Opening a Tangerine account without the external link | Tangerine Bank | Discussion forum

Hi Kodiac:

It seems like you would need an external account to open a Tangerine checking account, since they won't let you send cash in the mail for that first deposit. Unless they will let you switch payroll and use that as a "first deposit" - it is worth asking. I'm a current Tangerine client with no external-linked account. I opened one of their high-interest accounts in 2007, and I switched my checking to Thrive in 2011. At that point, I closed my RBC accounts and deleted the link to my external RBC account in the ING system. I've been using Thrive for the last few years with no external link. I do have a bi-weekly transfer to CDF, but that's drawn from CDF's end and is not set-up as a "linked" account, from Tangerine's perspective.

Hi Kanaka:

I don't make recommendations, but I can describe my own experience. I have been using Tangerine (previously ING's Thrive) for day-to-day banking since it became available in 2011. I have no complaints so far. I use it for payroll, bill payment and pretty much everything except longterm savings. I have a CDF account for longterm savings, only because I don't like Tangerine's rates.

Hi Kanaka:

No, you cannot currently pay bills from a Tangerine savings account. Yes, you can currently pay your bills from a Tangerine checking account. Currently, you can also instantly transfer funds between your Tangerine checking account and Tangerine savings accounts. Currently, you can also instantly Transfer funds from any of these accounts to any other Tangerine accounts that you hold jointly with other Tangerine clients. So if I need to pay a bill, I transfer month from Tangerine savings to Tangerine checking, then pay the bill from Tangerine checking.

You can also currently do free, instant email money Transfers between yourself and other Tangerine clients; these Tangerine-client-to-Tangerine-client email money transfers currently do not involve Interac. Instant email money transfers to non-Tangerine clients are currently charged an Interac fee of, I believe, $1.50. There is also an option for a non-instant, free email money transfer to non-Tangerine clients, with a 2 to 5 business days processing time.

The Tangerine checking account currently comes with unlimited monthly transactions and no monthly fee. There is a fee that applies if your Tangerine checking account is left in overdraft for thirty days or more, and there is a fee for bounced transactions.

If you use the CRA's online "My Account" feature, note that Tangerine is currently recognized as a "CRA Sign-In Partner," so you can log into your "My Account" at CRA by entering your Tangerine credentials instead of your CRA credentials, after completing the "CRA Sign-In Partner" sign-up process.

I did briefly miss face-to-face banking when I wanted to order some U.S. dollars. However, I instead used Travellex.ca to have them couriered to my home for free (the rate at Travellex.ca online was much better than the rate at Travellex stores at airports, as I recall, though still not as good as XE's rate).

Hi Kanaka:

If you don't mind me asking, why is it necessary for you to pay bills from a savings account rather than from a checking account?

You will likely get a faster response by phoning the Tangerine 1-800 number; emails sometimes take 3 to 5 business days for them to respond to, from my experience in the past, and my guess is that they are likely much busier now, fielding queries from current clients about the switch to Tangerine.

Hi Kanaka:

Currently, Tangerine does not have a secure internal message system where you can login and send a secure message, like some other banks. And since regular email is not secure, they currently only respond to general inquires via email rather than account specific ones. Perhaps this is a holdover from their early status as a telephone bank. FYI:

Tangerine currently does have an option to set-up automatic transfers between accounts and automatic bill payments. I sometimes use these to pay bills, as I don’t keep money in the checking account.

In the past I have hooked up PayPal to a Tangerine savings account and have withdrawn and deposited amounts successfully with PayPal.

Also, Tangerine checking accounts currently do earn interest. Today the checking account rate is .025% at the lowest and 1.10% at the highest. Better than 0%

Good luck with your search!

The poor response times from Tangerine do not speak well for them. I never had this problem with ING.
I have changed my mind and will not be moving some money I had intended to move to them. I have no need of another dysfunctional bank.
I will also be moving a chunk of money OUT of Tangerine that was already there, in a different kind of account. I would likely be doing the latter anyway, but will do it faster now. An upsurge in phone calls could have been predicted, and should have been planned for - if that's what it is. For all we know, perhaps they fired a bunch of people or outsourced to g-knows-where.
The one thing that always made ING worthwhile for me for some deposits despite inferior rates was that they had great customer service.
They need to put less money into advertizing and more into customer service.

Maybe, instead of Tangerine, they should call it Tangent! Kind of out there on the fringe somewhere, but not fully functional! lol