New Promo Savings Accounts 4.70% (385% + Variable Posted Rate) | Meridian Credit Union | Discussion forum

Interesting how quickly they have another pomotional rate, as the previous one has just ended. I am not eligible, as I just closed an account. Maybe in 6 months... I have noticed that the 4.7% could go down during the 4 months (but still a very good rate).

Thanks for posting this 'GR' ... definitely would be of interest to me, towards the end of the year; but wondering how likely is that 'open account by December 31st' date to continue, vs the promo getting pulled early ?

I currently have 2 active promos elsewhere ... both at 4.50% that end mid Jan, and mid Feb respectively, so would be wanting to get as much of the 4 months promo as possible @ 4.70 thus, the plan would be to open a Joint HISA around Dec 29/30 and start moving funds in Jan 2nd.

bottomline: anyone have past experience with Meridian pulling their promo start date early ? thanks

NorthernRaven said

https://www.fsrao.ca/about-fsra/corporate-reporting/annual-reports-and-financial-statements

They seem to have something around $600M in the fund. From a quick look, it doesn't appear that there are current stats on what that represents as a percentage of insured deposits, or the amount of insured deposits. A few years back they were at about 80bps on that, and claiming there would be a gradual rise to 100bps (1%) of insured deposits around about now. Whether they have reached that or not I don't know. 100bps would be somewhat low compared to the big CU provinces out west, which target anywhere up to 160bps.

They do have what appears to be a $2 billion line of credit with the province, which would be a huge pot if they actually used it to supplement the actual DIRF assets in an extraordinary crisis. That looks a lot like an informal way of backing up the DIRF while they figure out how large it should be?

Remember, CUs have their own capital that can be eaten up in a crisis, FSRA can use smaller amounts to sweeten merger/sale to healthy institutions, a lot of load assets may be insured mortgages, and all sorts of other factors - a CUs total assets don't just vanish in a puff of smoke. There's really no good way to know how the guarantee resources would support the system in an unspecified "meltdown".  

Thank you for the particular details around the insurance backing of the CU in Ontario. It appears, as would be the case in other jurisdictions, that there would be an expectation of the province or feds stepping into situation where things went sideways including a "bank run" (witness California of a few years ago). More debt to pay off other liabilities as would be the case?

As an aside, I was once going through some credit union member agreements (west - BC) and found the very fine print... "should we (the CU) have cause to freeze the deposits in your account it will be at our sole discretion... the CU is the holder and keeper of the funds (perhaps permanently). " [or similar] I don't know if this is their language for a "bail-in" scenario. I suspect a very small percentage of people understand their legal grounds once a deposit is placed with the bounds (electronic or physical) of a financial institution. Let's hope we never see the test of this with CUs, or any other FI, in Canada.

I managed to open a new HISA account with Meridian today. Their on-line application is a bit onerous, asking for photos of both sides of ID such as drivers licence, plus taking a video of your face! The first time I tried to open the account on Sunday, it was rejected. Spoke to a rep there, who advised to try again, and that worked. It seems that workdays are the days to apply, not weekends.

To get funds there, I will push from outside FIs. Easier that way to pull it out again come April, if rates severely drop.

So now I will get 4.7% until early April. Not too shabby.

I am, too, waiting till end of December, to open the account. If the offer is then still available, great. If not, there will be other opportunities. Either way is great!

Jim Sherat said
yes it's a good promo for sure, rhvic.
Q. once you were able to get the account opened, did it reflect the 4.7% rate at that point, or did a CSR have to assist ?
re the 'onerous' part ... did you already have accounts with Meridian ? asking cuz I don't recall having to go through all that id song n dance, when I've opened a new non-registered account, but we do have a checking a/c and TFSA's there. thanks.

re comments 4 and 7 above, I've been bidding my time to open a NEW joint HISA account hoping to stretch the 4 months duration as far into 2026 as possible. however, the FOMO factor is kicking in, knowing that the promo could get pulled at any time. Maybe today is the day to take action? 😉  

Yes, the account did state 4.7% rate without having to invoke a CSR.

No, I did not already have an account with Meridian, hence the onerous part of having to provide drivers licence and face video, something no other FI has ever asked me for.

I do have a Manulife promo for (now) 4.5% until Jan 22, but I was not sure the Meridian promo would still be available til then, hence my decision to open this account now.