Integration weekend: Sep 22-24, we've been warned! | Page 40 | Hubert Financial | Discussion forum

It's taken a while but this is the response I just received on my question re the disappearing shares ...

"I am reaching out regarding a message we received from our parent company Access Credit Union about your member share and why it was not viewable through online banking. As per the Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act in Manitoba, each member, regardless of age, must have at least one (1) membership share for a minimum of $5.00. Access Credit Union follows the person-centric membership model in which each account owner holds their own personal share.

Every member is an owner of one share, every member share will be equal, and every member shareowner will have a right to vote.

Every member who has an ownership role on a non-closed chequing/savings/loan/mortgage/term deposit/registered account in our banking system requires one (1) $5.00 member share.
Member Shares are Single-owned meaning they cannot have more than one (1) ownership role assigned to the Share account.
The new shares will not display in online banking or on statements, as they follow Access' share product setup which is excluded from statements and online banking. If members request a statement/print-out confirming their share has been funded, we can provide this at no charge."

All seems unchanged on my end as well... no news is good news with Access these days.

Are all the acquired CU's now integrated into Access, or will there be more of these integrations to come?

Jim Sherat said
I'm one of those who was a regular customer who parked significant $ into those very handy 1yr qtrly GICs, but bailed out just prior to the Merger with Access, when it became known so much of the online functionality was gone, Not to mention many comments on here about IT issues, long wait times etc.

Yesterday, I tried to login, first time since last Dec, without success, so called them and was told both mine and my wife's joint Savings Acct were locked. No big deal, and fixed on the spot.

I had been thinking about using the 1 yr Quarterly GIC option once again for some of our non registered cash, currently 4.50% and we know that is going to drop soon enough. Sadly, the same old story that you need to call them to pull cash from your linked account(s), get them to 'buy' the GIC(s), then call again when you need a 'push', or 'pull', to access the money, from a matured or cancelled GIC. Grrrrrr !!

Just wondering how others feel about needing to do all the key functions via phone vs self help online like in the 'good ol days' For me, I'm still considering it, as their rate is still 700 basis pts better than my TD ISA [3.80%] that currently holds most of our 'free' cash.

EDIT: well no sooner had I posted this, and I get an email notice that the Qtrly rate just dropped to 4.25%. Won't likely bother, at least for now.  

I haven't done much of late at Hubert either but re transfers in and out of Hubert. My Hubert HISA is one of my linked accounts at Tangerine and Oaken. Triggering pushes and pulls at those two institutions still allow me to push to and pull from my Hubert account without calling ...

Jim Sherat said
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Just wondering how others feel about needing to do all the key functions via phone vs self help online like in the 'good ol days' For me, I'm still considering it, as their rate is still 700 basis pts better than my TD ISA [3.80%] that currently holds most of our 'free' cash.

EDIT: well no sooner had I posted this, and I get an email notice that the Qtrly rate just dropped to 4.25%. Won't likely bother, at least for now.

If the cash is significantly more than the $10,000 to avoid the $25/quarter low-activity account admin fee, another option is to open a Scotia iTRADE brokerage account. That will provide access to the series F versions of the Scotiabank brokerage ISA's that pay 4.25% right now.

Scotia iTRADE brokerage accounts can receive funds by bill pay at another bank. One can also link to multiple bank accounts (including non-Scotiabank ones) for one to push funds out and pull funds in at Scotia iTRADE.

Calling in is not an issue if the hold time is short. Last time I called Hubert, the hold time was around one minute. That's in stark contrast to my last few attempts to speak to someone at CRA and was given estimated wait times of 1½ hours!

Feels like more than a year since the wonderful Hubert website got taken out to the back 40. That was when I had way more funds than I should have trusted to DGCM with Hubert because of the convenience they offered.

A year later, just a small sum remains. The quarterly GIC is just perfect to place emergency funds - I have 6 months average budget in it. The rate is comparable to other GICs, yet it is redeemable anytime if need be. My longer term cash is all in fixed nonredeemable GICs right now to fend off the rate cuts for a while.

This is definitely not the place to put funds you want to move frequently, first because of the phone in (though they are quick and efficient every time I have needed them), but also the increased spread on the quarterly really disincentivises early withdrawals.

The great quarterly is no longer the no-brainer do-all cash savings that it used to be a year ago, but it still serves a purpose in my financial needs that no other FI matches.

Tip: nickname your GICs (in the Access sign in) with the maturity date. Makes keeping track of them a lot easier if you have a few going.