How to bank with Ganaraska CU? | GIC discussions | Discussion forum

gicjunkie said
You will go to a branch to open a Ganaraska account, (I believe the savings account free of service charges to seniors) and, when interest is paid to the account, etransfer the interest payment to your home account. There is a $2.00 s/c for this. I suppose there are other ways to do this, ie. via a chequing account, but there may be monthly service charges.
They do not have free "me-to-me" transfers.

We deal with Sarah Mitchell in Port Hope and she is quite helpful.  

Thanks, so Ganaraska can't link any external accounts. When GIC matures (say $20,000), and I wanted to take the fund out of Ganaraska, will I receive a cheque by snail mail? It seems Ganaraska is good for people living within short driving distance. When you need to take large sum of fund out, you can go to pick up a cheque. I don't like my cheque in the mail because I heard some horrible stories about lost cheques.

Jon said
When I set up my GIC in Peterborough, I was told by a staff that it is better off to wait until almost reaching the GIC maturity to set up a saving/checking account so you don't get charge dormant account fee and get your account cancel before the money from the GIC is sent to the account.  

Thanks. Savings account won't work if I want to take fund out of Ganaraska. Checking account might be working since I can write myself a check. I will need to pay some fees for checks and I don't really need another checking account.

gicjunkie said
A lot of the advice given on this site is based on personal experience and needs. Your situation may be unique, so my advice to you is to call one of the branches and see if they can accommodate your specific needs. Our advice can only go so far. Eventually you will have to go to the source to describe your situation and see if Ganaraska can indeed accommodate you. Maybe they have solutions that will make you a satisfied customer. (They do have a toll-free phone contact number)

Sometimes, when a GIC matures, it is not unheard of for a credit union to walk your cheque over to a local major bank for deposit, assuming you have an account with one of them. I'm pretty sure there are TD Canada Trust, BMO and Scotiabank branches near Ganaraska, if that works for you. Unfortunately the RBC and CIBC are a bit further away. Just a suggestion you may want to take to Ganaraska.

The main problem with this whole situation is that you are trying to take advantage of a great rate at a small, local credit union which may not have all the bells and whistles of a larger FI. To do this may involve some inconvenience, but it may be worth it, depending on the size of the investment.  

Thank you. I called its toll free number yesterday and a lady told me that the only way to take funds out of Ganaraska is to send me a check by mail. If I want to purchase a new GIC after the initial GIC purchase, I have to send a request form with a check by mail.

Loonie said
I don't think this is a complete answer, davidgeorge.
Their Fees page says there is a fee for e-transfer and wire transfer. Surely you could use one of these?
https://www.ganaraskacu.com/SharedContent/documents/REV5personalbanking.pdf

You could also ask for the cheque to be sent by courier at your expense, I would think. Why not?

I have found I get better answers from Ganaraska in person than on the phone.  

Thanks. e-transfer and wire transfer are options. I will call them again tomorrow. courier sometime is not safe either. I read news somewhere about ~$800,000 inheritance bank draft lost by courier.