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Email this9:35 am
May 15, 2007
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Has anyone heard of Bridgewater Bank or dealt with them before? I received a request from someone at the bank to add them to the comparison chart.
http://bridgewaterbank.ca/prod.....t_Home.php
Of course, it must first be scrutinized by everyone here!
12:00 pm
December 12, 2009
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I don't know much about them beyond that they are wholly-owned by the Alberta Motor Association (AMA), likely funding much of the AMA's mortgage portfolio, and they deal mainly with both mortgage brokers to fund new mortgages and deposit brokers to secure that funding. Their posted GIC rates aren't great - you can do better with Ally or the credit unions in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, namely. However, you might be able to secure better rates with them going through a deposit broker.
Cheers,
Doug
12:00 pm
December 12, 2009
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Oh wow, they finally updated their website and have a savings account, wow!
More details to come.
Cheers,
Doug
11:58 am
yes i think its a good idea to add them gives us more opitions and comparrison details.
8:50 pm
December 12, 2009
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While I see Bridgewater Bank has greatly improved their website and are offering more products (MasterCards and high interest savings accounts), they currently have no online banking facility and expensive service charges for withdrawals, which eat into savings returns. Until they add online banking for the savings accounts and clean up the website somewhat, I am hesitant to recommend them for inclusion on the chart; however, I would support them having their own discussion forum for now with a dedicated thread in that forum that tracks rate movements.
Similarly, I often wonder if perhaps we should do the same for Peoples Trust Company - remove them from the chart for the same reason?
Cheers,
Doug
9:03 am
Hello Doug,
Are you the same Doug who, on June 10th, suggested Bridgewater as the second best option for a high interest savings account?
"Once you exceed those limits with Ally, your next best bet, I would say would be (in this order):
1. Canadian Direct Financial, the virtual banking operation of Canadian Western Bank
2. Bridgewater Bank
3. Canadian Tire Bank
4. Achieva Financial (Cambrian Credit Union) or Outlook Financial (Assiniboine Credit Union) [tie]
5. AcceleRate Financial (Crosstown Civic Credit Union) or Hubert Financial (Sunova Credit Union) [tie]"
You now seem to have changed your tune on Bridgewater. Did I mis-interpret your rankings?
Many thanks,
MG
7:44 pm
November 8, 2009
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I have never heard of them but if they are offering similar products to the others in the list then why not?
10:49 pm
December 12, 2009
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MG, yes and no. Yes, they are great in terms of highest rates of interest. However, I don't think they should be added to the chart until they clean up their website and add online banking functionality. Similarly, I think Peoples Trust should be removed on that basis.
Cheers,
Doug
7:51 am
Thanks for your reply Doug. In that case, how would you revise your list if you were to provide the top 5 with best online banking functionality? If I read you correctly, you are suggesting that the lists may actually be mutually exclusive - one for best rates and one for best online capability. Is that right?
Regards,
MG
6:25 pm
December 12, 2009
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I would support including Bridgewater Bank into the chart, Peter, if you made another column called "Cautionary Notes" (or something like that) that specified "No online banking facility". That way, the same could be done for Peoples Trust. Plus, people could sort the chart by those with online banking and those without. The default sorting method could be amended to sort those with online banking above those without, too.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Doug
10:19 pm
May 15, 2007
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Yes, I'm hoping to add such a column this week or next. I know that this has been brought up in the past (with suggested info like which is not available in Quebec, which is insured by Manitoba, and which doesn't have online banking). I was hesitating because I didn't want to clutter the chart, but we can try out a hopefully non-cluttered way to do so.
10:54 pm
August 4, 2010
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Doug - I've resurrected an older thread on additions to the chart; you might want to chime in there. I've got a page for my own use that take's Peter's and inserts some additional info, but I'd much rather it be on here.
10:06 pm
December 12, 2009
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Peter said:
Yes, I'm hoping to add such a column this week or next. I know that this has been brought up in the past (with suggested info like which is not available in Quebec, which is insured by Manitoba, and which doesn't have online banking). I was hesitating because I didn't want to clutter the chart, but we can try out a hopefully non-cluttered way to do so.
One possibility to de-clutter the chart is to make a separate page and chart for the TFSAs.
What about that idea?
Cheers,
Doug
9:12 am
May 15, 2007
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Let's see how much we can put on one chart before it gets out of hand... the simplicity of having everything on one page is appealing.
4:49 pm
Doug said:
MG, yes and no. Yes, they are great in terms of highest rates of interest. However, I don't think they should be added to the chart until they clean up their website and add online banking functionality. Similarly, I think Peoples Trust should be removed on that basis.
Cheers,
Doug
Just got this answer from Peoples Trust regarding Web banking:
"All I can tell you is that they are setting the system up. As it requires an entirely different operating system than we have now, it is taking a bit longer to get ready. As soon as we have a target date for the site to go live, we will put it out on the statements and on the website."
9:18 pm
December 12, 2009
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Lars J said:
Doug said:
MG, yes and no. Yes, they are great in terms of highest rates of interest. However, I don't think they should be added to the chart until they clean up their website and add online banking functionality. Similarly, I think Peoples Trust should be removed on that basis.
Cheers,
DougJust got this answer from Peoples Trust regarding Web banking:
"All I can tell you is that they are setting the system up. As it requires an entirely different operating system than we have now, it is taking a bit longer to get ready. As soon as we have a target date for the site to go live, we will put it out on the statements and on the website."
Thanks for the update, Lars!
7:05 pm
December 22, 2011
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I just tried today unsucessfully to get Bridgewater Bank give me the 2.1% rate thats only for people who live in Alberta and is a member of the Alberta Motors Association (AMA). I live in Ontario and I am a member of the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and they said I don't qualify for the 2.1%. Even though I told them I have a CAA Bridgewater Bank Mastercard with you. That did'nt matter they said. Anyways, Bridgewater gives 1 free withdrawl per month and $5.00 per withdrawal per month after that at a current rate of 2.05%. 2.1% if you live in Alberta and is an AMA Member. They said they may add Ontario one day for CAA Members to get the 2.1% rate but they are not sure. It's called the Smart e-Savings account if anybody is interested.
5:38 am
No term deposits, no registered savings, no online banking, no to non-Albertans, no thank you!
6:47 am
Peter said:
Has anyone heard of Bridgewater Bank or dealt with them before? I received a request from someone at the bank to add them to the comparison chart.
http://bridgewaterbank.ca/prod.....t_Home.php
Of course, it must first be scrutinized by everyone here!
I have called the Bridgewaterbank and found the e savings account rate is very good 2.05%. All the funds are covered under CDIC upto 100,000, so i think this is the best bank now offering high savings rate as ally reduced it's rate. 1 free withdrawal every month. good to park money there.
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