Canadian High Interest Savings Bank Accounts

In other words, should I register right now or wait for an evnentual 25$ or 50$ welcome bonus?

Well, let's hope they do not tamke any promotional offers in the next year or I'll be very angry

Oh Peter, btw, have you gotten the 20$ bonus for referral to ICICI? My account has been opened yesterday and i've received my client number, I've changed the password with Forgot password recovery and I see I only have 100$ deposited so I think I'll wait before calling their incredible customer service to see where's the 20$.

Yeah I think I'll do that and I'll insist on the point they told me 2 times via phone that I would get the bonus and 1 time via e-mail too that even if I was living in Quebec I owuld get the bonus for referral. So, if I don't get the bonus, I would conclude that they do not understand any word of English or they are big dumb*%@$s.

Allright, I'll check tonight. I'm not home right now and I didn't learn my account number yet so I can't check. But obviously if they gave you the bonus, I should receive it too.

I took advantage of their $50 account-opening promo last year and the $50 was deposited when they said it would be; even a few days earlier as I recall. I haven't used the account since then because their savings rate hasn't been competitive, but I yesterday transferred my emergency fund from ICICI to HSBC to take advantage of the 4.75% promo rate. I also put a reminder in MS Outlook to transfer the funds out again before May 2 if their regular savings rate is still uncompetitive at that time.

You could link additional accounts if you have
(a) a blank personalized cheque marked "VOID", or
(b) an original bank statement, bearing your full name and current address.
You will need to send it to HSBC with the authorization form to have it linked.

Since you cannot obtain a authorization form until your new account is opened, it will be quicker to transfer it through your main bank account first.

**I have never linked any accounts that did not provide cheques since I do not know if the transfer will fail or incur any fees not disclosed.

Yesh I did this calculation already.

However I got a 6000$ GIC ending soon and got some money from school loans coming in too and the money I make from working. So at the end this would make pretty much the 25$ bonus they offered last year.

@Bill:

"The 1.1% difference in interest rates on $5000 is only 15 cents a day. Assuming you get your application in the mail immediately, and get your account set up and your application mailed back in 2 weeks round trip and then transfer your funds, you will probably only have a maximum of 74 days left of the promotion for a difference of $11.15 less the cost of postage, time, etc. Is it worth it? You tell me.

Bill."

With the 3.3% interest rate of ING and 3.60% or ICICI, now I am happy to have opened a HSBC account. It was worth the trouble and I can pay my Mastercard bills directly.

Happy I am.