ATON Transfer of RRSP & TFSA from IBKR to a Canadian Bank | RRSPs and RRIFs | Discussion forum

Hi there,

I have idle cash sitting in my RRSP and TFSA accounts with my broker, IBKR. I wanted to transfer that to Tangerine's RRSP & TFSA savings accounts as I'm eligible for their promotional rate. However, IBKR customer service just told me that they do only ATON transfer and that they don't handle any paper transfers.

ATON stands for Account Transfer Online Notification. It's basically an online transfer of registered accounts between financial institutions.

In hindsight, I should have found this out before opening my IBKR account, but somehow I missed that as I never thought a broker won't handle paper transfers and this could be an issue.

I don't think Tangerine Bank does ATON transfer. It seems their CSRs have heard this word for the first time. They only tell me that I need to fill up the form online and then they will process it. But that's ultimately a paper transfer.

I guess larger Canadian banks like RBC, TD, and Scotia for example, may process ATON transfer but their interest rates are too low. Although it's better to invest my idle cash at a lower rate than continuing to keep it idle, I just don't feel comfortable blocking my funds at their lower rates.

Are their any Canadian banks that process ATON RRSP & TFSA transfers as well as offer a decent savings and / or GIC rates? Any other advice?

Thanks,
Dicky