Free iPhone 15 with $100K new deposit / transfer | Page 3 | Wealthsimple | Discussion forum

HermanH said

mordko said
No idea why you became trapped but you are doing something wrong and it does not mean that everyone and everything is the same.

I was trapped the way Norman1 identified; I had to keep the balance at HSBC for 1 year after the promo paid and their HISA rate had dropped into the toilet. Otherwise, I would be subject to clawback. Of course, I could have 'escaped', by paying back the promotional bonuses received and then moving my funds. In the end, I was neither behind nor ahead. I've learnt my lesson.  

At the time I believe it’s either 5 or 7k u have to keep with them for 1 year, to earn either $300 or $500 respectively I think. U could have put that amount into their 6mth / 1yr and earn something. Yes the rate is a little lower than others
But better than zero.
U would still be way ahead cuz I was and I did similar promo with hsbc back then.

HermanH said

Yes, the rate was not zero, but it was significantly lower than rates offered at other banks. The amount had to be 100K, because that was the minimum requirement for a Premier account. Dropping below that level meant that you were switched to a basic account and had to pay for service charges. Also, only Premier accounts could get the bonus. So, dropping back to basic service meant clawback of the promo.  

Vow premier is $100k ! I opt for advanced level account which is one tier below premium. The min req was only $5k for advance.
Yes that would be an obvious trap for the unsuspected.

But diff btw that and WS is you can invest ur money within WS in anyway u want. Just that the money stays there for at least a year.

And some were posting false/wrong info of claiming WS charging 0.4-0.5% and robo investing only which is also not true.

Interesting.
Wealthsimple CEO: Michael Katchen

And Benjy Katchen was up there running Oaken and now running Wahi.

Hmmmmmmm

savemoresaveoften said Vow premier is $100k ! I opt for advanced level account which is one tier below premium. The min req was only $5k for advance.
Yes that would be an obvious trap for the unsuspected.

But diff btw that and WS is you can invest ur money within WS in anyway u want. Just that the money stays there for at least a year.

Yes, as long as your total balance at the bank was 100K, you could invest in other HSBC areas. However, I was not interested in any other options.

I opted for the Premier level, since they were pushing me towards it and, at the time, I did not see any downside to it. I did not see the requirement to maintain the 100K level for an entire year after a promotion ended. I thought that kind of restriction to be totally outrageous, so was not expecting or on alert for it. I saw it in the terms, but thought that I could simply draw down the balance and pay a few months' service charges and thus still be ahead of the game. I did not realize that if the level dropped below 100K, I would be dropped from Premier level and thus subject to clawback of the bonus. Live and learn.

savemoresaveoften: any time you are taking a promo that stops you from investing in a better deal is costing you. If a promotion costs them less than the total value of the perq, you can probably do better with the same amount of promo budget elsewhere.

True, Apple is notoriously stingy with discounts, but a large outfit can probably get some sort of deal. It also may be negotiated with some other vendor. And Apple may have a lot of the minimal-memory phones in inventory, since they can't be upgraded last I looked.

Or maybe someone at Scotiabank is just a goggle-eyed fanboi.

Scotiabank used to have "sweepstakes" promotions. I wrote them to say I'd rather be guaranteed a $10 bonus than a "chance of" a $1000 one. (I'd actually rather take $1!)

My first bank account was with Scotia, back in the sixties. Stayed with them (adding others as needed) for decades but the "chance of" promos and doubling the no-fee balance eventually drove me out.

RetirEd said
Scotiabank used to have "sweepstakes" promotions.

AB credit union, Servus, still does and encourages more savings for more chances in their annual sweepstakes. Only fools would find that an enticing deal. May as well buy lottery tickets; the paydays are much better.

One could argue that all brokerage bribes cost us in the end because money from long term customers is being used to subsidize new ones.

Reality is more complicated as bribes could be funded from profits and other sources.

I am OK with it though; helps to overcome customer inertia and incentivize effort involved in moving the account - and draws people to good offerings. If the overall service is attractive then people stick with it - and move more assets to the broker. And yes, they ALL do it.

Big banks are so aligned with the level of their bribes that it smells like a collusion. WS is kinda innovative. And the value of the WS bribe to those who actually need a phone exceeds what the others are offering (as a percentage of the assets required to get a bribe).