everhopeful said
I still use Hubert as my extended emergency fund... l keep about a months worth of expenses liquid in HISAs, and I have about a years worth of expenses in a Hubert quarterly redeemable GIC. I find it comforting that I can redeem it anytime and have the funds in just days, yet still earn interest just below the top earning fixed GIC's (at other FI's) that I have laddered for long term expenses. It uniquely meets this need the best.

What keeps me from investing significantly with Hubert (& other Manitoba CU's) is that they are backed by the DGCM rather than CDIC. If things really went to heck and the DGCM's funds were depleted, there is probably little incentive for the Manitoba government to step in and cover my deposits, since I do not reside (or vote) there.  

Not honouring any DGCM coverage is not likely in my view as it would do harm to Manitoba's financial reputation and future ability to attract deposits. My opinion for what it's worth ...

RetirEd said
I mean that services are being cut, branches closed, phone hours reduced. More cuts to force people to on-line banking and get blamed for any oopsies they suffer. Note what doug said.  

Any FI that is not reducing costs to be competitive with their peers in rates will be abandoned by the online crowd and eventually lose ground. 'Goodies' cost real money.

RetirEd said
Welcome to enshittification.  

Does that mean Outlook ain't so good?

The way it will work is that term deposits will be maintained until they mature in these accounts, and then the funds will be moved to a variable rate account until transfer to an external financial institution that will accept the funds.

Not mentioned was whether MAXA will still impose the $150 transfer out fee for such mandatory relocation of locked-in funds.

One of MAXA's great advantages over some other Manitoba credit unions, and some online banks, was its openness to managing LIRAs and LIFs. This change will make them less relevant to me in the future, and more than three-quarters of my deposits with them are going to exit in 2027, when my LIRA GIC matures.

everhopeful said
I still use Hubert as my extended emergency fund... l keep about a months worth of expenses liquid in HISAs, and I have about a years worth of expenses in a Hubert quarterly redeemable GIC. I find it comforting that I can redeem it anytime and have the funds in just days, yet still earn interest just below the top earning fixed GIC's (at other FI's) that I have laddered for long term expenses. It uniquely meets this need the best.

What keeps me from investing significantly with Hubert (& other Manitoba CU's) is that they are backed by the DGCM rather than CDIC. If things really went to heck and the DGCM's funds were depleted, there is probably little incentive for the Manitoba government to step in and cover my deposits, since I do not reside (or vote) there.  

While those are valid concerns regarding the inferiority of the DGCM deposit insurance relative to CDIC, for me, that is not my primary concerns.

My main concerns with Hubert are as wells:

* New-to-FI onboarding now requires a mobile phone number and a selfie ID verification, which is a non-starter for me
* Linked account transfers are only available via contact centre representative, via telephone, Monday to Friday during bankers' hours when most people are working. This is severely limiting
* Member share redemptions are currently 'paused', which is concerning. It's a bit of a "hotel California" type situation. You can get in, but can you get out?
* Customer service has gone downhill
* Branches have been closed in rural and suburban areas, despite insistence this would not happen

Cheers,
Doug

What keeps me from investing significantly with Hubert (& other Manitoba CU's) is that they are backed by the DGCM rather than CDIC. If things really went to heck and the DGCM's funds were depleted, there is probably little incentive for the Manitoba government to step in and cover my deposits, since I do not reside (or vote) there.

Briguy said

EQ 30 day notice pays only 2.75 percent and 10 day notice only pays 2.35 percent. So if you have 100K for example that you want to keep liquid, but it turns out you didn't need it for the year, you would earn 550.00 more with Hubert compared to the 30 day notice and 950.00 more compared to the 10 day notice. If you direct deposit your pay into EQ Bank you would earn 2.75 percent and don't even need the notice accounts.

One only earns 2.2 percent on a Scotiabank Series F ISA, and around the same for a Money Market ETF like PSA or CASH , so I think the Hubert quarterly GIC still makes sense if you are trying to maximize your interest rate while keeping funds fairly liquid.  

That's if you hold those funds in there for a full year, in which case, you might as well just go with a 1-year GIC (which Outlook and Achieva both have).

Personally, for managing larger amounts like that in individual GICs, one is better off managing them within their discount brokerage platform. These Manitoba CUs are largely passe, Achieva Financial being a notable exception I'll give a pass to.

Cheers,
Doug

doug said

Quarterly GIC isn't that essential anymore. EQ Bank's Notice Savings Account offers comparable rates to a 1-year quarterly GIC, with less lock-in risk / greater liquidity.   

EQ 30 day notice pays only 2.75 percent and 10 day notice only pays 2.35 percent. So if you have 100K for example that you want to keep liquid, but it turns out you didn't need it for the year, you would earn 550.00 more with Hubert compared to the 30 day notice and 950.00 more compared to the 10 day notice. If you direct deposit your pay into EQ Bank you would earn 2.75 percent and don't even need the notice accounts.

One only earns 2.2 percent on a Scotiabank Series F ISA, and around the same for a Money Market ETF like PSA or CASH , so I think the Hubert quarterly GIC still makes sense if you are trying to maximize your interest rate while keeping funds fairly liquid.

Briguy said

Hubert Financial is still a strong contender due to their excellent customer service and quarterly one year term GIC paying 3.3 percent. If you need to be liquid, that rate is higher than any HISA besides short term promotion HISAs.

Achieva is a great credit union, but doesn't have that quarterly GIC. A personal redeemable 24 month GIC at Scotiabank for eg. only pays 2.55 percent, so the Hubert quarterly GIC is much higher.  

Quarterly GIC isn't that essential anymore. EQ Bank's Notice Savings Account offers comparable rates to a 1-year quarterly GIC, with less lock-in risk / greater liquidity.

doug said

Rail Baron said
Somebody sure seems in a hurry to get MAXA Financial off this site.

I humbly suggest keeping them in place until the integration is actually completed.

Right now, that is proposed to be mid-October of 2026. What's the hurry to boot them now?

Those that are already MAXA Financial members will receive e-mail notifications of GIC promotions. You can count on two hands or less the number of HighInterestSavings.ca users who have current/active MAXA Financial memberships.

A member migration of this nature is very disputive, requiring new membership numbers, new debit cards, new online banking credentials, and the like.

Since the main purpose of this site is for new-to-FI membership sign-ups, there is zero compelling reason for maintaining confirmed "walk of death financial institutions" on the comparison charts.

Anyone that wants to sign up for a Manitoba CU account would be just as well, if not better served by going with Achieva Financial, Outlook Financial, or Hubert Financial.

However, given Outlook is ending support for Me 2 Me Transfers and Hubert EFT transfers are only available via telephone with a CSR, whose hours aren't great for those west of Saskatchewan, I would submit there's really only one viable Manitoba CU now, and that's Achieva Financial (which is also the original one). All others are absolute trash at this point. 🙂  

Hubert Financial is still a strong contender due to their excellent customer service and quarterly one year term GIC paying 3.3 percent. If you need to be liquid, that rate is higher than any HISA besides short term promotion HISAs.

Achieva is a great credit union, but doesn't have that quarterly GIC. A personal redeemable 24 month GIC at Scotiabank for eg. only pays 2.55 percent, so the Hubert quarterly GIC is much higher.

But as a MAXA member since 2021, I have never received any announcements of GIC promotions, or rate adjustments, the way that Hubert or Oaken provide. Thus having MAXA in the rate table on this site is of value to me, and the other users of this site who have an account with them.

And if newcomers to the site are tempted by MAXA's rates, they could easily find news about the consolidation with Assiniboine Credit Union in the MAXA forum before signing up for a new account. Some might still want to do so, because MAXA offers services that some other Manitoba credit unions do not, such as offering LIRAs, for example.