Oaken Continues To Slowly Raise Its Rates | Page 2 | Oaken Financial | Discussion forum

It's not about walking your money because you didn't get another .05% interest. It's about having a savings account and keeping it there for any number of reasons. Every other FI I can think of manages to do this, if they offer registered accounts, and it doesn't seem to mess up their business plans.

Well, the reason to do what the others are doing would be in order to be competitive and hang on to those deposits. They are not the only FI on the block with decent rates. At the moment they don't feel they need to be competitive. Maybe they don't need any more money yet. Maybe they are just being shortsighted. We don't really know their strategy.

As I said above, there are many reasons for needing to move the money to savings, not just so that you can get a GIC somewhere else.

I was waiting to consolidate 3 TFSA GICs maturing within a few months, but couldn't do that at Oaken because of their obstinate refusal to offer a registered savings account. Their short-sighted policy forced me to move it all to Hubert. Once it all gets there, I will wait a bit to see if rates improve and Oaken will have lost its priority. There is a possibility that I (or someone in the same situation) might move it all back to Oaken, which is far more nuisance for Oaken (and the customer) than just allowing them to leave it there in savings.
Some might feel that Oaken and others will offer better rates later this year so want to keep it there in savings so they can put it in an Oaken GIC later because they like dealing with Oaken. No can do. When you lose a customer's money because of poor policies, it's much harder to get it back than if you let them keep it there. I think most people will put up with a slightly lower rate in order to avoid the inconvenience of moving a registered account.

Given the number of people who are interested in and utilize the "December manoeuvre" and who say their TFSAs are in cash, it doesn't seem that they all agree that TFSAs are necessarily for longer term investments. People will use them however they want. Some will be putting aside money each month in order to buy a GIC later. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing with this account - saving. No can do at Oaken. When those people get their money saved up, where will they buy their GIC? They will look first at the FI where they have their TFSA savings account.

As the marketing profs all try to drum into their students, it's a heck of a lot easier to keep a client than to get and keep a new one. All you have to do is meet their needs and do it well.

I don't care what they do. It is a nuisance to move out my GICs, but all but one will be gone by mid-summer.
It's not that I dislike Oaken rates. I will likely continue to have some non-registered GICs there although others may not be as willing. They seem to be able to manage non-registered savings accounts, where the risk of transfer out is even greater.

I could offer more reasons, but what's the point?

Reading this thread with interest. Currently have TFSAs and RSPs taking advantage of Tangerine special rates in registered HISAs, and other TFSAs and RSPs sitting in 1.25% registered accounts at EQ after taking advantage of their special 90 day rate. Oaken is one of my future options as I try to stay nimble in this climate of rising interest rates (for example, considering the one year 2.15%). But that Oaken DOES NOT have registered HISAs is a complete surprise to me. How does that even work? What do they actually do with the funds when a registered GIC matures?

But what happens if you do send them instructions to NOT roll over? Where do they put your funds?

lifeonanisland said
But what happens if you do send them instructions to NOT roll over? Where do they put your funds?  

on their website, u can clearly choose whether u want principal and/or interest roll into a new GICs, transfer out to a linked FIs, or move to the savings account if u choose.
Its all done online, and do not need a real person to do it for you. And you can change ur instruction as often as u want !
I just did that 2 weeks ago so pretty sure their process has not changed for the worse yet I hope 🙂

btw I am talking Home Bank and Home Trust, which is Oaken's GIC issuer names

Loonie is correct...registered accounts only. If you don't want to roll over, and don't immediately transfer out, where do they put your money? Deregistering is not an option!

It's pretty clear that rates are trending up right now so patience is a virtue right now, to me, in the fixed income portion of a portfolio. Of course, war or another pandemic or some other catastrophic event can change things on a dime so a good time to have cash ready to pull the trigger if rates suddenly look to reverse course again.

New rates effective today. 18-month now 2.50%.
Other terms should be on chart (& chart history) after today's refresh.