RBC eSavings promo: 2.00% until Dec 1, 2017 on new deposits before Aug | RBC Royal Bank | Discussion forum

I think it would be clearer if you should include in your description 'from non-RBC sources', as per the Terms and Conditions Section A.

It is also not clear what 'non-RBC sources' means. Not that it affects me, but does this exclude ISAs sold as mutual funds, e.g. RBF2010? How about Money Market mutual funds? Does it exclude cash held in RBC Direct Investing and RBC Dominion Securities? PH&N sources?

Not impressed with max withdrawal of 2500$ per day. There is a chance you may be allowed to withdraw 10,000$ per day, but the CS rep I spoke to could not say how they decide who is allowed which limit, only that I would have to try it and see! I do not get it.

Saver-Mom said
Not impressed with max withdrawal of 2500$ per day. There is a chance you may be allowed to withdraw 10,000$ per day, but the CS rep I spoke to could not say how they decide who is allowed which limit, only that I would have to try it and see! I do not get it.  

I didn't pay any attention to withdrawal limits as I wouldn't plan on withdrawing during the promo period. If CSR can't give you a straight answer, it probably depends on things like whether your deposits have cleared, whether you are trying to withdraw in cash etc - both of which would cause problems. Sometimes there are account minimums that must be maintained as well, although I don't know about this particular one. Also, any security red flags on you would be a factor, especially if they don't "know" you. Some of us, for example, have security flags because of security breach at Peoples Trust a few years ago.
However, somebody should be able to tell you what in fact it depends on. It's not a Tangerine lottery, surely!
Best to escalate the query if you need an answer, although takes up time. You may never get a complete answer, but you may get a better one. Sounds like they are reserving the right to define a "suspicious activity". They are certainly big enough to be able to tolerate large withdrawals, the largest bank in Canada. 10K is nothing to them, really.

That $2,500 per day sounds like a limit for Interac e-Transfers. That's similar to EQ Bank's limit of $3,000 per day for their Interac e-Transfers.

Would Interac e-Transfer be the only way to the transfer funds out afterwards to another bank? I don't know if Royal Bank offers something like those Me-2-Me transfers we are used to from Alterna Bank and Hubert.

George said

RBC doesn't offer direct transfers. You'll have to pull from another FI that does, or transfer to an RBC chequing account and write a cheque. There is no limit for either method.  

Thanks, George.

That pull from another FI, a preauthorized debit, would be $5. There's no free debit of one's choice each month with the RBC High Interest eSavings account. Only free transfers to another RBC Royal Bank personal account and one free ATM withdrawal:

Agreed. So I went to the branch as I was told I would have to do, to finalize the setting up of the account by "showing ID to prove that I am who I say I am" and enquire about withdrawals, only to be told that the people I would need to speak with were already busy with other clients and that I would have to make an appointment! So given this and the apparent difficulty to access my own money (would be told to call and make an appointment if I wanted to pay money to withdraw my funds via a bank draft) I am reconsidering the whole exercise...

Loonie said
You can get a bank draft for $7.50 if you don't want the complications and likely expense of a chequing account with RBC.
As far as I can tell, you should be able to get this by going into a branch. I think it's the cheapest way to close the account. …

Looks like a separate chequing account is not needed as the RBC High Interest eSavings account supports cheques.

According to page 18 of their Personal Deposit Accounts Disclosures and Agreements booklet, personalized cheques can be ordered for the eSavings account. Over-the-counter cheques are $2 each, plus $5 for the debit.

I remember some years back, maybe 20, when TD had an offer that if you had to wait in line more than 5 minutes, they would pay you five bucks. My dad picked up a lot of spare change that way! But they discontinued it. I think it was too popular. Now, however, their focus is elsewhere - wealth management, credit cards, insurance, loans etc.

I have nothing against appointments as you get to sit down (I'm getting old!) and there is better chance that the person you sit down with can actually do what you want done, as opposed to being shifted from one person to another while standing.
It does annoy me that it is so difficult to phone any particular person at all at any bank. In most cases, you can't even call a branch, period.

However, I'm sure that the motivation for increasing use of appointments is efficiency/profits. They hope that by getting you sat down that they will be able to develop a "relationship" and ultimately sell you more product. This is counterproductive though when they waste your time by leaving the room periodically to "check" on something and when the staff are different every time you go in.

Rick, I can appreciate your feeling, but it's still useful for some people. There aren't that many CDIC-insured banks that offer 2% on savings. RBC is a low risk FI.

The teller could not serve me the day I walked in. She wanted me to see someone higher up. I suspect that would be so they could probe me about my net worth and try to reel me in. Have not gone in to enquire about how to get money out quickly once their promo rate, (which was bumped up to 2.15%) expires. I don't want to have to open a chequing account with them, nor link accounts with other banks. Guess I would have to get a bank draft for $7.50? Anyone take advantage of this promo?

(Maybe merge this with the other thread?)