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Thanks for the warning, rodewothy. I'll keep a close watch on the transfer process
I did try telling an Oaken rep that I would be doing a transfer in a phone conversation about a month ago but they were clearly not interested in receiving this information and refused to make note of it as i requested. So I am doubtful if I can make an impact. Oaken sent a form requesting instructions re: renewal a few weeks ago, but there is no option for "none of the above" or "transfer pending". Just have to make sure it gets out of there in time.

Doug, I see your point from customer service point of view, but I think Meridian managers would not take kindly to being asked to facilitate people moving over to Motus. Their job is to drum up and retain business for their branch. They would be in a conflict of interest position.

Good points, Loonie, and yes, the fact that it took them over a day to wonder why they couldn't locate the staff member with your name to whom a courier package was addressed is concerning. I know you're tired of the whole thing - I would be too! - but yeah, I don't think it needn't be long. You're more concise than I am so I suspect you could write him a fairly short e-mail summarizing the various problems, as you've experienced, and you might also refer him to this thread, if he's interested, whereby other members have complained about their ultra conservative hold policy (i.e., lack of access to funds limits) and their longer-than-normal EFT processing timeframes. 🙂

Cheers,
Doug

hotmony said
I dont see any non-reg problems  

Loonie's main problem was with getting a RIF opened. Well, it started with even getting the forms for a RIF application. They had to courier the forms to Loonie which are, presumably, pre-filled (but we won't know that for sure until Loonie receives the documents - hopefully - next week some time). They also required Loonie's Oaken RIF statement, which Loonie found odd as he or she has never had to provide a RIF statement. Loonie, and I, felt as though Motus didn't trust their new customers to fill out an application form properly. So, that's it in a real nutshell. 😉

As far as non-registered problems, Loonie's only real problem was linking his or her TDCT bank account (they can be tricky, though, because there's that four-digit branch identifier that precedes an account number) and that they sent him or her a Motus debit card, which Loonie specifically opted out of wanting to receive (presumably, for his or her spouse as well).

Other problems others have encountered with Motus:
- they do not have "access to funds" limits like all the major banks and many credit unions whereby, for those with good credit history and/or are long-tenured clients, the first x dollars deposited are immediately available and not subject to hold (via pulled EFT or mobile/ATM deposit);
- their EFT processing times are at least 1-3 business days longer than most other banks and credit unions, which often offer same day processing on both ends or, worse case, next business day;
- there was an issue with them rejecting clients with credit scores less than 620-680 for Motus chequing accounts, which they can do but is kinda snobby, although they've since corrected this and are allowing people to open a Motus chequing account with less credit score than that (perhaps just without cheque writing privileges, which would be OK); and,
- some of the verbiage in their Motus Savings T&C is poorly written.

Cheers,
Doug

Has anyone transferred Meridian TFSA to Motus or transferred from any other bank and knows the process? I hear it's a manual process and needs a cheque written and a form filled and mailed etc...

NO....I did not need a utility bill.

To continue my sorry saga with Motus in trying to open an RIF and transfer-in...
The last conversation I had with motus was on a Friday, when I spoke to someone who appeared to be a manager although he did not specify. He was to re-send the package by courier with the forms to open the account and set up the transfer. He said it would likely arrive the following Wednesday, as Monday was a holiday. This made a total of 8 days from when it was first sent out to the wrong address. I said that was too long and asked him to look into a one-day courier. He said he would. He also said he would send me his contact information by email for further follow-up if needed. I did not ask for the latter; he volunteered it.

A previous motus employee had told me there was no guarantee as to how long it would take them to process my forms once I had returned them, signed.

Since the whole process had already taken an extraordinary amount of time and I was up against a deadline at Oaken with a maturing GIC, time was important.

The promised email containing contact information for the manager never came.

By 4pm Wednesday, the package had not yet arrived. At that point, I made a decision that I would not proceed with motus regarding this RiF. Instead, I phoned my Meridian person and arranged to come in Thursday morning to set it up at Meridian. This cost me 40 basis points, but it's only 18 months and is not a huge amount as it's not a huge GIC. It was well worth it to me to have the matter dealt with and not have to worry about it any more.

My Meridian rep dealt with the matter efficiently. By Friday he had received an acknowledgement from Oaken regarding the request, and let me know. On the day the GIC matured, June 3, it was received at Meridian and reinvested.

The courier package from motus did eventually arrive, about 6pm on Wed. Too late. I'd made my decision. I tore it up and was glad to be rid of it.

However, I must be a glutton for punishment because I am now trying unsuccessfully to open a joint account with spouse. Spouse intitiated it and the message said that they would contact me by email so that I would be added to the app. I did receive such an email. I followed the link. When the motus system recognized me as an account holder, it told me to sign in and go from there. HOwever, after I did this, there was no mechanism to participate in the joint account opening which spouse had started. I will call them, when I get around to it.

I hope this new problem can be resolved as that particular account with its accompanying chequing acct will meet a particular need that we have at the moment, and the first bunch of cheques, which is probably all we'll ever need, is free. However, I shouldn't speak too soon as I don't know how many cheques they plan to send!
Has anyone received any cheques from them yet?

I expect to stick with the effort to open the joint accounts as it is not urgent, and it is the FI which best meets our needs in this case, provided I can get it working.

Thx, Kidd!

Thx, Doug.

ASUS: The repair was ridiculously expensive. I am hoping to get reimbursement from the Extended warranty from BMO. The original warranty expired at one year, and the Extended one doubles it, so I'm well within their time frame.

RIF:
40 bps diff between Meridian and Motus.
I didn't want to stick with Oaken as they don't offer 18 month or daily interest. I needed one or the other at a minimum, and preferably both. - which Meridian does offer.
I don't know anything about back rooms, but the operation through Meridian was very smooth and quick. Of course, they were aware of the problem I'd had with motus and were eager to help provide a better solution.
I just think motus is very cumbersome and time-consuming, at least for an RIF. I find it completely laughable that they sent me a welcome email telling me how they were offering "easy" banking and the like. Even without the mishap of them sending the package to themselves by mistake rather than to me, it was still unnecessarily cumbersome, and there were far too many wrong answers given to me at various stages.
They make it unnecessarily complicated, requiring proof of the existing RIF before they will even look at you, as it were, and then insisting on filling out the form themselves and couriering it. I've done transfers to Hubert, which is also completely online, and they are very easy, simple, and efficient.

I knew Oaken would not be tardy, if only I could get the forms to them in a timely fashion, but did not feel I could trust motus to ever get that done and could not afford the risk of the GIC getting rolled over, especially as it had been a five-year one.

Joint savings/chequing:
Yes, I can imagine you would be surprised that I plan (so far!) to stick with motus for this.
I can't get into a lot of detail, but this is to accommodate a certain sum of money that seems to be best suited to motus, if I can get it going. Needs to be based in Ontario, CDIC-insured, with a (hopefully) reliable decent daily savings rate (doesn't have to be the highest) and with an accompanying chequing account. As I see it, the options are motus and Alterna, but Alterna charges for their cheques. That is the main reason I am choosing motus, as I don't want to pay for the cheques and I have already gone to the bother of setting up a personal HISA with them. This sum of money will likely just sit there for a fair while, but may need to be quickly available by cheque. Similar to an emergency fund. As you know, very few of the "alternative" FIs have both CDIC and chequing, and only these two seem to have reliably decent rates and based in Ontario. I won't be moving this money around to chase rates; it will just sit there as it must be available for chequing at all times and I 'm not interested in any fancy footwork for it. I just want to get it set up, which, so far, is a challenge! If this proves too difficult, I'll go to Alterna and pay for the cheques, just to get it over with. Right now, it's sitting in a chequing account at TD earning nothing, so it is accessible but I want to get the interest rolling.

I have no further plans for doing business with motus at this time. Originally, it was only my intention t put the RIF there. When that failed, I thought I could use it for this joint account that I need. I might put a bit more savings money there as well but I don't really need anything else right now. I'm good until the late Fall.