Choosing a Bank for TFSA/RSP | General comparisons | Discussion forum

Check the comparison chart on this site for best rates. I have had my TFSA with Peoples Trust for a year now and the rate has been a steady 3% in their high interest savings account. Hard to beat, even with GIC rates and it's not locked in. In the interest of not keeping all our eggs in one basket, My wife keeps hers in Canadian Direct Financial, a subsidiary of Canadian Western Bank. The TFSA savings account rates are the same, but last time I checked, CDF had slightly better rates than CWB on GICs. Both their TFSA savings is at 2.25%. IMHO, ING has lost it's competitive edge as far as rates are concerned. Almost a percent less than CWB and less than 1/2 the rate of Peoples on their TFSA savings. To be forthright, I just transferred my day to day banking to CDF, and their interface is less than stellar and a bit of a hassle compared to ING as far as transferring funds between registered and non-registered accounts. They say they are in the process of upgrading the system and it should be done by the end of the year, but until then, I willing to pay that price for higher rates. If you are interested, I posted a blog on this site about my experience with switching my banking to CDF.
https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/forum/canadian-direct-financial/updated-timeline/
Congrats on paying off your debt and starting a savings plan!

Congratulations on being debt-free! That's a huge milestone.

Depends in part on how important CDIC insurance is to you. You can get this with Peoples, ING, CDF, ManuLife Bank, and Oaken. Read the rules carefully.

If you are comfortable with the kind of deposit insurance offered by the Manitoba credit unions, then certainly look at Achieva, Accelerate, Implicity, Hubert, Outlook. The ones in the other provinces are more problematic for various reasons, unless you happen to live in that province and they happen to have excellent rates. The viability of their insurance system has been discussed in various threads on this forum, and my opinion is that the consensus is favourable. If you happen to live in Quebec, your options will be more limited.

However, you need to look closely at what each can offer you in terms of easy online banking. I think this is ING's strength, but their rates are unforgivably low. It may turn out to be worth your while to accept a degree of inconvenience in order to get a better return. Getting the money OUT seems to be the biggest issue. Many of them have easy arrangements for transferring the money in, but getting it out sometimes requires a bit more leg work. This shouldn't be a big issue if you don't plan to withdraw very often.

Hubert has been criticized for having rates that jump around a lot, so you might not want to choose it due to the increased likelihood of having to move it later.

For your TFSA, IF you don't want to be locked into a GIC, Peoples Trust is far and away the best deal at 3%. If you can tolerate a lock-in, then it depends on how long you want to lock it in.

While I understand and appreciate the ease of working with perhaps just one or two institutions and intending to stay with them over the long term, the reality is that if you want the consistently best returns, you may have to move your money around periodically. Banking is a somewhat competitive business. Each institution will have targets that it is trying to reach in the various areas of investment at any given time, and these can change with time, so that just because you got a great deal with A this time doesn't mean that B might not be a better bet later. That said, as a youngish couple with a financial future, some of them will want to compete for your loyalty. At the moment, you don't have much in the way of assets, but bear in mind that you might be able to bargain with some of them for a better rate at some point.

Perhaps "Doug" will comment. He seems to know a lot about the inner workings of the banks, and may be able to answer your question about comparing the solidity of various institutions.