Update on savings accounts promotions | Site suggestions | Discussion forum

freakonomist said
That is correct, I believe it should be added to the "Promos" section...

Thanks in advance   

Don't think any of the big 6, or ANY FI for that matter, should be included unless they start consistently offering competitive rates, not a one off promo. Their best savings acct rate is .75%. I wouldn't waste my time opening an account with them just for a short lived promo. If it were up to me, I'd take Tangerine off the services chart as well.

Doug said

In general, I would agree with Rick normally on that thesis but, that said, we have to be fair and Tangerine's promos have declined steadily in recent months such that 2.5-2.7% is not that much different than a 2.3% from CIBC. I think some sort of general guideline, which could also further define the inclusion criteria for the "comparison chart," as I've discussed here ad nauseum, might be prudent for determining eligibility for the promos page (i.e., 50 bps above a branch-based bank or credit union's regular rate of interest or 50 bps above the average of the virtual banking divisions of the Manitoba credit unions' regular rates of interest). In those examples, that would establish 2.5% and 2.35%, respectively, as the baseline.

In any event, even in that case, there's the issue of Tangerine and their inconsistent, highly targeted promos that vary wildly. How do we determine whether to include their promos each calendar quarter? One option could be to take an anecdotal sample of the forum users' posts, and you know they will post, sharing their rates and then take the average of the rate offers such that, let's say 10 people share their rate offers, being:
3 x 2.10 = 6.30
1 x 2.80 = 2.80
2 x 2.70 = 5.40
1 x 3.00 = 3.00
3 x 2.40 = 7.20
Average = 2.48 (total / number of posted rate offers)

So in that scenario, under proposal #1, it would not be included while under proposal #2, it would be. 🙂

Bottom line: I support Rick's idea of a "net new money promo inclusion criteria" but it has to be fair and allow for the inclusion of the "Big 5"'s promos, if it meets the criteria. Conversely, if one FI falls short one quarter, we need to be fair and not include it.

Cheers,
Doug  

Tang has been offering promos consistently for a few years now, with rates significantly above (even their own) regular savings rates. Therefore, I would consider them eligible for inclusion on this site until they don't. But that's just me. Moderators call on what gets included. Thanx to Peter and those that help keep this site informative and up to date. I am not aware of CIBC's promo history.

I would be inclined to be a bit loose with the criteria right now. We live in "interesting times"! Rates are often not what they seem initiallly, Tang being a prime example. You can often do as well or better in a HISA promo or 3-month GIC special than with a non-promo rate at an otherwise-decent FI.

All of these rates are of interest to most of us, i think, no matter what you call them. Some people will chase every last bsp and have no loyalty or enduring warm feelings towards any FI they deal with; others will allow some leniency with good institutions that are not necessarily at the very top of the pyramid, because none can be there all the time. However, we all want to know what the options are when we make our decisions.

Loonie said
I would be inclined to be a bit loose with the criteria right now. We live in "interesting times"! Rates are often not what they seem initiallly, Tang being a prime example. You can often do as well or better in a HISA promo or 3-month GIC special than with a non-promo rate at an otherwise-decent FI.

All of these rates are of interest to most of us, i think, no matter what you call them. Some people will chase every last bsp and have no loyalty or enduring warm feelings towards any FI they deal with; others will allow some leniency with good institutions that are not necessarily at the very top of the pyramid, because none can be there all the time. However, we all want to know what the options are when we make our decisions.  

Interesting comment, Loonie, especially the latter part, for which I'm inclined to completely agree. I find myself having been a "dogged rate chaser" for years becoming someone in the second camp. That's not to say I'll roll over completely and accept any hold, rock bottom GIC or savings account rate but with cheque and EFT clearing times speeding up and lower promo rates all around, the "spread" or "differential" is much more muted than it once was. I'm inclined to accept a rate that's 25-50 bps lower than the highest in Canada for simply: (a) the peace of mind and less "eating up" of my time (that's got to be worth something, right? for instance, I've stopped double-checking the daily interest calculations on all my saving accounts every month) and (b) the comfort of knowing that little bit "extra" I'm "giving up" helps a credit union to maintain adequate capital and support community initiatives. In which "camp" do you fall now, Loonie?

Cheers,
Doug

As I said above, " 'Nauseum' is not possible in Latin, as it would be mixing two declensions and two genders." You can only use "ad nauseam". It has nothing to do with tenses, which relate to verbs. Declensions relate to nouns. The summary you need to remember is what I wrote above: "More simply, the root, 'nausea', does not change after the preposition 'ad', so it's actually easy to remember, once you know." Just do yourself a favour and use only "nauseam" - where needed.

Yes, it's a pity that fewer and fewer students are learning much about the roots from which their language was constructed, although I would have hoped British systems were perhaps better at this. It actually is leading to increasingly poor communication, which is leading to other social problems etc etc., but most people don't perceive the connections because they simply don't know. It's perhaps comparable to using only a calculator and never understanding mathematical concepts. But that's a whole other story that I'm sure nobody here wants to hear and I will not get into.

I'll quit now, lest I am accused of going on ad nauseam!

dentgal said
It sounds like our group of "rate chasers" are an educated bunch!  

When I was in high school, in Ontario, there was a requirement that, in your grade 13 year, you had to take either Latin or 2 maths in order to get into university. I chose the Latin. The thinking of educators at the time was that they required the same kinds of mental skills: precision and building upon previous learning. I never took either one again.

dentgal said
lol, Loonie. I took 3 maths in Grade 13 (not that I remember any of it now). No latin--but learned a bit of latin in my university studies!  

I'm always glad when someone appreciates my humour, weird though it may sometimes be!