A stern warning for those considering RBC's interest promos | RBC Royal Bank | Discussion forum

Kasper665 said
Earlier this year, I signed up for this RBC promo rate and made a significant deposit into the account. The first interest deposit didn't include the promo. Went to our advisor, they fumbled around for a week and nothing happened. Escalated to the branch manager, same thing. Escalated to the back office. Now months later, the status is still "under investigation" with no time frame given for the simple resolution of immediately deposit the interest owed into the account.

I pulled my funds and will be closing the account. They owe me thousands in interest. Looks like I'm going to small claims court because OBSI is a black hole.  

Thanks for sharing your experience. The promo is less attractive when one factors in the risk of having to chase down the promised interest payments due to administrative error.

Interestingly, RBC is the only Canadian bank that I ever had a significant administrative problem with. About 35 years ago, I deposited 2 cheques into my account through one their ATMs at Bloor and St. George Street in Toronto.

Back in the day, you had to put cheques in a deposit envelope to process them through a slot in the machine. Although my receipt showed both deposits, RBC only credited one of the two checques and claimed the other had gone missing because I put two in one envelope. The result was that my account was overdrawn due to to not having the funds on deposit when I wrote another cheque.

After a couple of weeks, RBC did find the missing cheque, but they refused to reverse the overdraft fee, insisting that it was my fault for putting two cheques in the deposit envelope. I promptly closed my account and moved over to TD, where I've been reasonably well served ever since.

Sounds like plus ca change, plus cést la meme chose at RBC.

Lost me at "owe me thousands in interest" on money that was deposited a few weeks ago! Why on earth would anyone with that kind of cash be putting it in a savings account? Have all the questions from the anti-money-laundering team been answered or is OP just trolling? As for holding a grudge for a self inflicted wound from 35 years ago; RBC has never made a mistake in the 75 years they've held my accounts [first account opened for me by my father at one month of age]. TD, OTOH, has caused my sister and me considerable grief along with modest losses of opportunity.

Sounds like the recent promotion for the BMO Savings Amplifier Account.

Receive 4.6% for 120 days on the Amplifier account if one opens certain BMO chequing accounts, like the $17.95/month BMO Performance Chequing Account, and then opens the Amplifier account within 30 days of opening the chequing account.

The described issues are more likely with the branch staff and than with the RBC offers. Staff sometimes don't understand the details of the offers and give wrong info to unsuspecting clients.

Bank branch staff are a varied group. Some are sharp, like one BMO teller who eventually became one of the bank's CEO's. Sadly, some can't handle anything outside routine deposits and withdrawals.

Alexandre said

GIC-Fanatic said
Wife was offered a 4.6% at BMO as a result of going to a teller for some $10 bills. I told her it was a 3 or 4 month offer with a $17.95 a month fee.

It is possible BMO runs different promos simultaneously. I've got 4.6% offer for opening Amplifier account, valid till December 31st. Collected first month interest already, and there are no fees or other conditions. All I have with BMO is regular no fee Checking account, and now added Amplifier.  

Hey, I was wondering which day BMO pays out the promotional interest? I didn’t see the promotional interest on January 1, and I’m also having trouble finding the promotional terms for BMO.

For context, in 2025 I used promos from Manulife, RBC, Vancity, Meridian, and CIBC without any issues. The only one that didn’t work out for me was Scotiabank. I eventually closed that account since they couldn’t get things sorted, either over the phone or in the branch.

Yeah, their terms and conditions feel pretty shady. They keep updating the same file, which makes it almost impossible to look up what the conditions were a few months ago:
https://www.bmo.com/pdf/saving.....fer-en.pdf

Either way, I’m not moving a large amount of money until the promotional rate is actually paid out to my account the first time. When I called to check if I was eligible for the promotion, the guy kept me on the phone for 55 minutes, talked to his supervisor five different times, and still couldn’t give me a clear answer. All he could say in the end was that he hoped I’d get it and that it wasn't visible on his end....

AltaRed said
With all due respect, Countysaver has a valid point. One would need millions deposited to be owed 'thousands in interest in a matter of a few months', albeit you didn't exactly specify the time period in question. One does have to carefully read the terms of the specific promo. Some don't pay out until the promo period is concluded, while others pay it out monthly along with regular account interest. Without that information, the original post does not mean much.  

One would need Millions? Assuming a 3% bonus offer and $400,000 deposit gives $1000 per month of bonus interest. So in a few (say 2 months) that is indeed "thousands owed". What is the problem?

rk said
Well, I am trying ... I have opened an eSavings account with RBC and will be moving in some funds soon. I have already noticed that the rate is not mentioned when I log into my account...

You should be all good for the offer if you are a Canadian resident, opened a brand new eSavings account (not converted an existing RBC account to an eSavings account), and never were the primary owner of an eSavings account before:

¹ The Bonus Interest Rate on October 31, 2025 of 4.05% within the RBC New eSavings Client Bonus Interest Rate Offer (“Offer”) is available to residents of Canada who are of the age of majority in the province or territory in which they reside as of the date the Eligible eSavings Account is opened and who were not the Primary Owner of an RBC High Interest eSavings Account at any time before the beginning of the Qualifying Period (as defined below), and who open a new RBC High Interest eSavings Account (“Eligible eSavings Account”) as the Primary Owner between October 31, 2025 and 3:00 PM EST on January 27, 2026 (the “Qualifying Period”). (Note: For added clarity, you will not qualify for this Offer by switching from another account type to an Eligible eSavings Account.) … Conditions apply. For other defined terms and complete terms and conditions that apply to this Offer, please visit http://www.rbc.com/novemberhisa25.

the fineprint states, "...and who were not the Primary Owner of an RBC High Interest eSavings Account at any time before the beginning of the Qualifying Period ..."

If I only have a "RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account", does it disqualify me from this offer?