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Email this8:45 am
January 1, 2018
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canadian.100 said
So I guess we all need to close our Meridian Savings accounts once these promos are over and then be eligible to get a new promo by opening a new Savings account at a later time. Truly ridiculous!
I see your point, canadian 100; but I think most everyone here, who deal with, or have, many different FIs, would agree, that they all have their little idiosyncrasies.
Since it only takes a matter of a minute or less to open or close a Meridian account, it's not a big deal to me, if I now need to do that, to enjoy a top level promotion, going forward.
I do think they would be better off dropping the 'existing similar account' stipulation, and base it solely on a time frame related to the prior promo participation. In this case it's Six Months, which is fair, I think. Just glad that current customers can partake, not just NEW ones. 
6:35 am
January 10, 2017
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Offer: Meridian Credit Union Limited (“Meridian”) is offering a high interest savings account (“HISA”) promotional interest rate of 3.95%, which will be added to the posted interest rate, on Eligible Deposits made into Eligible Accounts by Eligible Members, from April 14, 2025 to June 30, 2025 (the “Offer”).
Offer Period: The Offer is valid starting April 14, 2025, and until June 30, 2025 (the “Offer Period”). Meridian reserves the right to extend or shorten the Offer Period at its sole discretion.
Eligibility Criteria:
a Eligible Accounts: The Offer is only available on the following account types:
HISA (non-registered)
Tax-Free Savings Account (“TFSA”) HISA
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (“RRSP”) HISA
Registered Retirement Income Fund (“RRIF”) HISA
Promotional Period: The Offer is available to Eligible Members on Eligible Deposits made into the Eligible Account for one hundred and twenty-two (122) days (approximately 4 months) from the date the Eligible Account is opened. This means that the Promotional Rate would only be offered for a period of 122 days after the Eligible Account is opened.
Has anyone confirmed that a Meridian "HISA" account is different than their old "Advantage" account? If this is the case, anyone who still has an Advantage account would be eligible for this offer.
6:47 am
April 21, 2022
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Lodown said
Has anyone confirmed that a Meridian "HISA" account is different than their old "Advantage" account? If this is the case, anyone who still has an Advantage account would be eligible for this offer.
From reading elsewhere, the HISA and Advantage account are one and the same.
7:09 am
September 7, 2018
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JohnnyCash said
From reading elsewhere, the HISA and Advantage account are one and the same.
Confirmed - they are the same for the purposes of the promo. If you already have an Advantage Acct, you are not eligible for the promo even if you open a second Advantage Acct/HISA.
So closing any Advantage Accts after the promo, would probably work next time if Meridian does another such promo, since you can't already have an Advantage Acct to get the bonus rate. (The Advantage/HISA Acct regular rate is 0.85).
7:38 am
September 15, 2017
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canadian.100 said
Confirmed - they are the same for the purposes of the promo. If you already have an Advantage Acct, you are not eligible for the promo even if you open a second Advantage Acct/HISA.
So closing any Advantage Accts after the promo, would probably work next time if Meridian does another such promo, since you can't already have an Advantage Acct to get the bonus rate. (The Advantage/HISA Acct regular rate is ,eve0.85).
You can open a new promo online HISA account, if you already have an online HISA account (also known as Advantage account), but only if it is a different type (non-registered, TFSA, RRSP, RRIF) or in different name(s), such as individual or joint. Otherwise, my understanding is you are only eligible to open same type of promo account in same name(s) if you have not had another Advantage/HISA account for past 6 months.
7:46 am
January 10, 2017
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canadian.100 said
So closing any Advantage Accts after the promo, would probably work next time if Meridian does another such promo, since you can't already have an Advantage Acct to get the bonus rate. (The Advantage/HISA Acct regular rate is 0.85).
Having only 1 Advantage account with Meridian, is there a way to close it without terminating the relationship/online banking access with Meridian? This would avoid having to signup with them again when the next promo strikes.
8:40 am
September 7, 2018
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GR said
You can open a new promo online HISA account, if you already have an online HISA account (also known as Advantage account), but only if it is a different type (non-registered, TFSA, RRSP, RRIF) or in different name(s), such as individual or joint. Otherwise, my understanding is you are only eligible to open same type of promo account in same name(s) if you have not had another Advantage/HISA account for past 6 months.
1. Yes correct you can open a different type of HISA and get the promo. I had a non registered and wanted the promo with a non registered but I would have been eligible for TFSA or other registered HISA.
2. The agent I spoke to, told me the past 6 month rule is no longer valid. Appears that Meridian has tightened up on eligibility/flexibility.
9:47 am
January 1, 2018
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re the 6 month [or 180 day rule], from the original post by 'CR' in this thread.
here is an excerpt from the 29 criteria, namely 3 b.
b Eligible Deposit: A deposit is only deemed eligible if the funds being deposited into the Eligible Account have not been deposited in any account type with Meridian within the last one hundred and eighty (180) days of opening the Eligible Account. For additional clarity, Eligible Deposits must be transferred to an Eligible Account from a financial institution that is not Meridian or Aviso Wealth;
10:40 pm
April 9, 2019
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Is Meridian Credit Union trustworthy institution?
I opened account there today and it has some kind of 'shabbiness' in it; or it's just me?
There were complications filling their initial forms. I could not link my TD account online. Tried for 2 hrs, it was getting close then connection got severed. Many times. Had to fill forms, sign, send it by 'secure connection'; now have to wait until this happens. Had to wait on the phone to talk to rep.
I am in BC can not go to a brunch, using phone instead.
I want to move funds there to take advantage of their promo offer. Now have my doubts. It looks like their promotion is not tremendously popular. Why? Will this institution hold together for 4 months?
2:42 am
August 20, 2019
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Friends do not let friends bank at meridian. That is all I have to say.
7:19 am
April 27, 2017
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AndreyG said
Is Meridian Credit Union trustworthy institution?
I opened account there today and it has some kind of 'shabbiness' in it; or it's just me?
There were complications filling their initial forms. I could not link my TD account online. Tried for 2 hrs, it was getting close then connection got severed. Many times. Had to fill forms, sign, send it by 'secure connection'; now have to wait until this happens. Had to wait on the phone to talk to rep.
I am in BC can not go to a brunch, using phone instead.
I want to move funds there to take advantage of their promo offer. Now have my doubts. It looks like their promotion is not tremendously popular. Why? Will this institution hold together for 4 months?
It's fine and safe but old fashioned and tends to require you to go to the branch a lot to resolve issues.
9:50 am
December 20, 2019
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mordko said
It's fine and safe but old fashioned and tends to require you to go to the branch a lot to resolve issues.
I have two business accounts and 2 personal accounts and have never had to visit the bank. I use the secure message feature and anything that comes up gets resolved.
5:26 pm
February 6, 2019
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AndreyG said
Is Meridian Credit Union trustworthy institution?
I opened account there today and it has some kind of 'shabbiness' in it; or it's just me?
There were complications filling their initial forms. I could not link my TD account online. Tried for 2 hrs, it was getting close then connection got severed. Many times. Had to fill forms, sign, send it by 'secure connection'; now have to wait until this happens. Had to wait on the phone to talk to rep.
I am in BC can not go to a brunch, using phone instead.
I want to move funds there to take advantage of their promo offer. Now have my doubts. It looks like their promotion is not tremendously popular. Why? Will this institution hold together for 4 months?
Hi AndreyG. Is this going well now? I am planning to open an account with Meridian to take advantage of this offer (4.80%). I have done a little research and Manulife Bank (where my funds are) is not on their list of FIs that can be linked online. Therefore, I will have to do the same as you (fill and sign forms, etc...). Their so called Money Mover has a lot of restrictions (needs a void cheque or signature of employee at the other FI, you can only transfer 10,000$ / day, transfers can take 5 business days, and so on). This does not sound like it could work for me.
Does anyone know if there is a difference when linking an account online? I could do the transfer in 2 steps, like transfering from Manulife to another bank (say TD) and then link that bank online. Would I still be restricted to only transfer $10,000/day?
5:43 pm
January 7, 2020
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Your scenario mirrors
rk said
Hi AndreyG. Is this going well now? I am planning to open an account with Meridian to take advantage of this offer (4.80%). I have done a little research and Manulife Bank (where my funds are) is not on their list of FIs that can be linked online. Therefore, I will have to do the same as you (fill and sign forms, etc...). Their so called Money Mover has a lot of restrictions (needs a void cheque or signature of employee at the other FI, you can only transfer 10,000$ / day, transfers can take 5 business days, and so on). This does not sound like it could work for me.
Does anyone know if there is a difference when linking an account online? I could do the transfer in 2 steps, like transfering from Manulife to another bank (say TD) and then link that bank online. Would I still be restricted to only transfer $10,000/day?
Your scenario mirrors mine. Money currently in Manulife. I kept putting off opening the Meridian account, to extend the 120 days further. Finally opened it last week. I now have successfully completed links going both ways. But, as you point out, pulling into Meridian from Manulife-- or anywhere else, for that matter-- is a pita. They take a week to complete the transfer, and the limit is 10K per day.
The only limit on pushing from Manulife is 50K per day-- but you can call them to override that. I think I have settled on transferring the funds from Manulife, to my TD account, and then writing a check to deposit it into Meridian
5:52 pm
February 6, 2019
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Thank you mustang. That could probably work for me, too (as I have a couple of TD cheques remaining somewhere) ... however, I have noticed that Meridian appears on Manulife Flinks list (which is a pleasant surprise) , so as soon as I open the Meridian account, I will try to link it from Manulife. If that works, and I can push funds into Meridian, at least the problem is solved for the transfer in. Then I will have 4 months to figure out how to transfer it out 🙂
6:09 pm
April 21, 2022
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I've participated in Meridian's promo offers for a number of years. They've gotten better with trying to maintain their base interest rate as much as possible when the BoC makes rate announcements, especially these days when they are dropping.
On the topic of EFT transfers, the lesson learned over the years is that all push and pull transfers are best initiated from external banks, such as Manulife where you can schedule multiple $50,000 pulls and pushes daily, it's one of my favorite accounts for that function. Don't even bother initiating them at Meridian.
6:16 pm
February 6, 2019
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JohnnyCash said
I've participated in Meridian's promo offers for a number of years. They've gotten better with trying to maintain their base interest rate as much as possible when the BoC makes rate announcements, especially these days when they are dropping.On the topic of EFT transfers, the lesson learned over the years is that all push and pull transfers are best initiated from external banks, such as Manulife where you can schedule multiple $50,000 pulls and pushes daily, it's one of my favorite accounts for that function. Don't even bother initiating them at Meridian.
Thank you JohnnyCash. Sounds good.
7:21 pm
March 15, 2019
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mordko said
It's fine and safe but old fashioned and tends to require you to go to the branch a lot to resolve issues.
I'm actually happy they have physical branches staffed with real humans (remember real humans?).
3:34 pm
October 4, 2018
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Hi,
I'm looking at opening a Meridian HISA once my promotional offer with Manulife (Advantage Account) ends next week on Thursday June 19, 2025. I just had some questions regarding Meridian's HISA. Is the promotional interest rate still at 4.80% for months? Are there any fees associated with the HISA?
I've never signed up for any Meridian products in the past so any feedback would be much appreciated.
Kind regards,
TD
4:02 pm
February 6, 2019
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Hi TD,
I and my spouse have recently opened Advantage accounts at Meridian, to take advantage of the 4.80% rate. As of today, the rate is still 4.80% (and it is supposed to stay the same for 4 months after opening the account).
Yes, we saw in the past FIs advertising a rate for a certain amount of time, just to reduce it much earlyer... but not at Meridian, so keeping fingers crossed.
I am not aware of fees that would affect us, but certainly there must be some fees. Best is to read the offer: https://www.meridiancu.ca/personal/chequing-and-savings-accounts/savings-accounts/earn-more-with-a-high-interest-savings-account
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