Best banking / high interest savings tips

$1300 has been awarded to site visitors since November 2010

The discussion forum on this site is full of posts where Canadians are helping other Canadians by sharing banking tips, insights, and experiences.

This page features cash prize winners for participating on the site.

Tips

• Check back soon for more cash prizes!
• December 20, 2012: moneysaver, for submitting a bank profile review
• October 8, 2012: Dennis and Jack for participating in the Manitoba credit union survey
• April 15, 2012: Gerald, for participating in the April Canadian banking survey
• March 25, 2012: moneysaver, for sharing what factors are important in a financial institution?
• December 18, 2011: Winnie and msl, for sharing which financial institution they think has the best online interface
• December 11, 2011: Prag for her entry in the contest for the best non-bank-account money-saving tip
• August 21, 2011: regsmith1 (for starting the discussion) and leo for posts on the topic of the investment situation for fixed-income seniors (two-week prize)
• August 7, 2011: Jenna, for thorough analysis on current Canadian mortgage rates (two-week prize)
• July 24, 2011: djino, for sharing information and analysis on a new Scotia Moneyback Account and Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite credit card
• July 17, 2011: NorthernRaven, for mocking up changes that were eventually implemented into the rate comparison chart
• July 10, 2011: Dave, for reporting an interest rate change at Canadian Direct Financial; and Doug, for sharing the entire results of his research into Hubert Happy Savings (two-week prize)
• No prize awarded for the week ending July 3
• June 26, 2011: Phil, for providing some industry analysis on a possible ING Direct Canada sale (prize donated to the Pathways to Independence Foundation)
• June 19, 2011: djino, for helping someone else with their MBNA Smart Cash credit card application
• June 12, 2011: Donny, for clarifying that TFSAs, non-registered savings accounts, and RSPs are insured separately by the CDIC
• June 5, 2011: msl, for a recap of current incentives for setting up payroll direct deposit at different financial institutions
• May 29, 2011: 88kanaka, for adding to the examples on the TFSA contribution rules (prize unclaimed)
• May 22, 2011: CM, for providing some perspective on the impact of the Manitoba floods on credit unions (prize unclaimed)
• No prize awarded for weeks ending May 1, May 8, May 15. Next prize May 22!
• April 24, 2011: Andrew, for an overview of banks’ interest rate strategies and policies
• April 17, 2011: smartcashfan, for sharing their review and experience with the MBNA smart cash credit card (prize unclaimed)
• April 10, 2011: msl, for tips on transferring money between accounts at different Canadian banks
• April 3, 2011: paj, for lessons learned when travelling with US vs Canadian cash (prize unclaimed)
• March 20 and 27, 2011: Max, for a story on why he stuck with HSBC (two-week prize)
• March 13, 2011: Hugette, for sharing information on TD’s TFSA transfer fee (prize unclaimed)
• March 6, 2011: Jim, for providing some perspective on a MAXA Financial online banking glitch (prize unclaimed)
• Feb 27, 2011: Prag, for some thoughts on mutual fund fees
• Feb 20, 2011: Blair, for a review of Hubert Financial
• Feb 13, 2011: CM, for posting a reminder on basic withdrawal and re-contribution TFSA rules
• Feb 6, 2011: Doug, for posting about institutions leaving and joining THE EXCHANGE Network
• Jan 30, 2011: Donny, for sharing his experience on credits checks and other general information on Canadian Direct Financial
• Jan 23, 2011: kilarney, for sharing his thoughts on RESP savings
• Jan 16, 2011: djino, for sharing real-experience information on ING Direct e-mail money transfer times
• Jan 9, 2011: kilarney and msl, for offering some good general TFSA advice
• Jan 2, 2011: Stan shares his experience with free income tax software (prize donated to StudioTax)
• Dec 26, 2010: 88kanaka, for sharing some feedback and correspondence about Manitoba-based Steinbach Credit Union (prize unclaimed)
• Dec 19, 2010: Andrew, for courteous posts in the Christmas spirit in this thread about MAXA Financial
• Dec 12, 2010: Doug gives some background information on Canadian Direct Financial
• Dec 5, 2010: Snoopy informs us about Canadian Tire raising its savings account interest rate from 1.5% to 2.0%
• Nov 28, 2010: Prag outlines the account opening processes of both Canadian Direct Financial and AcceleRate

Contest

Here are the rules and notes of the contest:

1. The winning tip will be chosen from all posts made in all sub-forums on this site from 12:00am of the previous Sunday, leading up to the day the tip is chosen. An exception has been made for the very first winning tip.
2. The winning tip will be chosen at the sole discretion of the site administrator based on the post being useful.
3. The post chosen as the winning tip must have been submitted with a working e-mail address.
4. Volume of posts will have no bearing on the selection of the winning tip. In fact, posts deemed to be not useful are often removed.
5. The prize ($25 unless otherwise stated) will be sent via one of two methods, as chosen by the winner: PayPal or ING Direct e-mail money transfer. (Note that this site has no direct affiliation with ING Direct; the ING Direct e-mail money transfer is an option simply because it is free for both parties!)
6. The chosen winner must respond to the prize e-mail within 24 hours of the prize e-mail being site. The reply must include the choice of payment method. Otherwise, the prize is forfeited.
7. This site is not affiliated with any banking institution (or any organization, for that matter) and receives no direct compensation from any such institution.