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Email this1:19 pm
July 25, 2016
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I was just visiting this website, and discovered Alterna Bank. Thank you! 
I thought I'd just give a little back by letting you know that it looks like Alterna Bank now has a TSFA at 1.95%: https://www.alternabank.ca/Rates/
The account is called: TFSA eSavings Account
Thanks again for keeping this website up-to-date, and relevant for us from Québec.
1:45 pm
May 15, 2007
Online
Thanks for the tip! That makes it the highest TFSA on our comparison chart.
1:52 pm
July 25, 2016
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Yep. The comparison chart was what made me find this website. It is also the highest non-TFSA available in Québec.
Do I mark this thread as closed somehow?
Edit: I see you have already updated the chart! That was quick!
1:57 pm
May 15, 2007
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No need to close the thread, as others might wish to discuss this topic further 
4:58 pm
October 21, 2013
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That's great news!
It will be interesting to see if there is a "response" from Peoples, as there is now little reason to keep your money there.
There is also a RRSP savings account, at the same rate.
I am not aware of a better rate on either of these.
7:42 pm
May 22, 2015
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Many people max out their TFSA at the beginning of the year, after that better rates wouldn't make any difference as they can't move the funds anyways until the end of December. Nevertheless, that's a good news for other people that still have some TFSA room.
8:04 pm
October 21, 2013
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They CAN move their TFFSA money at any time, by direct transfer, but not by withdrawal and redeposit. The only money you can't transfer is what you have put into a GIC, as you must wait for that to mature.
9:14 am
May 30, 2016
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Hi Loonie. That's true that you can move TFSA money at any time by direct transfer. However, there is a fee of $45 to do so with my TFSA I have with Tangerine. I assume all other TFSA accounts probably have similar transfer fees.
11:00 am
April 15, 2015
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Hello all; Just called Alterna to see what their transfer fee was for this account.50.00$,5.00$ higher than Tangerine.
11:13 am
November 19, 2014
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Savings said
Hi Loonie. That's true that you can move TFSA money at any time by direct transfer. However, there is a fee of $45 to do so with my TFSA I have with Tangerine. I assume all other TFSA accounts probably have similar transfer fees.
Peoples Trust has no TFSA transfer fee.
11:19 am
June 24, 2014
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Their website is clean and easy to follow. Its "No Fee eChequing Account" has 2 free interac-etransfers per month.
1:15 pm
October 21, 2013
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It's probably not worth a transfer fee at this point in the year. At best, it would be a break-even. You could ask if Alterna would reimburse it but they might not unless you get a GIC. Alterna does charge a transfer out fee, although I could not figure out how much it is online, so that increases the odds that they would reimburse.
I was thinking of Peoples, where there is none.
4:31 am
July 25, 2016
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Here's a list of all their fees: https://www.alternabank.ca/SharedContent/documents/Alterna_ServFee-Retail-EN_11-12.pdf second page, right hand column lists the TFSA transfer as well as RRSP.
I found it on this page, but the link of broken so I deduced it: https://www.alternabank.ca/AboutUs/ContactUs/FAQs/FAQ/
CIBC has a transfer fee of 100$, but I think I'm going to do it anyway. My TFSA is currently on a GIC that was renewed in May, for 0,55%. They told me it was going to be at 1,3% after some negotiation, so I'm not happy. I'll lose my interest at 0,55% for 3 months + 100$ transfer fee, so max 200$ loss, but it should be worth it unless Alterna's rates plummet.
12:52 pm
October 21, 2013
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Thanks for the link.
It's worth asking Alterna about reimbursement. They might be willing to give you $50, since that's what they charge. You've nothing to lose by asking, except your time.
You could go up the complaints ladder at CIBC in regards to the rate you negotiated, but you might not succeed and you would be losing interest at Alterna in the meanwhile. You probably already figured this out!
Chances are pretty good that you will recoup your loss, I think. If you have maxed out your TFSA, it should only take about 3 months until you are ahead again. Even if Alterna drops their rate, it should still be significantly higher than CIBC's for a while.
7:03 am
May 30, 2016
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I just noticed there is no "me to me transfers" if you wanted to move money out of your TFSA account. So my question is if I needed to withdraw my money, how would I do it?
8:30 am
September 11, 2013
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Savings, just call them and find out how to set up a link with the account you'd be moving the money to.
9:40 pm
May 30, 2016
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I just called them. I would have to set up a savings account, so that when I withdraw money from the TFSA account, it can go in there......I cannot withdraw directly to my external account as there are "no me to me transfers" available for withdrawals.
10:04 am
October 21, 2013
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Can you not then link the esavings account to external?
I was under the impression that some people were doing that.
If not, how are people moving their money around?
10:51 am
May 30, 2016
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Yes, then you can link the esavings account to the external bank account. That is how you would have to do it.
9:38 pm
October 21, 2013
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To me, that seems good enough. I doubt that any bank will move directly from TFSA to external non-TFSA account. The money would rarely come back, due to CRA rules, so there is no incentive for them to open it up.
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