High Interest GIC in a RESP | General comparisons | Discussion forum

Steinbach Credit Union (Manitoba) offers the following in RESP GICs:

12-month
2.35%

24-month
2.55%

36-month
2.75%

48-month
2.85%

60-month
3.00%

https://www.scu.mb.ca/rates/investments

Great idea to use Meridian for this. You won't get a better rate right now for five year term. I'd go with that if I were looking for one. Rates may improve next year, in which case you can make another contribution at that time, but not lose out on today's offer. Most places that offer superior rates don't seem to offer RESPs. which makes this one especially attractive.

Save2Retire@55 said DUCA, and it bugged me that they need an in person appointment with an FA to open the account.  

That has not been my experience, unless the policy has to do with registered money . I opened a deposit account online and so has someone else I know.

DUCA does have more stringent security policies than some other CU'S however.

Have you been in contact with a Customer Connect CSR?

It seems though that SavetoRetire was in fact opening a registered account (RESP).
It is my impression that a lot of FIs have only partially embraced online banking thus far. We are in a transitional stage.
Speaking of security, spouse was asked for TWO pieces of PHOTO-ID yesterday at TD! They wanted a passport, which is not something we carry around on the streets of Toronto. They finally relented. We've had that account for many years and nothing peculiar has ever happened with our accounts there - except that we've gradually removed most of our money! This is where Meridian wins the day with ease. If we walked in there, somebody would recognize us. We've only been with Meridian for 2 years but we've been at TD for over 30 (same branch) and have had a lot of money there (more than we've ever had at Meridian), but nobody knows us at all. At Meridian, they would not be requiring a passport.

Top It Up said

Loonie said
If we walked in there, somebody would recognize us. 

 

And I am refuse to meet in person. Time is more valuable to be wasted in a traffic while things can be done online or over the phone. So backwards! I am PUTTING money there under my children's name! I don't see any security risk for the bank in this scenario.

And yeah I love Meridian. Everything can be done online, private messages, or over the phone.

You are all welcome to your own opinions and priorities.
I will just say that negotiating potential improves significantly when you know someone, even though we know that relationships with our money tenders and lenders are somewhat artificial. This applies no matter which side of the desk you occupy. If it weren't so, bankers would not be constantly trying to get us to meet with one of their advisors or wealth managers by promoting such a relationship.

In my view, TD had all kinds of time and potential to make me feel like something other than an account number when I had most of my money there. They failed, and the money is gone. Expecting long-term clients to show up with a passport creates an alienating experience. Perhaps this counts as success in the banking industry?

Kidd said
I agree, recognition puts a little pep in my step. When it happens, i do smile.

It's just that in large organizations like the td, they have the turn over of staff, large volume of clientele and the day to day worries of their own lives to deal with.

 

I agree, every time I go into TD, which is now about every 3 months, the staff are all different. The thing is though that TD has the power to organize themselves differently. Why is it, exactly, that staff are constantly turning over?
Pretty well all the staff at DUCA and Meridian, from what I can tell, from talking to them, used to work at one of the Big Banks and were really happy to leave. I probably go to Meridian even less frequently, but, when I phone there, my guy knows my name right away. In the two years or so that I've been with Meridian, I've only had 2 guys to deal with through 6 GICs, and the manager has remained the same and is very accessible. I can call her any time, and she will actually pick up the phone and talk to me if she can, and she notices if I've called and hung up. On the other hand, every time I get a business card from the manager at my TD, it's invalid by my next visit as that guy has left.

We don't really know why staff are on the move so much at TD. It could also be that they aren't very happy there and so they quit as soon as they can gt a better job somewhere else.

Be that as it may, it's bank's upper management that has decided to run things the way they do. They are the ones who approve the transfers. They obviously think it's a fine way to run a business with constant turnover at the branch level and no real relationship to the local community. So far, I guess they think it works for them.
But we are free to move our business elsewhere.

Yes, I'm sure that the sales emphasis is a huge issue. Even the people who pass the quotas will sometimes prefer to leave in order to get out of that environment.
On my visit to TD a few months ago, with the purpose of closing an account, I gave as a reason that they don't pay enough interest. This was immediately countered with "I can get you 5% on a GIC." I replied calmly that i didn't believe her - although I was impressed with her boldness in lying! It soon emerged that she was referring to a market-linked 5 yr GIC with a maximum of 5% annua; simple return and a minimum of 0%. At that time, Ganaraska CU was offering 4% compounded, so there was a risk of 4.3% lost in order to possibly get 0.7% more, which is a bad deal by almost anyone's standard. As soon as she realized I was "on" to this gimmick, she quickly withdrew from the conversation. She didn't have time to waste with someone who wasn't going to fall for their sales pitches. I wasn't going to help her meet her quota.
I can only conclude they don't want my business. Not surprisingly, they're not getting it.

The fellow I dealt with during my first year with Meridian told me that his manager had told him that the only thing he could get fired for was giving bad information. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it didn't involve quotas. For whatever reason, he left and now works for an insurance company. in "Business Development", which I think was his real interest anyway. He had previously worked for BMO. I couldn't tell you what any of the people I encountered who previously worked for TD are doing as I rarely even knew their names and we took no interest in each other.