Newbie questions on transfer fees and introductory rate offers | Page 2 | General comparisons | Discussion forum

Alexandra said
For years that I know of, Equifax had my wrong birthdate. They had me a year younger than I actually am.

Probably 20 years ago the bank told me this when they checked my credit and that I should have it corrected. I never did get around to it until last year. I never had a problem with a mortgage, line of credit, getting a bank account or getting a credit card. So did nothing.

Then a year or so ago, I tried to open an account with an on-line bank because they were offering a good HISA rate. I can't remember which bank it was as I have so many accounts. Anyway they denied me on my online application. I talked with their rep and he said to get in touch with Equifax. So I did, and after sending them my birth certificate, passport & drivers license, they cleared it up. The reason for the birthdate error was my original social insurance application (from back in 1967), had the wrong birthdate. They probably still do. It was probably a keypunch error.  

And I'd be willing to guess that the reason you never had any problems in years past was because you were able to physically produce your ID to a bank employee, who could then see with their own two eyes that it was the credit report that was erroneous if there was any discrepancy. Now that we are mostly all applying online for bank accounts, that personal interface no longer exists.

@topgun makes a very good point about making the effort to get something as major as a birth date corrected. It will only case you grief down the road if you don't.

I had a bad data entry experience that was eventually discovered to have been caused by Capital One updating my file 20 years ago as part of a joint credit card application with my spouse. Seems whoever entered the information at TransUnion based upon our then newly-approved CapitalOne trade line overwrote my surname with my spouse's surname, which is not the same.

Since I hadn't had any cause to pull my own file for years, I wasn't aware it had happened. Then the CapitalOne breach occurred in 2019, whereupon I was offered free credit monitoring through TransUnion; all I had to do was sign up online, but I couldn't get it to work and couldn't understand why not. It was only from weeks of trying to figure out why TransUnion was rejecting me that the surname discrepancy was unearthed. Took me another 3+ months beyond that to get it corrected.

It shouldn't be significantly more bother to set up a joint account. They all offer them now as far as I know.

The deal with CDIC insurance is that you get 100,000 coverage for total sum in joint names as well as in her own name alone (as well as TFSA, RSP, RIF). In this regard, beware that GICs and savings accounts in the same joints names must be added together to see if they are under 100K. Also, Simplii and CIBC are the same entity for insurance purposes, so, if you have money in both, you must add it together.

The banks will all have different policies about POAs but since your wife is mentally competent, you may have difficulty getting a POA recognized at this time. You can still do all the research and make the decisions for her. She may decide to give you her password, which is not exactly kosher, but it's what a lot of people do when the banks are obstinate. If you have any issues with her account, it will need to be her, not you, who phones them.

Loonie said
It shouldn't be significantly more bother to set up a joint account. They all offer them now as far as I know.

The deal with CDIC insurance is that you get 100,000 coverage for total sum in joint names as well as in her own name alone (as well as TFSA, RSP, RIF). In this regard, beware that GICs and savings accounts in the same joints names must be added together to see if they are under 100K. Also, Simplii and CIBC are the same entity for insurance purposes, so, if you have money in both, you must add it together.

The banks will all have different policies about POAs but since your wife is mentally competent, you may have difficulty getting a POA recognized at this time. You can still do all the research and make the decisions for her. She may decide to give you her password, which is not exactly kosher, but it's what a lot of people do when the banks are obstinate. If you have any issues with her account, it will need to be her, not you, who phones them.  

I thought the use of POAs would be quite common. For example at TDW my wife and I both have POAs on each others registered RRIFs and TFSA accts. The POA allows each of us to sell, purchase securities or make withdrawal on these account. Other non-registered account is joint.
I know there there is some paperwork to set it up, but was wondering if others had any difficulties with online banks.
Thanks for all the help

ronjoh said

Here's my restrictions from my bank (TD ) for online transfers.
$3,000 every 24 hours
$10,000 every 7 days
$20,000 every 30 days
How do the folks here get around these limits or am I missing something?  

Those are Interac limits, whereas the transfers we're making between online banks and credit unions are via EFTs using pre-arranged links between institutions. The outgoing (i.e. "pushing") limits on EFTs vary between institutions, but you can generally drive around those restrictions by initiating your transfer at the receiving end and "pulling" your money out of the source account instead.

I should point out the BigBanks don't let you create your own external links to other banks. They don't want to facilitate your taking your business elsewhere.

Like many others who post here regularly, I have been making 6-digit EFT transfers between my various accounts for years in pursuit of the highest available rates. Some people couldn't be bothered but I've come to treat it like a sport

Glad to hear you are getting cooperation from TDW re: POA. I think that if the two of you went into the bank and she set it up with them directly, that may have made the difference. Banks are not always cooperative about accepting POA drawn up by an lawyer of your choosing. I was htinking of the latter situation.

YOu might try a test run to see if it really works. I gave my spouse POA over an account at TD some years ago which worked for a while while I was out of the country but then they "lost" it. So, keep a copy. My best guess as to what happened when my POA vanished from their system was that they updated their forms and the old ones were considered no longer valid by them, but, of course, they didn't inform me of this.

I agree with what Londonguy has said. Another option is if you have a chequing account. You can write a cheque payable to yourself for any amount and deposit elsewhere with an app. You have to wait for it to clear before accessing, but you will usually be given interest starting immediately.
The banks sometimes have difficulty recognizing that it's actually YOUR money, not theirs.

ronjoh said

This may be a "show stopper". What are the alternatives other than possible sending a cheque? My accounts are with TD bank.  

As @loonie described, once your new online account is open you may be able to download that bank's mobile app and make a mobile deposit (or 2 or 3 or whatever it takes ) to move your TD money into your new bank. But be aware that (a) not all online banks support mobile deposit, and (b) all mobile deposit apps have a dollar limit on the amount of the transaction, some of which are as low as $10K per deposit. That would make moving $100+ a real PITA.

However, if you're talking about Simplii or Tangerine, you won't have that problem, as I believe their mobile deposit limit is $100K. I have used both their mobile apps before to deposit near-$100K cheques. And as @loonie also pointed out, when using cheques to move your funds this way, your deposit will be subject to a 5-8 business day hold at the receiving institution, but if you've deposited the cheque directly into your new savings account, the hold won't affect your earned interest.

The method @fbeaulie suggested will also work. In their case LBC Digital is being used as an intermediary hub with an external link to a Desjardins account. That provides the ability to pull Desjardins funds out to LBC, where the money can then be pushed onward to somewhere else. It's an extra step process but it gets the job done. FYI many people outside Quebec prefer to use EQ Bank as their intermediary hub because, of all the online banks, EQ allows you to have the most (10) external banking links.

One issue to be aware of when using the hub method is that if you "pull" funds from BigBank (or any bank for that matter), as previously described the amount of your EFT transfer will similarly be held in limbo before it becomes available for transfer elsewhere (because even though it's an EFT, it might still bounce, and the bank has to protect itself). So there is an extra delay in getting your money to its final destination using the hub method.

While this stuff may sound a bit complicated at first, once you have multiple HISAs open at all the usual suspects and have built up your network of links between them, you can move your money around fairly efficiently with just a few mouse clicks. You'll also gain experience using the features of the various banking platforms out there, which in turn will lead to you develop preferences for which ones best meet your needs. Not everyone is looking for the same thing, nor do they find the same features useful

Thank you all for the great information. I'm ready to finally make a move to a HIS bank.
I just have one question regarding this site. While scrolling around all the different topics on this site, I found an advertisement for Niverville credit union in Manitoba. The GIC rate for 1 year is 1.55 % (IIRC). I am looking for a a GIC rather than (for example) the Canadian Tire HIS which could change rates tomorrow. What's bothering me is that Niverville Credit union is not on the GIC list nor is it listed in the topic area, but it is advertised on this website. Is there something I am missing while doing my research?

ronjoh said
Thank you all for the great information. I'm ready to finally make a move to a HIS bank.
I just have one question regarding this site. While scrolling around all the different topics on this site, I found an advertisement for Niverville credit union in Manitoba. The GIC rate for 1 year is 1.55 % (IIRC). I am looking for a a GIC rather than (for example) the Canadian Tire HIS which could change rates tomorrow. What's bothering me is that Niverville Credit union is not on the GIC list nor is it listed in the topic area, but it is advertised on this website. Is there something I am missing while doing my research?  

Get a FATCAT savings account and a checking account (as long it has no monthly fee) to compliment your GIC. Have a good day.

I've never had any trouble getting transit codes etc, but, if you do, tell them you are expecting a transfer-in from overseae and the party in question requires this info. If necessary, tell them it's an inheritance, and the lawyer-executor requires it to be done this way. The FIs are much more keen on receiving money than they are on letting go of it.

http://canada-banks-info.com/b.....anks-list/
Click on a bank and it shows all branch numbers