheers,
Doug
9:11 am
May 15, 2007
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Thanks again NorthernRaven. I've done a few things to the chart now:
- Widened the width of the entire site a bit
- Narrowed the column that links to the discussion forums
- Added three more columns: available in Quebec, credit union, and has online banking
https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart
All comments and criticism are welcome! Also, if I've made any mistakes to the info in the extra columns, let me know as well.
2:05 pm
Peter : As I have mentioned previously and prior to the recent chart changes I still believe that the chart has now become rather congested to say the least.
Why worry about OB when Peoples Trust is the only one that is excluded?
Why worry about MB when all the Credit Unions are from Manitoba on chart?
Why worry about QB when the only people that would be concerned are those from Quebec?
The chart now appears cluttered. Duh !!!
Remember the name that you have given to this website : Canadian High Interest Savings Bank Accounts. All that is truly needed for anyone with half a brain is
Name of Instituition
HISA Name
Interest Rate (% offered)
TFSA Name
Interest Rate (% offered)
History (truly not necessary) as it is about the now that matters
Forum (for discussion purposes only)
I do not believe that anyone is silly enough to get involved with any Institution
in Canada without applying due diligence. Shame on them if they do. All these players have Websites and tons of information for the asking. Must we spoon feed eveyone.
Ancient Chinese Proverb ...... Less is More
Keep up the good work !
3:26 pm
August 4, 2010
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I'm not a particular fan of the "X" columns, although I should be quick to point out that mine was just a hack for me, and I'm not a design guy!
- no fee TFSA transfers (my "green bird") - I still think this is very useful, since TFSA lockin is a problem and digging out the information from each institution is a pain.
- no online banking - these are just one or two weirdoes, so I'd suggest using the footnote approach if you want to show this; no need for a column
- for your CU footnote, it should probably read "rather than the CDIC
If you want to shrink things, have the rate histories appear when you hover over the rate. That way you can get rid of the two history columns. I'd try this on mine, but extracting and modifying existing columns would be a fair bit of extra programming, and I'm lazy.
5:44 pm
August 4, 2010
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Actually, being almost as stubborn as I am lazy, I took a shot at moving the history. My hack
http://www.northernraven.ca/fi.....Achart.php
now collapses the HISA history onto the rate column (albeit glitchily). Just an idea.
6:05 pm
December 12, 2009
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I don't think he/she's updated the chart on their site, it says last updated July 22/2010.
However, the rate for Hubert, currently, is 2.5% with no withdrawal fee.
Cheers,
Doug
6:09 pm
August 4, 2010
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Woops, I had the wrong URL - should be fixed now. it basically just takes Peter's live page and does some modifications.
6:41 am
As I have already mentioned all of the banking institutions that are talked about and placed within Peter's HISA/TFSA chart have websites where all of the questions one may have can be answered. If not, then simply call the institution and ask away.
I suspect that most people looking up this site do not have 6-10 financial institution bank accounts with the CDIC maximum. I personally believe any more than the top 10 HISA/TFSA institutions is overkill and truly not necessary.
In regards to TFSA tranfer concerns, again the information can be found either on institution websites and/or by phone. Afterall, even though Peter trys to ensure accuracy, due diligence still insists that everyone check it out by contacting the institution in question first before depositing any money. This only makes sense.
Less is More
1:03 pm
August 4, 2010
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It seems silly that basic information, like the fact that a product is unavailable to almost a quarter of Canadians, should have to be researched by everyone at each institution of interest. If the information can be presented in a clear and concise way, which I'm sure it can, it is helpful.
I'm not sure what criteria one would use for limiting the number of institutions. Minimum interest rate? ING and PCF are at the bottom of the list, and chopping them wouldn't be helpful. No online banking? That would only chop People's (and keep off Bridgewater), and those might have online someday and come back. Most anything else is fairly subjective, and really should be left for people to research themselves.
I've extended the history/rate collapse on my mockup to TFSA, making a total of six columns.
9:12 pm
December 12, 2009
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NorthernRaven said:
Woops, I had the wrong URL - should be fixed now. it basically just takes Peter's live page and does some modifications.
Cool, thanks for fixing the link, Raven! 
Cheers,
Doug
9:15 pm
December 12, 2009
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NorthernRaven said:
It seems silly that basic information, like the fact that a product is unavailable to almost a quarter of Canadians, should have to be researched by everyone at each institution of interest. If the information can be presented in a clear and concise way, which I'm sure it can, it is helpful.
I'm not sure what criteria one would use for limiting the number of institutions. Minimum interest rate? ING and PCF are at the bottom of the list, and chopping them wouldn't be helpful. No online banking? That would only chop People's (and keep off Bridgewater), and those might have online someday and come back. Most anything else is fairly subjective, and really should be left for people to research themselves.
I've extended the history/rate collapse on my mockup to TFSA, making a total of six columns.
I'm in agreement with you, Raven, that if possible, we should include even the lowest interest rate "payers" (though not too low, I think 1% below the highest interest rate "payer" on regular High Interest Savings Accounts would be a good benchmark and would allow for everyone from Hubert down to ING/PCF to be included and leave out the Big 5 (unless they decide to get nice), National Bank, HSBC and others. As for online banking functionality, I want to include them and don't think this exclude them - I just want it to be quite clear that they're not "full-service", multi-channel institutions yet. It's just a matter of how do you incorporate it into the chart without getting cluttered.
Your mockup is an excellent start, but I'd add mouseover text to the icons (and/or a legend at the bottom of the page). 
Cheers,
Doug
9:45 pm
August 4, 2010
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Doug said:
Your mockup is an excellent start, but I'd add mouseover text to the icons (and/or a legend at the bottom of the page).
There is a legend at the bottom of the chart – all three icons with a description of each, on a single line.
I mainly did this for my own purposes, and to play around with a particular programming library. It isn't a designed webpage – my thing loads Peter's, then does things like "delete last three columns", "add new column at end", "append legend", etc. I'm not a design guy (I just swiped icons from the net real quick) and didn't bother with things like mouseover javascript on them. If it gives Peter some ideas, that's great.
I did a chart of the Big-5 accounts awhile back just to keep them straight:
http://www.northernraven.ca/fi.....vings.html
It isn't only that their rates are below the lowest HISAs (ING/PCF), but they have nasty $5 transaction fees designed to prevent moving your money around. They introduced the accounts to battle ING, but they did so reluctantly. With TD and BMO, it is $5 to transfer out even to another account you have with them!
Please write your comments in the forum.