Canadian High Interest Savings Bank Accounts

dee_dub said:

From what I've seen so far, most of the high-interest savings accounts are offered by institutions owned internationally. I prefer to do my banking with Canadian-owned institutions. Any suggestions?

Citizens Bank of CANADA!!! – 100% CANADIAN Owned and Operated, Call Centre is in CANADA! – GREAT RATES, EXCELLENT SERVICE, Socially responsible bank – I've banked with them all over the past 30 years, and Citizens is by far my favourite! Also have an OXFAM VISA from Citizens and your spending supports OXFAM to help with famine. They even donate $20 to Oxfam when your card is approved – Desjardins has an Oxfam Visa as well, however they charge you $20 and donate it to Oxfam, where Citizens makes the donation to Oxfam as a thanks for opening the account. Account opening process is easy, and quick for a virtual bank. We just invested $5000. in a Shared World Term Deposit – that is microfinanced to assist those in poverty to develop a business to support themselves, and then the loan is repayed, it is paying 3.7% right now, which is minimally lower than other investments but the "Good Feeling" you get from investing in something like this is a real bonus! – They are a very responsible bank, even the VISA cards have a warning on the back "CAUTION Use Credit Wisely" WE LOVE THIS BANK! I DONT THINK I WILL EVER LEAVE CITIZENS – It is great to get a good rate and a real bonus to feel good that your everyday banking is going to assist someone less fortunate in a third world country. I recommend this bank with no hesitation. HSBC, ICICI Bank, ING, pay a little higher (minimally) however the service is diabolical, and they are ALL foreign! Citizens lets me deposit up to $2500.00 without a hold, all the other online banks put a hold on everything! – whether you have good credit or not. I can buy a car with my Citizens Access Card, (daily purchase limit is $99,999.) and the chequing account automatically has a $1000. Overdraft/LOC attached at 16%, much less than the industry standard of 21% – all the benefits I just described are standard, given to everyone – unless you have an extremely poor beacon score. In most cases however if you have a extremely poor beacon score, you most likely do not have any available funds to save, and most likely transact your business at the worst financial institution in Canada – an American Company called MONEYMART!

ICICI BANK CANADA offers 4.65 % on 1 year term as on dec 14th 2007. I am surprised see this interest rate after the recent interest cut by bank of canada. I contacted their brampton branch and I negotiated with their investment advisor as i was looking forward to invest some large amount. I was pretty satisfied with the rates and services provided.
Cheers!