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Email this3:46 pm
July 15, 2014
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Scotiabank's new offer is a rate "up to" 2% for MSP accounts opened by June 15. But be careful its not as good as it may seem. The 2% is comprised of 3 components:
.75% regular rate
.75% Momentum Savings Premium rate (June 15 to July 31)
.50% "bonus rate" (if no withdrawals for 90 days)
So ......
From June 15 to July 31 your money will earn 2% only if its left untouched to Sept 15 (90 days). Otherwise you lose the .75% MSP = 1.25% for the period to July 31. If you leave untouched to Sept 15, you will earn an average of about 1.7% for the whole 90 days.
4:06 pm
September 11, 2013
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It's always funny when financial institutions indicate you can make "up to", i.e. this is the MOST you'll make. So if you end up making 0% they've kept their 2% maximum commitment. I've seen it also with vehicles, indicating gas mileage "up to" a certain amount. It must work as a marketing tool though, maybe folks look at it and their brains translate it to "I'm getting 2%".
4:41 pm
April 6, 2013
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I suspect it works especially well if one uses a smaller font for the "up to" part:
Earnup to2% 
5:14 pm
October 27, 2013
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Not nearly as good as the BMO offer that started early April. In BMO's Savings Builder's account, one just has to deposit at least an additional $200 in May and additionally in June to get 2.5% interest.
One has to wonder about why the banks go to the effort on these 'gimmicks'. Scotiabank had a deal going about a year ago I believe on their Power Savings account where one got, I believe, 2% interest for a period of time. I still have a few dollars in that one to keep it open in case the offer is repeated. So how many types of savings accounts do these institutions have?
5:28 pm
July 15, 2014
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It's very deceptive and untrue. You never really earn 2% because its conditional on you earning 1.50% for the remainder of the 90 days.
11:07 pm
May 10, 2015
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rqs said
Scotiabank's new offer is a rate "up to" 2% for MSP accounts opened by June 15. But be careful its not as good as it may seem. The 2% is comprised of 3 components:
.75% regular rate
.75% Momentum Savings Premium rate (June 15 to July 31)
.50% "bonus rate" (if no withdrawals for 90 days)
So ......
From June 15 to July 31 your money will earn 2% only if its left untouched to Sept 15 (90 days). Otherwise you lose the .75% MSP = 1.25% for the period to July 31. If you leave untouched to Sept 15, you will earn an average of about 1.7% for the whole 90 days.
OP, I think you're interpretation is wrong. After all, the account wouldn't be called "Momentum Savings Account" if the momentum component was actually just a limited time offer.
The "bonus" component is the advertised promo until July 31st. The "regular" and "momentum" components are standard to this new account.
0.75% for the Regular Rate;
0.50% "Bonus Rate" -- effective immediately until June 15 ( if 5k < "closing bal" < 250k), and from June 16 to July 31 based on the June 15 closing bal.;
See Schedule A
0.75% "Momentum Savings Premium Rate" -- effective as of the day when closing bal. > $5,000.
See Schedule B
Basically,
one can open the account right away and benefit from the a) Regular Rate, b) Bonus Rate, and c) Momentum Premium Rate, if at least 5k is deposited (the sooner the better as bonus interest ends on July 31). The regular and bonus components will be deposited at the end of the month; meanwhile the premium rate savings will be deposited on the 90th day.
Overall this account, and even more so this promotion, are quite confusing/deceptive!? I would imagine that less than 1/10 Scotiabank advisers or tellers have really been effectively trained in it or have come to understand the nuances between the three-tier rate structure (especially in relation to the deposit deadlines and mechanisms for interest qualification).
Pitfalls:
If one makes any debits (but stills stays above 5k), then they shall lose the "Momentum Savings Premium Rate" component of 0.75% that has been accruing for a period up to 90 days.
The "Bonus Rate" from June 16 - July 30 will be based on the June 15 bal. Therefore one can keep making deposits until Jun 15, but after that date, there's no reason to bother as new deposits will no longer qualify for the current promotion.
Finally of note, if balance falls under 5k, then not only are both the bonus and momentum rates lost, but also the regular rate falls to 0.10%.
8:01 am
September 11, 2013
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Confusing but all true, i.e. you could get various rates, including 2% for a while, if you meet all the conditions.
8:58 am
December 23, 2011
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Accelerate has 1.95% no fuss, no muss.
11:15 am
July 15, 2014
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Bill said
Confusing but all true, i.e. you could get various rates, including 2% for a while, if you meet all the conditions.
Yes... and one of the conditions is not withdrawing anything for the 90 days which includes the bonus interest period . So one would forfeit .75% of the 2.00%, for the entire 90 days, on a deposit of say $100000 on June 1 if they withdrew $10 on August 1. Kind of like saying the Montreal Canadiens would forfeit the Stanley Cup if they didn't win the first 10 games of the following season.
11:26 am
September 11, 2013
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Scotiabank gets to offer whatever convoluted deal they want - if you don't like it, don't buy it.
11:59 am
February 24, 2015
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Yes, they can offer whatever they want, but I find the BNS and PCF somewhat sleazy. Each of the competing offers - Tangerine 2.1%, PCF 2.6%, BMO 2.5% - have their own wrinkles. At least BMO is straight forward - I got 2.5% in April, and I will get 2.5% in May as long as, after deposits and withdrawals, I have a balance of $200 more on May 31 than on April 30. For PCF I need to wait until the middle of July to see what bonus is actually paid - and every time I log in, I still get the same 2.6% offer as if I had never registered.
3:08 pm
July 15, 2014
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Bill said
Scotiabank gets to offer whatever convoluted deal they want - if you don't like it, don't buy it.
Yes Bill , they get to offer whatever they want but the the purpose of this website is to point out pros and cons of what the banks offer. Especially if the deals are not what they seem at first l blush. If you don't like whats presented here, don't read it.
5:24 pm
September 11, 2013
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rqs, I very much like reading what's presented here and will continue to read all comments. I also enjoy spirited debate. It seems it's you who doesn't enjoy straightforward advice such as "if you don't like it don't buy it". And pros and cons and being aware of fine print is well and good here, very useful, but you went further: your assessment was that the offer was "deceptive and untrue". Aside from the fact it would be illegal for a bank to not live up to the stated conditions, in fact you can make up to 2% for at least part of the period so you were wrong, it was not untrue. If you like a legally presented deal, take it, if you don't, then pass - no need to make false accusations about legitimate businesses.
7:12 pm
October 21, 2013
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thanks for your analysis of the fine print, rqs.
If they offer "up to 2%", but there is no way that you can ever get the 2% for the period during which you must keep your money deposited, then it's a real stretch to say that it's not deceptive and untrue, in my mind. And I would go so far as to say that I think most people would see it that way.
What I don't understand is why they bother with an offer like this. People are going to be at best confused and at worst disappointed, and neither of those are good for business or customer loyalty.
Perhaps they are counting on the likelihood that most people don't follow fine print and can't do simple arithmetic and won't realize they didn't get what they thought they would.
In any case, this offer reflects badly on the bank.
5:53 am
June 29, 2013
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This promo started April 25 so if you put in your money then and left it until July 31, you most certainly get the full 2% on your money during that 3 month period if you have $5K on deposit. One can open the account from April 25 up to June 15. You get 2% from the date you open your account ie between Apr 25 and June 15 - You will get 1.5% after the July 31 date if you keep the required balance - which is still not that bad for a major bank - certainly more than 1.05% from Tangerine and PCF.
I agree it could have been worded a bit more simply but once you understand the promo, it becomes quite clear - you CAN get the 2% for the full period if you deposited the required amount on April 25. This promo was likely made to compete with the Tangerine and PCF promos which end June 30 and perhaps the BMO promo mentioned by someone above.
I have phoned Scotiabank today to confirm this information because normally I find Scotiabank and iTrade very decent to deal with.
8:03 am
October 27, 2013
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Brian said
I agree it could have been worded a bit more simply but once you understand the promo, it becomes quite clear - you CAN get the 2% for the full period if you deposited the required amount on April 25. This promo was likely made to compete with the Tangerine and PCF promos which end June 30 and perhaps the BMO promo mentioned by someone above.
I couldn't agree more. That said, Scotia would (should) have used an existing vehicle to do this with, e.g. their prior offer 4Q13 on Scotia Power Savings, rather than inventing yet another/different savings account to do that with.
9:21 am
June 24, 2014
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I do see some merits of the new account type. After promotion period, it works like a cashable 90-day GIC with possibility to add more money (if balance > 5k.). If there is a withdrawal, the rate is 0.75%. If no withdrawal, or even better, added more money, the rate becomes 1.50%.
9:30 am
June 29, 2013
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Most likely Scotia wanted the Momentum product because of the "90 day" feature which was unique - and perhaps it would have been more complicated to integrate that feature into the Power Savings. I think the Scotia bashing comments by some individuals above are inaccurate - e.g. "this offer reflects badly on the bank". The offer is not that bad and is certainly not "sleazy", "deceptive" and "untrue". (however we agree it could have been worded a bit better.)
As I said above - to earn 2% for a 3 month term (Apr 25 to June 30) from a major bank is still pretty good - and the 1.5% rate for 3 month terms after June 30 beats Tangerine and PCF.
I agree with your comments James1900 - it is very much like a 90 day GIC - cashable and you are penalized if you cash in early.
2:06 pm
October 21, 2013
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rqs said
From June 15 to July 31 your money will earn 2% only if its left untouched to Sept 15 (90 days). Otherwise you lose the .75% MSP = 1.25% for the period to July 31. If you leave untouched to Sept 15, you will earn an average of about 1.7% for the whole 90 days.
I must admit, I haven't read this promo myself, as it is not of interest to me personally. However, are you-all saying that rqs's description here not accurate?
9:12 am
September 11, 2013
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The "regular" interest rate is either .1% or .75%, calculated daily based on your balance being over or below $5K. The "momentum" rate is another .75% for every 90 day period where the account balance is never below $5K and there are no withdrawals. These are the two ongoing interest rate components of this account.
The "bonus" rate of .5% is available until July 31 as long as the account is opened by June 15. The .5% is calculated based on the daily balance until June 15, and then to July 31 on the lowest balance between June 15 and July 31. Note that you do not need to qualify for the "momentum" rate to get the .5% "bonus" rate.
So if you want the max 2% to July 31, put in at least $5K by June 15 and leave it there for 90 days, no withdrawals.
Please write your comments in the forum.