As Crosstown Civic CU has Accelerate.................... | General financial discussion | Discussion forum

Doug said

I'm not sure if Crosstown Civic CU/AcceleRate Financial allows non-residents to open accounts (if they do, they'd have to be non-registered accounts, obviously) or any of the other Manitoba CUs and their "virtual banking branches," for that matter. I'd recommend checking with each of them and then posting an update here.

Hope that helps,
Doug

Hi Doug. I have TFSA's thus registered with both Outlook Financial and Accelerate and they are very aware of my residence in BC. I thought this was "their way" of getting around taking non resident customers. I have also dialogued with Accelerate in regards to RRSP GICs; and there seems to be no problem there either. I have a also dialogued with Steinbach CU and they had no problem taking me on as a non resident customer.....and they said they had customer all over the world!!!

DEB....are you saying the way Steinbach CU calculates their interest that I would get more, less or the same interest on a yearly basis as compared to say Accelerate??

Doug said

Hi kanaka,

Oh, by "non-resident" you meant out-of-province residents. I thought you meant non-residents of Canada as defined by the "Income Tax Act" and to that I don't know which institutions allow/prohibit this.

In terms of being an out-of-province resident, I'm sure most CUs will take you on as a client as many credit unions deal with deposit brokers, which have clients in different provinces. The question is, if you're an out-of-province resident, do their procedures allow for non-face-to-face account openings (i.e., not visiting a branch) and, if they don't, do they deal with deposit brokers?

Cheers,
Doug

I did not have to deal face to face to open either account. You have to mail them a copy of your drivers license or Passport. I am out of province and live in B.C. I have been told by my adviser that they do NOT deal with Accelerate or Outlook as they do not offer them an additional cut for commission. Brokers can also give their client part or all of their commission*. That is why I think they (Winnipeg CU's) are offering the real interest rate, giving the client the FULL rate while others/brokers may give you a rate better than the branch but not as good as what Accelerate or Outlook offer.

ie. Coast Capital walk in rate 2.25
Coast Capital broker rate 2.35 (broker gets .25 to .40 commission - my guess)
Accelerate 2.75

Make Sense??

* I have a pdf copy of the Coast Capital Brokers Manual....if you would like a copy....let me know. Any one else interested....let me know too.

Peter

Deb said

Kanaka,
I think you may get a little less with Steinbach CU because the interest is calculated on the minimum monthly balance and that interest only added to your account once a year. At Accelerate and others it is calculated every day on the daily balance and that amount added to your account monthly, so I think it would compound faster. Even if they both advertised 2% a yr you should end up with a little more with the increased frequency of compounding. And if you left before a year, you would have all the interest you've earned in your account.
It would probably only be a small difference though.

I have an account with Outlook and Accelerate and was looking at a third like Maxa or Implicity BUT I have heard Steinbach is fantastic to deal with and has a huge reserve of deposits....even though their GIC rates are a bit lower but better than what I can find here in BC sooo I would consider them as my third choice. I do not believe in putting all of my eggs in one basket and don't intend to waiver from that thought ... although my banking is well documented it may be a nightmare for my executor.

How did you find their calculations ... on their site or by talking to them?

Deb said

Usually in the account descriptions there is info about how their interest rates are calculated. Or at least there should be.

I agree with you about spreading your money around. I've been moving money around, Ally, then Canadian Direct, then Achieva and some TFSA funds at People's Trust, trying to take advantage of those 2%+ interest rates. But now that they've all been dropping like stones, not sure where to put money. Only Implicity and Hubert still offer 2%. Implicity doesn't have enough of a track record for me, and Hubert is likely to do the bait and switch thing again, dropping the rates after people join.
Maybe Steinbach is not such a bad idea. Strong track record, and as you say, huge holdings.

I worked in Calgary for a few years and some of the people working for me came from Winnipeg and they just raved about them.

Check their rates.... http://www.scu.mb.ca/rates/savings-rates 1.95 for savings account...better than most. But I go after the GIC rates!!! Steinbach is a little lower ... but average out with your other investments and you are still ahead along with a comfort feeling. I don't believe in moving around for rates ..... just look for who is not constantly changing them and deal with them. I would not use Hubert because of their track record and Implicity has no record. If I did have a problem with the Winnipeg CU's .... I know my way around Winnipeg, if I had to make a visit.
Regards Peter

Deb said

Yes; yearly rather than monthly interest is a concern. SCU told me you have to send in two pieces of ID to join, pay a $5 membership fee, and get your application signature notarized which I haven't seen anyone else require.

But what is their example of interest paid for 1 year say at 2% for $1000 vs Accelerate or???

Deb said

Kanata,
Here is a simple interest calculator. I think this is what you want:
http://www.1728.org/compint.htm
Click on "Total", then input Principle: $1000 or whatever, Years:1, Rate: 2%.
Then choose Compounded Annually, or Monthly or Daily

Looks like a pretty small difference, at least for small amounts.
I got: Annually - $1020 (eg SCU)
Monthly - $1020.18 (eg Accelerate)
Daily - $1020.20

So, not that big of a difference to worry about.