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Joint Accounts
June 25, 2016
5:23 am
dougjp
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I've been writing them since January (!) asking when they will provide joint accounts and get nothing but form letter type replies, so as nothing has happened I've given up. For example, here's the last reply;

" Any updates to our services and products will be updated on our website http://www.EQbank.ca. Right now our focus is to build a strong customer base, as we grow we anticipate adding products and services to EQ Bank that will continue our focus on helping Canadians save money. "

By "form letter", I mean that I can't find anywhere on that web site that has changed, or anywhere that has "latest news" or any kind of current communication! In other words, sentence one questions the reality of sentence two!

Has anyone talked to EQ and gotten any information at all about when joint accounts are becoming available? Being married, I know its foolish to keep more than a small amount with
them because if something happened to me, imagine how long my money would be inaccessible to my spouse at an online bank....

"Keep your stick on the ice. Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together." - Red Green

June 25, 2016
8:00 am
Bill
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dougjp, all I found on their site is this: "These products are not available at this time. As we grow we will add products and services to EQ Bank that will continue our focus on helping Canadians save money. We are working on the ability to offer Joint Accounts and TFSAs and are aiming to have them available in the future." No indication it's a priority for them, it's a business decision of this bank, I'm sure they'll update their site if and when they begin to offer joint accounts.
Why don't you give your spouse your id and password and (s)he can transfer dough out before anyone even knows you're gone?

June 25, 2016
8:33 am
Norman1
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The text that Bill mentioned is on EQ Bank's web site on their Questions page.

Under the Transactions group of questions, there is this one:

Are there joint accounts or TFSAs available?

These products are not available at this time. As we grow we will add products and services to EQ Bank that will continue our focus on helping Canadians save money. We are working on the ability to offer Joint Accounts and TFSAs and are aiming to have them available in the future.

I would give them some time. EQ Bank is probably still recovering from misjudging their competitors. As a result, they ended up with no competition at 3% and having to onboard 17,000 customers in their first two months instead of the expected 10,000 over a year!

June 26, 2016
2:48 pm
dougjp
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Bill said

dougjp, all I found on their site is this: "These products are not available at this time. As we grow we will add products and services to EQ Bank that will continue our focus on helping Canadians save money. We are working on the ability to offer Joint Accounts and TFSAs and are aiming to have them available in the future." No indication it's a priority for them, it's a business decision of this bank, I'm sure they'll update their site if and when they begin to offer joint accounts.
Why don't you give your spouse your id and password and (s)he can transfer dough out before anyone even knows you're gone?

At first that seemed like a good idea, except the linked account isn't joint.

"Keep your stick on the ice. Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together." - Red Green

June 27, 2016
11:03 am
Bill
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So make the linked account joint.

June 27, 2016
4:35 pm
rfdm4g4g9
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What's so hard about having a Joint account ? Why exactly is EQ not having them ?

Are there lot of rules and regulations and permissions they have to take with the various authorities and regulators before they can have Joint accounts ?

June 27, 2016
6:29 pm
Bill
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I don't think there's anything "hard" about offering joint accounts, EQ just doesn't want to. Like any retailer they decide their product lineup, plus probably the last thing EQ wants at this particular time is more savings accounts and deposits.

June 28, 2016
10:16 am
Loonie
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I think Bill is on the right track. What they probably don't want is more bucks from the same clients, which would likely happen if they offered joint accounts, especially older clients who are thinking about their how best to transfer their estates. They want to build their client base, i.e. numbers of clients, and appear to be doing very well at that. Younger clients are inevitably the way of the future.
However, I'm sure they'll get around to it eventually. It's just not their priority. And considering all the issues they've had with opening one-person accounts, I'd rather they didn't rush into it! Imagine the chaos!!

October 21, 2018
7:20 am
pwm
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Still no joint accounts at EQ. I've sent them a message several times since opening my HISA account in Feb 2016 asking about the status and get the same answer every time. I was willing to wait for a time for them to implement this, but It's been too long now. I can't in good conscience buy a GIC in an account in my name only.

Maybe if they get more requests from HISA account holders it will raise the priority for them. I urge everyone here who wants this option to send them another message.

October 21, 2018
12:28 pm
gicjunkie
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pwm said
Still no joint accounts at EQ. I've sent them a message several times since opening my HISA account in Feb 2016 asking about the status and get the same answer every time. I was willing to wait for a time for them to implement this, but It's been too long now. I can't in good conscience buy a GIC in an account in my name only.

Maybe if they get more requests from HISA account holders it will raise the priority for them. I urge everyone here who wants this option to send them another message.  

I am not sure why you are stressing so much over this particular company's rules. There are numerous other insured options out there which offer joint accounts, and offer good rates for 5 years, for example:

Meridian Credit Union 3.75%
First Ontario Credit Union 3.75%
Oaken Financial 3.60%
Pace Credit Union 3.53%
Motive Financial 3.50%
Wealth One Bank 3.50%

Some may be a little less convenient than a "virtual bank" but most of them offer decent service.

October 21, 2018
4:23 pm
Loonie
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I've "given them some time" as Norman1 suggested, and we have linked joint accounts as Bill suggested - but I've withdrawn my money. That's the only message that would make any difference to them.

I agree; they're after young single people, hoping they'll become lifelong clients. As they get married, have kids, and need joint accounts, EQ will eventually succumb to the need for joint accounts, but not before they must.

Politely asking questions doesn't make any difference unless it's followed up with action by enough people to make a difference.
Right now, EQ is one of the last places I would take out a GIC.

October 22, 2018
3:43 am
pwm
Headingley MB
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I was with Achieva and moved most of my HISA to EQ back in 2016 to get the 3% rate, leaving a small amount there to keep the account open. Now I want to buy a 1 year GIC so I will move some of the money from EQ back to Achieva. Rates are not as good but it's a joint account.

Also I have > $100k at EQ so that's probably not a good idea.

October 22, 2018
5:56 am
Loonie
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pwm, Achieva's one year rate is only 2.5%, as advertised. You could do significantly better at a number of financial institutions. Best rate is at Meridian credit union in Ontario, I think, at 3.25%. They will serve people in other provinces online. There are also some MB CUs paying 2.85 if you want to keep your money in MB. On 100K, that's $750 - enough to make it worthwhile in my books at least, but perhaps you were thinking of a smaller GIC.

October 22, 2018
6:09 am
pwm
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Yes, I know I can do better than 2.5%, but I don't want the bother of closing, opening & transferring to yet another account. I will leave ~ $100k at EQ for a while longer.

October 22, 2018
5:08 pm
AltaRed
BC Interior
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As a post alluded to up thread, they probably do not want proliferation of accounts and this is a good way to get simple deposits (which they do want) but not all the transactional stuff with associated overhead that complicates simplicity.

If a couple wants joint accounts, do it elsewhere - especially if it costs EQ more bodies to administer and had to drop their HISA interest rates by a basis point or two.

July 14, 2020
8:11 am
Bud
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Whats the difference between joint survivorship and joint beneficiary? The latter goes to the estate, survivorship bypasses probate? any other differences in terms of control n taxation? Oaken only offers joint gics with right of survivorship why is that..

"When the GIC is joint, it is always right of survivorship. Please note we don't offer beneficiary designations for non-registered GIC's. A beneficiary is the person you leave the investment to when you pass away."

July 14, 2020
9:08 am
AltaRed
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JTWROS means undivided interest (ownership) in the account and contents thereof at any time. When one of the joint owners dies, the remaining joint owners still own the undivided interests in the account.

A joint beneficiary, if there is such a thing, simply means there is more than one beneficiary to the contents of the account when the owner of the account dies. A beneficiary does not own or have access to any of the assets when the owner is alive.

Non-registered accounts do not have beneficiary designations. The assets upon death go to the Estate to be divided up per the provisions of the Will.

Caveat: Joint accounts are not always JTWROS interests. A daughter may, for example, be a co-owner of a joint account to help an elderly parent manage finances but does NOT have beneficial interest. That can be set up by side/separate agreement. This happens as well in real estate where a parent may need to be on title in order for a couple to qualify for a mortgage. It can be set up so that the parent only has a 1% beneficial interest in the property, even if it is joint (JTWROS) title.

July 14, 2020
10:18 am
file
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Just a side note for anyone considering EQ Bank as their day to day. While unlikely to be a huge problem their EFT handling (incoming pre-authorized debits, direct deposit, paying bills) is once a day in the morning. This can result in things taking quite awhile to occur, while at other institutions it can happen same day.

An example is my usage of TransferWise. I usually exchange on a Friday and with Alterna Bank the money appears that day. With EQ Bank it appears Monday.

Just something to note!

July 26, 2020
1:20 am
Loonie
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I can't imagine using EQ for day to day banking as they don't offer any access whatsoever to cash, but perhaps that suits some people.

What I came here to ask about though is something I found on their FAQ page, as follows:
"What happens if a joint account holder passes away?
Should a joint account holder pass away, please immediately call the EQ Bank Customer Care team at 1-844-437-2265 (844-4EQ-BANK). We’ll do everything we can to help."

This is very similar to the answer they give for when an individual account holder dies. I would have expected them to say that the account is Joint With Right of Survivorship and therefore would pass to the other account holder on presentation of the death certificate, and am wondering why they didn't. I've had a lot of hassles lately with one of the Big Banks and mysterious rules that are never made clear until it's too late, so I'm nervous about this lack of clarity.
The last thing I want is for one of us to have to go through hoops when the other dies. One of the major purposes of a joint account is to avoid that.
Has anyone asked about this? Is it perhaps NOT an account with right of survivorship? I thought they all were these days.
???

July 26, 2020
4:51 am
Bill
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The EQ Savings Plus Account Agreement details what happens when a joint holder dies. No worries, no hoops (outside of Quebec).

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