Vancity 4.50% High Interest Savings Promotion (BC only) | General comparisons | Discussion forum

Yesterday, I read a post about Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (over 100 years old!) offering a temporary "Jumpstart" savings account paying 4.5% interest on new funds until February 28th, 2023. And you can get it registered, too.

EDITED JUST NOW - READ MY IMPORTANT ADDITION AT THE END OF THIS POST

I called them promptly at 8am today and a cheery agent answered immediately. (Their COVID-era long waits seem to have been corrected in my recent calls, BTW.) She then explained and opened a non-registered Jumpstart account for me and transferred funds in. As it happened, I had just completed a transfer-in of a few thousand to an existing account to pay bills, and she confirmed that it, too, will count as New Funds since the promotion started yesterday (Monday the 7th). As one might expect, the new money has to come from completely outside VanCity, and can't be transferred out and back in, but it can come from a transfer in to a new account after November 7th and then to the Jumpstart. I didn't have to set up a new link; I can transfer into my old-folks saving account (I think they call it) and then move it into the Jumpstart and it will still count as new money.

I'm already a VanCity member, so all I had to do was phone; others may have to visit a branch, but I'm not sure. If you can register as a member on-line, you may then be able to create the Jumpstart as easily as I did, but I'm not sure.

The new account seems to have been hastily created, as it can't be set up or transferred into/out of by mobile, automated phone or on-line banking, but during live-telephone hours one can use the full range of functions as well as branch visits. CORRECTION BELOW IN MY END NOTE!

As an additional carrot, remember that VanCity pays out membership share dividends. As a member since the '90s, I now have thousands in my share account and will get a hefty dividend on the cash I'm moving into the Jumpstart - VanCity profits are up about 50% this year, they say!

I have emptied all my HISA accounts into this (save $500-$1000 in each one to be available until any transfer-in holds are over) and it's a nice day even with snow on the ground!

I'll note any corrections or complaints here over the next few days.
RetireEd

IMPORTANT EDIT: the VanCity site just popped this up:

http://www.vancity.com/bank/sa.....-interest/

And that page claims on-line and mobile transfers to and from it are possible, contradicting what the agent said a half-hour ago. I called in again - no wait again - and another agent confirmed what the page said. (This appears to be a training issue - ask lots of questions!) It says that branch and live-phone transactions are $5 each, but On-line, mobile, touch-tone phone and ATM transfers TO ANOTHER VanCity account are free, after which cash can be freely used.

WARNING: live phone, branch or ATM withdrawals directly from the Jumpstart WILL cost $5!

I assume new money? Not a transfer from within? Does the new account have a monthly fee for seniors?

UPDATE: I've done my time on hold and talking to "William" at VanCity, who is not the agent I spoke to Tuesday.

The website's pages are indeed conflicting and not to be trusted. But he promised to get right to the IT/web team and fix things. Here's what he confirmed:

1. The account can only be set up or receive funds by in-branch visit or live-agent phone call (live-agent phone hours are slightly longer than branch hours and should include Remembrance Day, Saturdays and Mondays). This, it seems, relates to verification of the "new money" status, which they have no automatic calculation for.

2. There is no monthly fee.

3. Touch-tone automated, on-line and mobile movements OTHER than deposits should work and the basics SHOULD be free. USE CAUTION and be prepared to cite whatever ends up on the web once they've fixed it if you encounter any fees.

In particular, you should move money to another VanCity account before attempting to withdraw, pay bills, use debit-card transactions or otherwise get money out of the Jumpstart account.

4. "William" was not able to confirm whether or not there would be fees for phone-agent/branch-assisted transactions taking money out of the Jumpstart. Jumpstart accounts cannot use cheques.

All this is very poorly implemented on their part. It should have been worked out before any offerings were posted.

But you CAN set up the account and put money into it with an in-branch or phone agent, and there one or the other will work for free withdrawals. That's enough for me to be willing to go ahead, and confirm details later, as long as I don't get dinged with fees.

The phone wait is short but may get long if this is a great success; They do have a special priority number for clients over 65 or with disabilities: (604)648-5187 I got through in about nine minutes this morning.

Frankly, I don't like discriminatory service, but I used it to get the info back to you here quickly.
RetirEd

The phone wait is short but may get long if this is a great success; They do have a special priority number for clients over 65 or with disabilities: (604)648-5187 I got through in about nine minutes this morning.

Ha ha over 65 means treatment is same as disabled? Kind of a lovely way of telling how they picture seniors.

Denise: Many of our colleagues here routinely move money for a few fractions of a point, so this is attractive to them. For myself, it's very worth it - I'm already a VanCity member, and cash from 2.6% and 3.4% accounts will get me a decent chunk of change.

Where and how do you find these wonderful deals at Vancity? Are they savings accounts or short term GICs?

I won't use any online-only institutions, so the CDIC limits and my experiences with institutions affect whether I can access some HISAs.

We may all have our own variations for sure. We use both online and store front FIs. I have developed a way to transfer categorized funds with very minimal work. And do find some of the on line push/pulls to be very handy. I do watch to not exceed CDIC coverage, principal + interest.

I would not have put that much effort into relating my efforts but I had posted bad info and wanted to correct it for everyone else.

Very nice of you doing so.

So at RetirEd. I believe you live in beautiful BC....would you use People's Trust or Oaken?

Denise: VanCity deposit rates suck; it's from Peoples and Oaken that my 2.6% and 3.4% funds are coming. I'm very happy with Peoples - they are my largest deposit holder and very satisfactory. Peoples tends to move their rates slowly, (both when raising and reducing) so I don't worry much about them lagging a bit behind others, as they usually catch up in a couple of weeks. Oaken is a bit more of a pain to deal with (long phone waits, a few less options such as the lack of TFSA savings accounts) but I keep mostly only GICs there.

WestCoastPiglet: What I learned so far is that one must:

1. Become a VanCity member and buy a $5 share deposit.

NOTE: There's a $300 new-member bonus if you do that before December 31, 2002.

2. Open a Jumpstart account by live-action phone or in the branch.

3. Transfer money in from another account, either by first depositing it in another VanCity account and transferring or linking from another institution to that other Vancity account. The final step into the Jumpstart must be done live-action voice or in the branch.

I don't want to go into too much detail - particularly on how to withdraw funds without service charges - until they have a chance to sort out the conflicting web pages and agent responses. I'll contact them when they open this week and see if they've done that. I urge others to do so, too.

They have a good range of accounts and most of us will not have trouble keeping $1,000 in one to eliminate most service fees, including the high $7.75 monthly on some accounts - or use a no-fee/limited-transaction account. They pay membership dividends on member share accounts (which are NOT CDIC insured) annually.

Their senior discounts and benefits start at age 55 - younger than most institutions:
http://www.vancity.com/Legal/P.....uide/html/

You can also get free food at their annual general meetings, as with most credit unions.

Sadly, other than this promotion their rates have been weak since the 2008 financial crisis, which hit them rather hard and led to them ditching Citizens Bank and their insurance business.

RetirEd

Disclosure: I have NO ownership, employment or other vested interest in any of the institutions mentioned.

Ed, thank you for the reply.
Can you link an account at another financial institution to Vancity chequing plus account and do push/pull EFT transfers initiated from Vancity?
All I can see on Vancity website under Transfers, are e-Transfers (limited to $3k) and wire transfers.

I had another long talk with a VanCity live agent, and confirmed most things so far:

1. You can use direct debit, bill payment, on-line, mobile, ATM and debit card withdrawal transactions directly on a Jumpstart account, but there will be fees... a hefty $5 per transaction!

BUT you can use all those options (well, not bill payment or debit card) to transfer funds to another VanCity account and then use whatever fee-free options those accounts have.

Make sure to ask them for confirmation whether you will be able to replace any money withdrawn into the Jumpstart!

2. Putting money INTO a Jumpstart requires satisfying the "new money" requirement, and they don't seem to have thought that aspect out very well. They did tell me (after much consultation among the Powers That Be) that they expected one would be able to return funds that had been drawn from a Jumpstart to the Jumpstart, but not funds just sitting around in another account.

I specifically raised an example - say one expects a big dental bill, and part of the cash one had transferred in AFTER THE NOVEMBER 7TH PROMOTION started was being held until the amount of the bill was known. That money, if still unused, could be transferred into your Jumpstart.

The issue they are wrestling with is whether money transferred out to another institution, or spent and then replaced from another institution, could be considered admissible. Other institutions either use a minimum-balance-in-account model or a total-balance-in-institution model. I urged them to think about it before they have irate customers.

If anyone runs into trouble, ask for an escalation or DM me for the name of the agent I spoke to today.
RetirEd

Newvanman: Thanks for those added notes... but, as I noted earlier, one CAN open a Jumpstart account on the phone with a live agent, not necessarily at the branch.

Unless your experience is different because you are not already a VanCity member. (I keep tending to assume everyone in BC is a VanCity member, they're so ubiquitous.)
RetirEd