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Email this10:09 pm
April 6, 2013
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The fine print only says "Any withdrawals from the Eligible Account during the Promotional Period will be subtracted from the Eligible Deposit balance." Doesn't say withdrawals from any other Manulife Bank accounts will be subtracted.
"All funds held by the client in existing Manulife Bank account(s) on July 1, 2026, will not count as Eligible Deposits." could be used to block attempts to transfer funds from other Manulife Bank accounts out to another bank and then back into the Eligible Account.
5:36 am
April 21, 2022
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Norman1 said
The fine print only says "Any withdrawals from the Eligible Account during the Promotional Period will be subtracted from the Eligible Deposit balance." Doesn't say withdrawals from any other Manulife Bank accounts will be subtracted."All funds held by the client in existing Manulife Bank account(s) on July 1, 2026, will not count as Eligible Deposits." could be used to block attempts to transfer funds from other Manulife Bank accounts out to another bank and then back into the Eligible Account.
Yeah, that first part is another gotcha. Put 500k in then withdraw 100k sometime later on, forget about putting it back.
7:18 am
March 14, 2023
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JohnnyCash said
Yeah, that first part is another gotcha. Put 500k in then withdraw 100k sometime later on, forget about putting it back.
Why wouldn't depositing it back be an addition to the Eligible Deposit balance? I don't interpret the statement on withdrawals to mean that there is a permanent decrease in the $ that would be eligible for the promo rate.
"Interest is calculated daily and paid monthly beginning on the date the account is opened and continuing 730 days (2 years) on net new deposits". Emphasis added.
7:39 am
April 6, 2013
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Promotional Interest will be paid on Net New Deposits made during the 730 day Promotional Period, not just those made during the July 2 - September 11 Offer Period.
One doesn't need to fund the Advantage account by September 11. The funds can also leave and be returned during the 730 days.
9:53 pm
October 18, 2023
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Is the 3% now showing up in the account now after opening it?
6:53 am
July 28, 2016
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ponyFlower said
Is the 3% now showing up in the account now after opening it?
I just opened mine. Still showing 1.5% after opening the account.
1:51 pm
September 30, 2017
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Is it really necessary to post back and forth so frequently … about a publicized rate … well documented with a written T&C?
1:19 am
January 10, 2020
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Received email from Manulife on Friday inviting me to open new account for this 3% rate offer, so did so. This is my 4th account.
Says 1.5% in the account details but no worries since I saved the email offer.
Anyone know why they do it this way, and not just offer the better rate with an opt in for existing accounts?
My 2nd and 3rd accounts, heard about the special rates in forum, was not sure if Manulife approved of us opening all these accounts or not. But this time they invited me so I guess they are ok with it. lol.
6:51 am
January 7, 2020
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Same here, received email yesterday. Which is a tad unusual, they don't usually do that, have to find it on our own. (i.e., from someone posting here)
This will be 7th or 8th account
8:46 am
April 6, 2013
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scrooge said
Anyone know why they do it this way, and not just offer the better rate with an opt in for existing accounts?
My 2nd and 3rd accounts, heard about the special rates in forum, was not sure if Manulife approved of us opening all these accounts or not. But this time they invited me so I guess they are ok with it. lol.
I suspect Manulife Bank does it this way, using a separate new Advantage account each offer, to avoid considering balances of all Manulife Bank accounts and investments one has to calculate the Net New Deposits that qualifies for promo interest.
Scotiabank does that for some of its MomentumPLUS Savings Account offers. It looked like Scotiabank was paying promo interest incorrectly until people realised that the new deposits to the savings account also had to remain net new across other accounts.
4:51 am
January 1, 2018
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just reading the fine print before acting on this offer, and was curious about the following footnote, and whether anyone noticed such "similar products" on these bank sites ? I have accounts at most FI's mentioned, and I've never seen anything similar, but maybe I just missed it ?
**
The interest rate comparison was obtained by comparing the promotional interest rate offer of the Manulife Bank Advantage Account to the average promotional interest rate offer and average regular posted interest rate for a 2 year period for similar products at each of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank, Tangerine Bank and Simplii Financial, as described on their websites as at June 12th, 2026
6:12 am
April 21, 2022
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Jim Sherat said
just reading the fine print before acting on this offer, and was curious about the following footnote, and whether anyone noticed such "similar products" on these bank sites ? I have accounts at most FI's mentioned, and I've never seen anything similar, but maybe I just missed it ?**
The interest rate comparison was obtained by comparing the promotional interest rate offer of the Manulife Bank Advantage Account to the average promotional interest rate offer and average regular posted interest rate for a 2 year period for similar products at each of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank, Tangerine Bank and Simplii Financial, as described on their websites as at June 12th, 2026
Well, all the banks quoted have chequing and savings accounts so their claim isn't entirely farfetched or misleading. It depends on one's definition of ' similar ', they never used the word ' same ' for example.
9:40 am
April 6, 2013
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The RBC High Interest eSavings Account is a combined savings and chequing account, like the Manulife Bank Advantage Account. However, the service fees are quite high ($5 each cheque or pre-authorized debit) if one uses the RBC account as a chequing account.
Tangerine Bank and Simplii Financial don't offer a combined chequing and savings account. Features like bill payments and sending Interac e-Transfers are not available if one just has their savings account.
That's an old banking trick that former EQB CEO Andrew Moor described in a January 2016 Bloomberg interview.
12:04 pm
January 1, 2018
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I should have been more specific in my comment / question. Here goes:
Has anyone seen, in recent times, at the FI's referred to by Manulife, a promo that pays anywhere close to the 3.0% HISA rate for TWO YEARS ?
The linked RBC 4.60% example is only for 3 Months, and requires it to be a new client.
It just seems like an incredible offer in which to park $100K [or more for those not concerned about CDIC limits], earn a guaranteed 3.0% rate, and maintain full liquidity for the two year offering.
Much better than my TDDI ISA account @ 1.80%
12:18 pm
April 6, 2013
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Manulife Bank is only promising an extra 1½% for the two years (730 days), not 3%:
Manulife Bank’s 3.00% Personal Advantage Account Interest Offer, which is currently 3.00% (“Promotional Interest”) is made up of the regular posted variable annual interest rate of 1.50% (“Regular Rate”) and the variable annual promotional rate of 1.50% (“Promotional Rate”). Any change to the Regular Rate will result in a corresponding change to the Promotional Interest [not the Promotional Rate]. For example, if the Regular Rate of 1.50% were to decrease to 1.40% the Promotional Interest would decrease to 2.90%. …
Yes, it is quite a good rate at the moment (1½% + 1½% = 3%) for a DBRS AA(low) rated short-term obligation.
1:34 pm
September 30, 2017
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What if I put money on this Manulife train today, but later, the next Manulife train comes along with a higher rate? Two years is a long period ... think I know what to do.
... apparently there's an abundant supply of 3% offers (or higher) on new money. And I'm currently riding on a Tangerine train in a 3.25% tier until end of Oct.
3:16 pm
November 1, 2025
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Rate change warning: "Any change to the regular interest rate will result in a corresponding change to the promotional interest rate"
5:08 pm
November 8, 2021
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hwyc said
What if I put money on this Manulife train today, but later, the next Manulife train comes along with a higher rate? Two years is a long period ... think I know what to do.
Manulife operates in the same way, and it doesn't look like this is any different. This opened account is liquid, not locked in. If they come up with another offer, excluding those on a two-year? That's more like a Tang game. In all fairness, it's unknown if they start playing these games, but if not they are taking a lot of cash in, sort of "locking" folks in the highest rate long term, and perhaps offering a-120 days promo later at a higher rate, and that's over, back into the Advantage of two years, paying less in interest since that money was already counted as "new deposit", so 1.5% in today's rate.
3:52 pm
September 30, 2017
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In my 1st post, when the only info available is from the Manulife account opening page, Sept 10 is the promotion expiration date. See post #14 from Norman1 for a snapshot.
However, in subsequent Manulife promo email and T&C, I noticed the offer period is between July 2 and Sept 11
... You are informed.
7:44 am
January 1, 2018
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After speaking with a CSR about adding the new Advantage account to our existing profile, it seems you must start from scratch, like a new client. online only, and have to provide photo id all over again, new id, new pw, etc etc... so I assume this means NEW Profiles for myself and my wife [to make it a joint account] ?
If so, this promo is definitely not for us, as I want to be able to transfer seamlessly to our existing, Advantage Acct., and use the existing link to home bank, and be able to use existing cheques, for moving out large amounts quickly later on.
I don't think any of this is possible, but if anyone knows different, I'd appreciate your input. thanks.
