[EXPIRED] 3.25% (for everybody) or 3.35% (for group benefits) for 6 months in new Advantage Accounts | Page 6 | Manulife Bank | Discussion forum

Londonguy, can you post the link to the 3.35% promo? They may have changed the promo at some point, which they can do. As to your account's advisor coding, yes, that's what it looks like. It's likely Manulife Bank's way of showing that you're not an advisor-assigned account.

butterflycharm, what are you looking at as far as approximate dollar value? The 10 bps is not especially significant, even on $100-200,000, when you factor it on only 5-6 months. 3.25% is still a top tier HISA promo rate. And, I don't think you need to withdraw your application, but you could instead telephone Manulife and see if they'll honour 3.35% and show them the proof (from their website) where they offered, or still offer, 3.35%.

Cheers,
Doug

https://www.manulifebank.ca/campaign/groupoffers/gb-flexible-financial-solutions.html#advantage

It's the same link that savemoresaveoften included in post #1 of this thread -- https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/forum/manulife-bank/3-35-for-6-months-new-acounts-promotion-advantage-account/#p40079

GR said
From earlier posts, note that there were/are 2 promos.
The one at 3.35% was intended for those who are members of Manulife's group benefits program, although the link to this targeted promo was posted on this forum and was used by those who were not really eligible.
The other promo for 3.25% is for anyone who opens a new account and is available through Manulife's website.  

Aha, a logical explanation at last. Interesting quirk that when I completed their online application using the 3.35% link, I was not asked to provide a group benefits identifier or asked whether I was an existing group plan member.

So I guess this means that Manulife might yet adjust my earn rate downward to 3.25%, but if that happens, I can live with it

Slight clarification to my reply above in which I replied to GR's helpful clarification: in my post above, I referenced Manulife Group Savings & Retirement, but seeing the targeted promo, looks like it refers to Manulife Group Benefits (i.e., insurance, health & dental benefits, etc.) clients.

As to Londonguy's further reply, that's a reasonable approach. I, too, would accept it if they lowered my rate to 3.25%, but I wouldn't go out of my way to alert them to my only qualifying for 3.25% either. 😉

Cheers,
Doug

jtfrogger said

Now that I take a close look at the Terms & Conditions, it says that they can revoke the deal for me. I suspect that if they did do that, they would bump me down to the 3.25% promo. Obviously, I'd be fine with that. But they do have the right to eliminate the promo entirely, which would really annoy me.

They still want your money and the new prospect. IMO a decreased earn rate would be the worst outcome to expect, not a cancellation that would aggravate a bunch of people they just tried to recruit

Peter said
I've updated the topic title and original post to split the 3.25% (for everybody) and 3.35% (for group benefits) promotions.  

That works, and sounds great. Thanks, Peter! I think that will definitely make the promotions more clear. 🙂

Cheers,
Doug

GR said
"So, to summarize, both promos were essentially "net new money" promos but they're both only to attract NTB (new-to-bank) Manulife Bank customers."
Doug,
To clarify your comment, my understanding is that current clients can also apply to open a NEW Advantage Account and will also be eligible for the 3.25% promo rate for 6 months for the NEW account.  

Thanks, GR. I wasn't clear from reading the Advantage Account regular promo T&C whether a new Advantage Account would work or if it had to be the first one. Seems like that would prompt existing clients opening unnecessary extra accounts. Would be better to take a snapshot of the client's balance as at a day in the previous month. 🙂

Cheers,
Doug

Thanks, Norman...yeah, that's what was confusing to me and why I thought it only applied to initial Advantage accounts opened. It's hard to say...it's definitely ambiguous.

I guess, if one had an existing account and opened up a new Advantage account, they could always call Manulife Bank and complain if they didn't receive the bonus interest. Usually banks are good natured on a first-time basis and would provide a goodwill gesture of compensation equivalent to the one month's promo interest and then advise the client that the remainder months' promo interest would not be paid. That may not be necessary, though, as one would, presumably, be able to look up their promotional interest rate on their newly opened, second Advantage account and see whether the promotional interest rate is specified?

Cheers,
Doug

hotmony said
Beloved Manulife bank rated A+

http://m.manulife.com/Credit-Ratings  

Yep, that sounds about right, slightly below the Aa+ and Aa- ratings of the "Big 5" Canadian banks, but above that of HSBC Bank Canada, Equitable Bank, and Home Trust Company.

Cheers,
Doug

butterflycharm said
I also see 3.35% using the new link so you DO NOT have to have a manulife plan to qualify.  

Thanks, butterflycharm. That's good that you were able to open a second account. For clarity, did you login under the other link and open a supplementary account under the same profile? Otherwise, if you opened an account under a new profile, it will likely show up on future reports at Manulife and they may seek to merge your customer profiles together and give you only one debit card.

While the Group Benefits link appears to work, since the promo and T&C clearly state that you must be a Group Benefits member to qualify for the extra 0.10%, as GR and others pointed out, there is the possibility (which I view as low) that Manulife could claw back your promo interest rate to 3.25%. It seems like it's a bit of a loophole in their system in that don't have automated checks to verify you're a Group Benefits client - they just look at which link you originated. That doesn't preclude them from manually changing your promo interest rate or to closing this loophole in the future, though. So, I do think we should continue to note the difference in the two promos and mention the one as being targeted to Group Benefits clients.

Cheers,
Doug