Savers Roundup September 2023: The new Hubert Financial; prepaid card options; more 6.00% rates

The new Hubert Financial has almost arrived

Following the 2022 merger of Access Credit Union (the parent of AcceleRate Financial), Noventis Credit Union, and Sunova Credit Union (the parent of Hubert Financial), the merger of the beloved online divisions are upon us. Starting on September 22, the AcceleRate Financial brand will be retired and merged into Hubert Financial.

The new Hubert Financial will see a whole raft of changes. Some of the changes are good, such as free Interac e-Transfers and the addition of mobile cheque deposits. Also, the popular 1-year quarterly redeemable GIC is staying. However, at least for the time being, there will be no more ability to transfer funds to/from external accounts (from within the Hubert online interface) and no more self-serve option for GICs within online banking.

All prepaid roads lead to KOHO… or EQ Bank or Wealthsimple

First Mogo and now STACK. After becoming significantly worse, the STACK Prepaid Mastercard has fully shut down (as of September 11), and is directing all users to KOHO. When it comes to prepaid cards, KOHO isn’t the only game in town, as EQ Bank and Wealthsimple have somewhat similar offerings. These prepaid cards combine some features of a credit card (including cash back rewards) and some features of a standard bank account (including a decent interest rate on your savings), thus sitting in an interesting category of their own.

If you’re willing to pay a monthly fee, the $9 and $19 KOHO plans offer no foreign currency exchange transaction fees, and the $19 plan also offers a 4.5% interest rate on your entire balance. 4.5% would be the highest non-promo rate on our savings account comparison chart but of course you’ve got to get out your calculators to factor in the monthly fee.

More 6.00% rates

In our last Savers Roundup, we highlighted Simplii Financial’s 6.00% rate (for 5 months) for new customers. Since then Tangerine Bank has come out with several 6.00% rates:

New customers get 6.00% for the first 5 months
Some existing customers are now getting 6.00% on new deposits in the latest targeted promo
New and existing customers can get 6.00% on an 18-month GIC

Elsewhere, you can get nearly 6.00% at a few other financial institutions, including but not limited to: