Personal Finance

Official RFD thread for High Interest Savings Accounts (See Thread Summary for Updates)

Sr. Member
Mar 17, 2008
810 posts
660 upvotes
Ontario
Just noticed that on BMOIL, their HISA rates are now 4.1% for C$ and 4% for US$.

Not happy with BMO/BMOIL for other reasons, but happy enough about storing cash at these rates.
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Dec 12, 2005
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The 905
Got an email last night from Simpli offering 5% until April 30th on new deposits
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Nov 19, 2004
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jr! wrote: Got an email last night from Simpli offering 5% until April 30th on new deposits
Received that as well. Just be wary, the offer period is from the start of December and they take the average daily closing balance for each day in the offer period. So considering it is Dec 22 already, that means if you did not have anything in the account, you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in.

Edit: It does come to the same thing if you just add money today and only get interest from today forward. It still averages the zero days in, but no different than any other account if you had zero and just added money later.
Sr. Member
Aug 16, 2005
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don242 wrote: Received that as well. Just be wary, the offer period is from the start of December and they take the average daily closing balance for each day in the offer period. So considering it is Dec 22 already, that means if you did not have anything in the account, you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in.

Edit: It does come to the same thing if you just add money today and only get interest from today forward. It still averages the zero days in, but no different than any other account if you had zero and just added money later.
I didnt get any emails from them - my family has 4 accounts with them. None of us have any significant amount there as of Dec 1. I wonder what the criteria is. I bet those who received promo had significant funds in the account as of the promo start date and they're going to use that "average" rule in getting around not paying promo bonuses.
Did you have any money in account as of dec 1?
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Jan 7, 2002
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markdweasel wrote: I didnt get any emails from them - my family has 4 accounts with them. None of us have any significant amount there as of Dec 1. I wonder what the criteria is. I bet those who received promo had significant funds in the account as of the promo start date and they're going to use that "average" rule in getting around not paying promo bonuses.
Did you have any money in account as of dec 1?
No apparent rhyme or reason. I last got a promo from Simplii at least two years ago. Since that promo ended I've had less than $1 in the account and no other activity with Simplii. I've been waiting for a new offer and they've been ignoring me.

Suddenly today I got the new 5% offer. Nothing in between. So why now? And why today, rather than earlier in December when the offer supposedly began?

And FWIW my money is already committed elsewhere. So now it's my turn to ignore them.
veni, vidi, Visa
Sr. Member
Aug 16, 2005
765 posts
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bylo wrote: No apparent rhyme or reason. I last got a promo from Simplii at least two years ago. Since that promo ended I've had less than $1 in the account and no other activity with Simplii. I've been waiting for a new offer and they've been ignoring me.

Suddenly today I got the new 5% offer. Nothing in between. So why now? And why today, rather than earlier in December when the offer supposedly began?

And FWIW my money is already committed elsewhere. So now it's my turn to ignore them.
Makes no sense. they really screwed me with the promo interest due to the fine print on the "average" balance. I signed up for an original promo back in July then transferred money in sep when they bumped their rate beating Tangerine. I ended up getting nothing in interest due to the account having funds on july 1.
Not happy one bit.
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Nov 19, 2004
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markdweasel wrote: I didnt get any emails from them - my family has 4 accounts with them. None of us have any significant amount there as of Dec 1. I wonder what the criteria is. I bet those who received promo had significant funds in the account as of the promo start date and they're going to use that "average" rule in getting around not paying promo bonuses.
Did you have any money in account as of dec 1?
These lottery offers are always annoying. I get some, and some I don't. There doesn't seem to be any reasoning behind them. I had most everything cleared out of the account, except for $2k that I was slowing moving. I am going to go with this one since I didn't get any of the promos from the other banks this time around.
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Aug 10, 2008
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don242 wrote: Received that as well. Just be wary, the offer period is from the start of December and they take the average daily closing balance for each day in the offer period. So considering it is Dec 22 already, that means if you did not have anything in the account, you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in.

Edit: It does come to the same thing if you just add money today and only get interest from today forward. It still averages the zero days in, but no different than any other account if you had zero and just added money later.
The wording I see is this: "For Eligible Savings Accounts opened before the Offer Period that have been enrolled in the offer, promotional interest is calculated on the portion of the applicable account’s average daily closing balance during the Offer Period that exceeds the closing balance as at No‍vember 30, 20‍22". Similar wording as previous promotions.

The wording of "average daily closing balance", it's not the daily balance averaged throughout the entire offer period from Dec 1 to Apr 30, right? That would be ridonc! LOL!

Maybe strikeout your original comment of "you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in", so lunkheads like me aren't fooled by it.
markdweasel wrote: Makes no sense. they really screwed me with the promo interest due to the fine print on the "average" balance. I signed up for an original promo back in July then transferred money in sep when they bumped their rate beating Tangerine. I ended up getting nothing in interest due to the account having funds on july 1.
Not happy one bit.
Isn't this how it works for TING and EQ as well? You had money in there when they took the snapshot at the start of the promotion on July 1st, so even though you enrolled in the offer in Sept, it's still only applicable on the amounts above your balance that was noted on July 1st.

FWIW, I had a 3% offer from July 1, 2022 to Oct 31, 2022, and then mid-way the bumped it up to 3.85% and applied it retroactively to my earlier daily balances. But I moved my money to TING when they gave me a 4.30% offer, which runs till Dec 31st. After I moved my money out of Simplii, I still got the expected payout for having some money in Simplii for about a month, and they paid that accrued daily interest to my account on Nov 17th. Anyways, I moved it all out and had a $0 balance in the account on Nov 30th. Today I got the 5% promo which is good timing for me as the TING offer is expiring next week. Time to call TING to get a human to transfer the funds to Simplii (I need to move more than the daily online maximum of $25,000).
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Newbie
Dec 21, 2022
1 posts
1 upvote
Hi,

So what does that mean? I got the offer too. Let's assume I had 10K in my savings on Nov 30th and tomorrow I deposit another 100K to bring my savings balance to 110K. Do I get a 5% interest rate on 100K until April 30th?

If not, what would the interest rate be in this situation?

I'm wondering if I should just leave my money in EQ.

Thoughts?
Member
Feb 3, 2011
381 posts
147 upvotes
Calgary
I have the existing tangerine 4.25% offer ending in December 31. Just got this email:

"secret’s out. A new special Savings rate is coming your way!

Very soon, you’re going to be able to earn a 4.75% special interest rate on all of your eligible non-registered Savings balances of up to $1,000,000 combined*!



Here’s what you need to know:

1. Look out for a message from us dropping in your inbox on January 5, 2023.

2. In that email, activate your offer to earn your special rate.

3. To make the most of your special rate, just keep your money right where it is."
Deal Addict
May 21, 2004
3000 posts
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GTA
For people considering the Simplii offer, I'm reposting my prior message with modified deposit dates to illustrate when you make your deposits makes no difference. As well, please take note of @don242's comment of them average some zero days at the start of the promo as that is a huge deal. Simplii has really outdone themselves to be the scummiest bank.

I'll give a simplified example to better illustrate how Simplii is screwing their customers. Let's say they are giving 5% interest for a mere 10 day promo and it begins on Day 1 and ends on Day 10. The account balance is as follows:
Day 1: $5,000
Day 2: $0
Day 3: $10,000
Day 4: $0
Day 5: $15,000
Day 6: $0
Day 7: $20,000
Day 8: $0
Day 9: $0
Day 10: $0

Under the previous shady rule of only paying for "new money", they take a snapshot on Day 1 so only amounts over $5,000 will get the bonus. Under their newest shady rule of paying the average balance, that would mean ($5,000 + $10,000 + $15,000 + $20,000) divided by 10 days. So that's $50,000 / 10 = $5,000 and so you get ZERO bonus interest.

In comparison, if they only use their original shady rule of taking a snapshot:
Day 1: ($5,000 - $5,000) * 0.05 / 365 = $0
Day 3: ($10,000 - $5,000) * 0.05 / 365 = $0.68
Day 5: ($15,000 - $5,000) * 0.05 / 365 = $1.37
Day 7: ($20,000 - $5,000) * 0.05 / 365 = $2.05

So there you have it, the difference is getting $0 versus $4.10 even with their shady practice of only paying on "new money".
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May 21, 2004
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bizee-bee wrote: The wording of "average daily closing balance", it's not the daily balance averaged throughout the entire offer period from Dec 1 to Apr 30, right? That would be ridonc! LOL!

Maybe strikeout your original comment of "you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in", so lunkheads like me aren't fooled by it.
Fooling people is exactly what that verbiage is for. Don't think for a second they aren't trying to screw you over.
Sr. Member
Apr 23, 2009
692 posts
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GTA
don242 wrote: Received that as well. Just be wary, the offer period is from the start of December and they take the average daily closing balance for each day in the offer period. So considering it is Dec 22 already, that means if you did not have anything in the account, you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in.

Edit: It does come to the same thing if you just add money today and only get interest from today forward. It still averages the zero days in, but no different than any other account if you had zero and just added money later.
I am confused. I received the offer and I transferred some $ to simplii, starting from ~ Dec 19th. (before that i had ~zero balance.) If I don't plan to keep the $ there for the rest of the offer perid (up to 4/30/23) is it better to take the $ back to Tang (4.75%)?

I know that simplii only gives you simple interest, while Tang gives you monthly compounding (so if the promo rates are the same Tang is the way to go). Other than that if Tang is also offering new money promo, I don't see anything different about the Tang vs Simplii offers the way I read the current Simplii terms. Am I wrong?

Thanks :)
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May 21, 2004
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don242 wrote: Received that as well. Just be wary, the offer period is from the start of December and they take the average daily closing balance for each day in the offer period. So considering it is Dec 22 already, that means if you did not have anything in the account, you already have 22 days of zero that will be averaged in.

Edit: It does come to the same thing if you just add money today and only get interest from today forward. It still averages the zero days in, but no different than any other account if you had zero and just added money later.
Actually, it does make a difference when you take the average with zeros. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean?
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Nov 19, 2004
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Britex wrote: Actually, it does make a difference when you take the average with zeros. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean?
You are right, it does make a difference.

And maybe this is wrong, but when I read it, I was thinking more along the lines that you get interest on the balance (above your starting amount) for the average of the entire $100 days regardless of what you have in there day-to-day. For example, just to keep it easy - Say the promo is for 100 days, on day 0 you have zero in the account. You put $100k in on day 21 because they are only getting around to telling you about the promo well after it starts (which is stupid).

1. Normal - If the $100k collects 5% from the day you put it in (day21) until then end. You get 80 days of interest at 5% (~$1096).
or
2. They average the entire 100 days and give you 5% on that. You put $100k in on day 21. The average balance would be $80k over those 100 days (since the first 20 was zero). You get 5% on $80k for the entire 100 days = ~$1096.

Both come to the same.
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emiabe wrote: I am confused. I received the offer and I transferred some $ to simplii, starting from ~ Dec 19th. (before that i had ~zero balance.) If I don't plan to keep the $ there for the rest of the offer perid (up to 4/30/23) is it better to take the $ back to Tang (4.75%)?

I know that simplii only gives you simple interest, while Tang gives you monthly compounding (so if the promo rates are the same Tang is the way to go). Other than that if Tang is also offering new money promo, I don't see anything different about the Tang vs Simplii offers the way I read the current Simplii terms. Am I wrong?

Thanks :)
If my interpretation is correct... which people are free to correct me... it seems that Simplii is still the better option (compounding aside). For simplistic sake, say the promo is 100 days long. You have $100k that you deposit in either Simplii or Tangerine for one day (after that you decided to spend it all on some go wild party). On that one day you would get the following interest from each:

Tangerine = $100k * 4.75% /365 = $13.01

Simplii = $100k for one day is $1k average for the promo period of 100 days = $1k * 5% /365 *100 days = $13.70

Again, this is just my interpretation as it seems Simplii is taking the average of the promo period regardless of whether or not you had money in their every day or not.
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Apr 18, 2008
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don242 wrote: If my interpretation is correct... which people are free to correct me... it seems that Simplii is still the better option (compounding aside). For simplistic sake, say the promo is 100 days long. You have $100k that you deposit in either Simplii or Tangerine for one day (after that you decided to spend it all on some go wild party). On that one day you would get the following interest from each:

Tangerine = $100k * 4.75% /365 = $13.01

Simplii = $100k for one day is $1k average for the promo period of 100 days = $1k * 5% /365 *100 days = $13.70

Again, this is just my interpretation as it seems Simplii is taking the average of the promo period regardless of whether or not you had money in their every day or not.
Now change your example slightly -- let's say there is a starting balance of $1k, that both companies use as threshold to qualify for the high interest rate (4.75% / 5%).
In Tangerine's case, for that 1 day $99k qualifies for 4.75% (so roughly $12.88) (plus $1k for 1 day at whatever the low base interest rate)
In Simplii's case, your average balance over 100 days is $1k, so no money qualifies for 5%, all earn the low base rate only

It can be mathematically proven, that the Simplii's "average balance" calculation is never better than the normal "each day's balance" calculation (like Tangerine). It is equal (at best), or worse (whenever any day drops below the "starting balance").

But who cares about math details ... Easiest way to understand is to think of this: every day that your balance is below the "starting balance", in Tangerine's case it has no bad effect on the other days when you have higher balance and do qualify for bonus interest. In Simplii's case, those days pull down the "average balance" and do lower the overall amount that qualifies for bonus interest.

And yes if your "starting balance" is $0 -- as all RFDers should arrange their finances to achieve -- then yes the "average balance" approach is no worse, and 5% is better than 4.75%. (4.75% compounding monthly is roughly equivalent to 4.85% non-compound annual rate, so 5% is still better.)
Last edited by ssiu on Dec 24th, 2022 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Deal Addict
Apr 18, 2008
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don242 wrote: You are right, it does make a difference.

And maybe this is wrong, but when I read it, I was thinking more along the lines that you get interest on the balance (above your starting amount) for the average of the entire $100 days regardless of what you have in there day-to-day. For example, just to keep it easy - Say the promo is for 100 days, on day 0 you have zero in the account. You put $100k in on day 21 because they are only getting around to telling you about the promo well after it starts (which is stupid).

1. Normal - If the $100k collects 5% from the day you put it in (day21) until then end. You get 80 days of interest at 5% (~$1096).
or
2. They average the entire 100 days and give you 5% on that. You put $100k in on day 21. The average balance would be $80k over those 100 days (since the first 20 was zero). You get 5% on $80k for the entire 100 days = ~$1096.

Both come to the same.
That is correct. They are the same in this case, because "starting balance" is $0, the $0 days do not have bad effect, all money qualifies for bonus interest.
Amerifriend threads need to include instructions on how to acquire an amerifriend. :confused:

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