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Email this10:47 am
September 25, 2022
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On their website, Saven mentions a $25 membership fee as their only fee.
But the site also says that you get a dividend from that fee, which sort of implies that it's not really a fee, it's more of a purchase of equity.
If it's a fee, once you've paid it, it's gone. If it's equity, then if you close your account, you should get it back. The website doesn't say if you do or not.
Does anybody here know if you get that $25 back if you close your account?
3:29 pm
December 12, 2009
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mrfalcon said
On their website, Saven mentions a $25 membership fee as their only fee.But the site also says that you get a dividend from that fee, which sort of implies that it's not really a fee, it's more of a purchase of equity.
If it's a fee, once you've paid it, it's gone. If it's equity, then if you close your account, you should get it back. The website doesn't say if you do or not.
Does anybody here know if you get that $25 back if you close your account?
That's very likely poor wording on Saven Financial's part. The dividend is not guaranteed, but as you point out, it's paid based on your equity in the credit union. Thus, it's refunded to you when you close your membership. Note that closing your account is not the same as closing your membership. 
Cheers,
Doug
7:14 am
April 14, 2022
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mrfalcon said
On their website, Saven mentions a $25 membership fee as their only fee.But the site also says that you get a dividend from that fee, which sort of implies that it's not really a fee, it's more of a purchase of equity.
If it's a fee, once you've paid it, it's gone. If it's equity, then if you close your account, you should get it back. The website doesn't say if you do or not.
Does anybody here know if you get that $25 back if you close your account?
When you become a member of Saven Financial, a special membership share account will automatically be opened for you. Because Saven is a division of FirstOntario Credit Union, your initial $25 investment will be held in FirstOntario along with any subsequent dividend payments. You can view your membership share account any time by logging into your Saven account.
We do not refer to the initial $25 investment as a fee. If you ever decided to stop being a Saven member, all your membership shares and any acquired dividends are paid back to you.
8:13 am
September 25, 2022
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Thanks, all, for your help!
8:25 am
September 30, 2017
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SavenFinancial. Can you tell me more regarding the tax treatment ... dividends taxable? If yes, will Saven issue T5 for these dividends? If yes, in the tax year declared? or the tax year the member stop being a Saven member? Will these dividends earn interest over the period being held?
Thanks in advance
12:35 pm
October 21, 2013
Online
I imagine Saven operate the same as other CUs that provide "dividends". In that case, they will be included on your T5 along with interest earned. Note that these are NOT "eligible dividends" under CRA rules and do not get different tax treatment from earned or interest income. This applies to both the dividend and the interest on the dividend.
They typically amount to very little, not worth worrying about. DUCA, for example, pays 2% on its dividends. Others pay a lump sum per member. Yet others pay different rates each year and depending on whether loan or deposit. Some give you the dividend right away; others retain it for several years. None of it is worth a lot.
1:29 pm
April 14, 2022
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hwyc said
SavenFinancial. Can you tell me more regarding the tax treatment ... dividends taxable? If yes, will Saven issue T5 for these dividends? If yes, in the tax year declared? or the tax year the member stop being a Saven member? Will these dividends earn interest over the period being held?Thanks in advance
A single T5 is issued for the tax year if your investment income (interest earned + dividends) exceeds $50. Dividends do not earn interest.
5:51 am
September 25, 2022
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Welp, I tried registering for a Saven account.
This is what happened:
- The page asks for an email and a mobile phone number to which they'll send a code over SMS (this is IT Security theatre. It's not reliable. But it's better than nothing. Better to use a one-time passcode like Google Authenticator or Authy.)
- this took about 5 tries to actually get a code - In the password field the password requirements lower security. The only things that matter for password strength are: length and amount of potential characters. As soon as you _require_ something (like an uppercase letter, lowercase letter, number, special character, etc.) it lowers entropy. It's like getting a yellow letter in Wordle.
- But there are a lot of IT Security Nincompoops out there. And banks tend to only do what will cost less than a breach. So it is understandable. - The process was confusing.....do I need to verify my phone number before entering a password? Anyway, when I did all that I got a webpage saying "Sorry, something went wrong. Go to our Contact Us page to tell us about it [link provided]".
- I click the link, it's a 404 - Page not found...well a "That page doesn't exist anymore" thing. Toh-may-toh/Toh-may-toh.
Okay, I give up. I'll go to another institution.
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