1% bonus promo for transfers into RRSPs and TFSAs and 3% for 4 months in your first account | Page 4 | Meridian Credit Union | Discussion forum

If I moved my money from BMO chequing account into Meridian TFSA,it is eligible?Or eligible only between two TFSA's transaction?
Thanks

Hi,Meridian told me that I am not eligible for this bonus,clients should ask an adviser for a help to move money in if the clients are eligible for this promo

Be aware of this interest rate catch going on with Meridian high interest savings accounts. Their 4-month promo rate is based on their current "base" rate and that is flexible and a bonus rate that seems to be inflexible, Therefore, the first 4-month promo is not fixed and can change at any time.

In January 2020, I opened a TFSA with Meridian Credit Union - moving some existing TFSA funds from a major bank and adding more for this year to get the bonus 1%. In addition, the advertised special was 3.0% for 4 months on a first-time savings account with Meridian and after that time the account would revert to whatever was the base amount - which at the time (early in January) was advertised as 1.3%.

What I failed to understand that was in the fine print (nor was it carefully explained to me by the investment advisor) is that offer was linked to a base rate of 1.3% and a bonus interest of 1.7% and the base rate could change at any time during the initial 4-month offer but the bonus rate was fixed at 1.7% - so the interest rate overall could go down if the base rate went down. (As an aside, I wonder if the base rate goes up during their 4 month offer if they also would honour the new base rate and the overall interest rate would go up at any time or if they would have interpreted it differently and cap it in their favour.)

Today I went online and noticed that my account indicated that my savings account is now making 2.75%, 2-months into the promo. Ok, so one can almost undertand this and chalk it up to - "the economic situation is getting worse due to covid-19" and "next time I need to read the fine print, and better understand how things might change in good and bad times - the onus is on me to ask more questions".

However, when I looked at the current promotion for the same account on Meridian's website, they were indicating, as of today, a person can open a new first time savings account and get 2.85% for 4 months. Whoa - I thought why are they getting more now than me?

When I called to clarify this the phone advisor explained that the current offer as of today is based on the base rate (which today is 1.05%) plus 1.8% (up from my 1.7% in January) for four months for a total interest rate of 2.85%, but again in fine print, this is linked to the base rate so it could go down at any time.

When I asked her whether it made sense to her that a new client today (or as with meridian credit union we are all "members and owners") would benefit this month and for coming months more than I would this month - she indicated she would look into it and forward it to my advisor.