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Email this7:13 pm
December 20, 2019
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I have come to the conclusion that SAVEN is my all time favourite savings place.
Why?
1. They are still offering 5%
2. Consistently in the top tier interest rate bracket.
3. No Limits on push and pull (believe me I have tested that)
4. Just a savings place but who needs more with great service they offer.
5. Live person returns my calls, even checks back days later to make sure things went well.
6. I can link as many accounts as I want for push and pull.
7. Push and pull is as easy as selecting an account from the pull down.
8. The app is updated and works flawless
9. They offer top tier TFSA and GIC rates as well as savings.
10. Has a decent 250k deposit insurance.
I am not sponsored or have no connection to SAVEN but having accounts at almost all listed financial institutions I find SAVEN the easiest to move serious money around. The only other place that ever came close was the old Hubert, their interface was excellent but now is nothing.
I have been with SAVEN a number of years and since the app upgrade a while back I have decided to open more family accounts and move in the GIC's and TSFA's.
I was also happy at motive but a lot of their stuff was still manual, at saven EVERYTHING is digital, you never ever have to use snail mail.
So for me I am taking a shopping break knowing SAVEN always gives me one of the top rates and tomorrow I am locking in 5% moving in my wife's accounts.
The last time I was this excited was back in the Ally days, remember them?
8:10 am
September 30, 2017
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... the only 5% I find there is for a 4 months term
8:12 am
December 20, 2019
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Yeah they recently dropped the 6 to 4 months but I'm moving my TSFA and RRSP in regardless because they consistently offer the better rates and I'm tired of moving around.
3:36 pm
September 7, 2018
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Re POST 1 above
Saven is good as far as the items you list, BUT you omitted to say that the transfer in of funds pulled in from external linked accounts is terribly s-l-o-w - about 5 days until you actually see the funds in your Saven saving account and then it takes another 5 days at least "on hold" before you can buy a GIC.
Motive is far more efficient in this regard - you can pull in funds and then phone the agent immediately and they will buy a GIC that very day. (DUCA will also do this.) It can be a big advantage over Saven because if rates go down over the 2 weeks of the transfer and hold process, you could lose out on Saven's rates.
In addition, the maximum cheque amount you can deposit using Saven mobile is $25,000. If you have a cheque of $25K you would need to deposit it in another FI and then transfer the funds to Saven once any hold has been lifted in the external account.
Saven could/should address the above 2 issues if they really want to appear state of the art and user/client friendly.
I agree they have improved their APP - it was terrible for a long time. Error messages one after the other. They really need to allow users to be able to use a password when the fingerprint is not accepted by the APP. Most FIs do allow either fingerprint or PW to sign in but with Saven, a fingerprint is required. So still room to improve the APP in regard to accept a PW to sign in.
5:07 am
August 30, 2023
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The money availability and transfers are a big NO for Saven.
My 1 GIC matured today and the funds were not available in my savings account. I had to make a call and the rep said he will check with the backoffice. Unbelievable.
2nd - If I initiate a transfer today of the matured GIC funds it takes almost a week to get to the the other FI.
These are unacceptable timelines.
@KamWest: Are you experiencing these issues?
5:39 am
September 7, 2018
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zgic said
The money availability and transfers are a big NO for Saven.My 1 GIC matured today and the funds were not available in my savings account. I had to make a call and the rep said he will check with the backoffice. Unbelievable.
2nd - If I initiate a transfer today of the matured GIC funds it takes almost a week to get to the the other FI.
These are unacceptable timelines.
@KamWest: Are you experiencing these issues?
YUP - Transfers in and out of Saven are V-E-R-Y S-L-0-W. Perhaps the slowest - I think even slower than Meridian. This is 2025 and if most other FIs can transfer in/out in 2 days max, why not Saven?
6:03 am
December 20, 2019
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canadian.100 said
YUP - Transfers in and out of Saven are V-E-R-Y S-L-0-W. Perhaps the slowest - I think even slower than Meridian. This is 2025 and if most other FIs can transfer in/out in 2 days max, why not Saven?
It takes about a week bit I don't find it a big deal because I get maximum interest while at saven, and the interest is earned on hold amounts.
The whole point of saven for me is to use it to maximize interest so a week delay waiting for funds to clear is a no issue. I use Meridian for business and simplii for personal so I'm covered for any transactions I need immediately. Meridian shortens the hold to 2-3 days for business accounts and simplii does not seem to hold anything on my account.
So when I use saven for its intended purpose, as a straight savings vehicle it shines because even during the wait period I am always getting the maximum interest rate.
6:13 am
September 7, 2018
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KamWest said
It takes about a week bit I don't find it a big deal because I get maximum interest while at saven, and the interest is earned on hold amounts.
The whole point of saven for me is to use it to maximize interest so a week delay waiting for funds to clear is a no issue. I use Meridian for business and simplii for personal so I'm covered for any transactions I need immediately. Meridian shortens the hold to 2-3 days for business accounts and simplii does not seem to hold anything on my account.
So when I use saven for its intended purpose, as a straight savings vehicle it shines because even during the wait period I am always getting the maximum interest rate.
Yes - but if you initiate a transfer into Saven because you plan to buy a Saven GIC, you won't be able to buy it for at least 10 days - Saven GIC rates could change by then. Their 10 day transfer/hold period is still too long in my opinion.
6:31 am
August 30, 2023
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I think there should be some regulation on this. An FI cannot just hold your funds as per their whims and fancies.
9:14 pm
January 2, 2025
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Tried to open an account online. Process got stuck because TransUnion "couldn't verify my identity". In 30 years of dealing with FIs, have never seen anything like this. Tried calling TransUnion; after 1.5 hours on hold, gave up. Tried calling Saven - nothing they can do. Now I am locked out for 30 days.
One of the strangest FIs I have seen and I've dealt with many. Better to find out sooner than later. Given the 10 day delay in transferring funds, it is a deal breaker anyway. So much for Saven.
4:30 am
December 20, 2019
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ddsdude said
Tried to open an account online. Process got stuck because TransUnion "couldn't verify my identity". In 30 years of dealing with FIs, have never seen anything like this. Tried calling TransUnion; after 1.5 hours on hold, gave up. Tried calling Saven - nothing they can do. Now I am locked out for 30 days.One of the strangest FIs I have seen and I've dealt with many. Better to find out sooner than later. Given the 10 day delay in transferring funds, it is a deal breaker anyway. So much for Saven.
A lot of credit unions use TransUnion, that really is not Savens fault and I would strongly encourage you to get that sorted out because it won't just go away.
Pursue it from the TransUnion side because that could sit there and bite you in the beehive at another time.
9:23 am
January 2, 2025
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It hasn't bitten me until Saven came along. I have had a zillion credit checks for various things and have opened accounts at 15-20 institutions (including probably half a dozen CUs) over the years. Never an issue. I checked my TU profile and other than an outdated place of employment, everything looks fine. Maybe Saven is reacting to this mismatch but even that is odd as they should not be denying membership based on metrics that are dynamic.
In any case, there are other options without the odd quirks of Saven. That 10 day hold would frustrate me to no end so it's likely for the best.
10:09 am
April 6, 2013
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ddsdude said
It hasn't bitten me until Saven came along. I have had a zillion credit checks for various things and have opened accounts at 15-20 institutions (including probably half a dozen CUs) over the years. Never an issue. I checked my TU profile and other than an outdated place of employment, everything looks fine. Maybe Saven is reacting to this mismatch but even that is odd as they should not be denying membership based on metrics that are dynamic.
...
A discrepency is there. Computers don't reject when there is an exact match.
One person found that the primary name on his credit file was wrong. For some reason, the primary name used his wife's surname! His correct full name was an alias. No problem for before years either applying for loans, mortgages, and credit cards.
With another person, it wasn't until after he passed away that his executor found out why he could never access his TransUnion credit record via RBC Online Banking. It turned out his name had a typo on his TransUnion record. Didn't seem to affect him all those decades applying for loans, mortgages, and credit cards.
There there was one friend who was rejected for a credit card. He checked his Equifax record and found no problem. Spoke with him over the phone. I asked him to read out the name on his Equifax record to me. I didn't recognize the name! Obviously, the wrong credit record.
Turned out that was his legal name. He had been going by a different name for years and was trying to get a credit card under that alias.
7:59 am
March 15, 2019
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Question: Where, which institution, does Saven place your money?
I went through the PACE experience. Never want to go through that again.
9:52 am
April 6, 2013
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Saven Financial is not a deposit broker.
Saven is a digital-only offering of FirstOntario Credit Union. Just like Hubert Financial is a digital-only offering of Access CU.
The Saven-branded savings accounts and GIC's are deposits of FirstOntario Credit Union. The money isn't being placed into private shares of a hedge fund being hawked by some wholly-owned investment dealer.
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