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List of HISA's that have completely electronic signup?
May 13, 2019
8:18 pm
mrmike
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Even an offhand listing of the ones listed on this site would be helpful.

May 14, 2019
7:12 am
Doug
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mrmike said
Even an offhand listing of the ones listed on this site would be helpful.  

I'm working on that, Mike, for a "Services chart" update, which I expect to be able to post by August.

Nevertheless, it depends what you mean by "completely electronic". For example, Hubert Financial, and soon Implicity Financial, offers 100% electronic sign-up but requires a paper-based signed application form to be sent in. What about mailing in a cheque that can, optionally, be submitted via mobile app?

If including those latter categories, then you could say that all accounts in the comparison chart, to my knowledge, save for maybe Bridgewater Bank, can be signed up for electronically.

In the interim, let's use your discussion post to share which ones can be signed up electronically:

- EQ Bank's Savings Plus Account

Cheers,
Doug

May 14, 2019
8:34 am
MG
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Actually, I recently helped my 80 year old mother set up an account with Tangerine and their process has definitely changed. She had to go into a post office to validate her identity - there was no way around it. I would have liked to avoid it if I could because she is disabled and it was not a pleasant experience because of the very cold weather we had in March.

I seem to recall some folks having issues with Simplii and also having to go to the Post Office to get "authenticated". Perhaps that has now changed? sf-confused

May 14, 2019
8:49 am
AltaRed
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There is a new process allowed by banking regulations (I think in 2018 but could be earlier) that at least some FIs are adopting (like EQ Bank) whereby the mere presence of another valid bank account at another Canadian FI is sufficient to validate identity to open an account. IOW, EQ will allow opening an account by providing them with certain bank account information from another bank account. They test it by making tiny deposit(s) to that bank account which one must then advise EQ of the correct numbers to complete the process. This is how I opened my EQ account last year. Is the way all such things should be done these days, albeit I suspect brokerages that fall under a different regulator won't be doing that any time soon.

The trouble with composing a list of "electronic sign up" banks is that it will never be current, i.e. as more institutions including perhaps the likes of Tangerine adopt the new process, the list will always be 'incomplete'.

May 14, 2019
8:52 am
Doug
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MG said
Actually, I recently helped my 80 year old mother set up an account with Tangerine and their process has definitely changed. She had to go into a post office to validate her identity - there was no way around it. I would have liked to avoid it if I could because she is disabled and it was not a pleasant experience because of the very cold weather we had in March.

I seem to recall some folks having issues with Simplii and also having to go to the Post Office to get "authenticated". Perhaps that has now changed? sf-confused  

Thanks, MG, but my understanding, in speaking to Simplii and Tangerine reps via telephone and/or social media, is that is still an additional validation method that is used when they cannot validate your information from your credit bureau report. This could be due to a fraud monitoring block on your account, a credit bureau that has no activity on it beyond just your personal information (can happen especially with seniors if they close or don't use their borrowing products, including credit cards), or no credit bureau. Also, sometimes, in not providing a SIN and you have a common name, they're unable to validate with certainty using your name and birth date alone, so they err on the side of caution and refer you to Canada Post (or a Tangerine Cafe for face-to-face verification).

It is also used whereby the person does not have an initial cheque from another bank account (second form of ID in non-face-to-face situations).

Cheers,
Doug

May 14, 2019
7:50 pm
Norman1
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The credit bureau method requires a Canadian credit bureau file that's at least three years old with matching name, address, and date of birth.

Otherwise, the FINTRAC guidance requires the financial institution to somehow confirm two of the following three items:

  1. name and date of birth
  2. name and address
  3. name and a deposit, credit card or other loan account with a financial entity

The microdeposits AltaRed mentioned is not enough. A successful microdeposit can only confirm #3.

May 15, 2019
4:28 am
Loonie
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This past week, there was a new round of sensational allegations about money laundering, and the Feds vowed to stamp it out, again.
So, I would anticipate tighter regs in future at some point, likely with no better results but with a lot more nuisance.

If they don't know I'm not laundering my money by now, they aren't using all the info they already have too much access to.

May 15, 2019
6:08 am
Doug
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Loonie said
This past week, there was a new round of sensational allegations about money laundering, and the Feds vowed to stamp it out, again.
So, I would anticipate tighter regs in future at some point, likely with no better results but with a lot more nuisance.

If they don't know I'm not laundering my money by now, they aren't using all the info they already have too much access to.  

I know...and I was struck by B.C. Attorney General David Eby's remark, when referring to B.C. colleges and universities used in money laundering whereby a student brings in bags of cash, "deposits" it to their student account, and then requests a "withdrawal" after paying for a course or two, about wondering who would've thought that those colleges and universities would be used in such a way. I did! Sure, the college or university doesn't pay you "interest" on your "deposits" to your student account, but what government needs to realize is that any time someone can "deposit" funds into a segregated account of some kind - regulated or not - it's a potential vehicle for money laundering.

When I worked in the self storage industry, for example, we would, on occasion, take cash payments on customers' storage locker "accounts" from persons unaffiliated with said storage locker "accounts". Some of it was, I'm sure, a friend helping out a friend, but I imagine some of it could've been, perhaps, someone owed a debt for some unsavoury activity and they were instructed to pay the person's storage locker bill.

It was interesting that David Eby said the B.C. government is considering requiring all B.C.-based businesses (i.e., those with operations in B.C. or that deal with B.C. residents, not just those incorporated in B.C.) to report large cash and suspicious transactions to FINTRAC. That typically requires businesses to register with FINTRAC, but may not. At any rate, it will require extensive anti-money laundering training of businesses in terms of their obligations. Can you imagine Starbucks having to file a suspicious transaction report for a guy that came in and wanted to load $2000 in cash onto a Starbucks card? 😉

Cheers,
Doug

May 16, 2019
2:16 am
Loonie
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There are obviously some scary and stupid ideas circulating about this problem.
They need to focus on the "big fish" with large lump sums, and leave the rest of us alone. Privacy matters, and they're never going to prosecute the small stuff anyway. Heck, they can't even deal with reported petty crimes, and, at least in Ontario, our courts are dumping serious cases because they've been waiting too long to be heard due to inadequate funding.

May 16, 2019
10:56 am
AltaRed
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The most egregious examples are fixable by not accepting large cash deposits in the first place. Going cashless would be even better.

Also, changing laws so that beneficial ownership has to be declared in corporate entities, land titles, etc. While it is true that can still be somewhat overcome with layers of shell companies, aka Panama Papers, it would dramatically reduce money laundering.

May 16, 2019
12:58 pm
Doug
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AltaRed said
The most egregious examples are fixable by not accepting large cash deposits in the first place. Going cashless would be even better.

Also, changing laws so that beneficial ownership has to be declared in corporate entities, land titles, etc. While it is true that can still be somewhat overcome with layers of shell companies, aka Panama Papers, it would dramatically reduce money laundering.  

Agreed 100%, AltaRed. Let's hope the other provincial governments establish such beneficial ownership registries. And, it's important that at least the beneficial ownership name and address information be disclosed via a publicly-available website (i.e., myLTSA Explorer, not myLTSA Enterprise, which requires a $250 cash security deposit to make free searches). Ideally, I'd provide a data link to BC Assessment and disclose the basic beneficial ownership information on the BC Assessment property profiles, which could pipe it through to the municipal property tax information.

Cheers,
Doug

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