Canadian High Interest Savings Bank Accounts

In all my years of investing I have never found a redeemable GIC that does NOT have a penalty built into its offer…even beyond 30 days. Some institutions have these penelties set as high as 2%, so proceed with full knowledge.

Thanks for the Cannex tip — they by-far offer the most comprahensive overview.

I found that CANNEX has four listing pages, but the TF-GIC 1-6 year term has the fewest listings. Try:

money.canoe.ca/rates/gics.html

It doesn't list TF-GICs, but it DOES have a long list with all the ones I have heard of, AND instant sorting by any field!

So – Achieva and Accellerate top the list at the moment, with 1-5-years at:
2.25/2.60/3.00/3.25/3.50

Given that I have no business with any of these at the moment will never use online banking, and want flexibility and 24-hour telephone banking, what do our members point out as significant pluses and minuses? (No worries about minimum deposits.)

I live in BC, and currently do business with Ally, VanCity, ING and North Shore Credit Union (they had a 1-year promo in August I took, having dealt with them previously). Only Ally is maxed out at the $100K at the moment, when they launched their 4% 5-year promo.

Ally also offers to compound their rates – yielding 4.08% in effect. Does anyone know if either of Accellerate or Achieva offers a compounding option, even yearly?

I'm leery of a 5-year, but the 3- and 4-year rates probably won't go higher before the average over the term puts us ahead.

While it's true that the borrowing outlook for financial institutions has not changed much, their 30-year bond yields are starting to sag, and the worldwide inflation outlook is low. Ditto the values of equities, which GICs compete with. I worry that waiting will bring even lower rates.

It's nothing new that the tax-free instruments are most competitive in the first quarter, when RRSP and TF deposits predominate. I do use ING's KickStart accounts, though the KS interest isn't tax-free – they don't make you keep it there past January first, so you can take the interest and go elsewhere. They're offering a short-term 90-day 2.5%, which helps keep people from running, as the total interest differences are small and ING has no withdrawal penalties.

But I have some near-max(insured) stuff nearing rollover that needs a non-registered home, and I'm looking to minimize the hit from their current 4.75-5% levels, so I'm watching non-registered rates closely.

Mr.Moneybags

I can only speak to my experience and that is most banks will not come close to the rates you can find through some online institutions such as Achieva. I have steadily moved all my funds to this institution over the past 10 years and had provided my previous bankers the opportunity to match and retain my business — all to no avail.

MoneyBags is right. Longer term rates are moving lower, so expect GICs to begin moderating with even less motivation by the banks to match these rates.

It looks like these low rates are not moving higher anytime soon.

Hubert Financial has a two-year term deposit of 2.70%.