hows | Financial Crooks

Recently ING Direct, now called Tangerine, introduced Canada to a banking feature that has been in use in the USA for years. By using an app on your smart phone, iPad or iPod, you can send a photo of a cheque to ING. They will then deposit the cheque just as if you popped it into a bank machine or the mail. I decided to try it and see how it would work to deposit a dividend cheque into my ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine ~~THRIVE~~ account using our iPad.

First of all, for those who think we dropped the big bucks on an iPad, let me clarify that my husband won it at a mandatory work charity golf tournament. For those who know his golfing technique, yes this is totally true. Ask him for the details. But I’m very glad he won it because without it this article could not have been written.

Read the General Information about Tangerine’s Cheque-In App

You can read up on this new way to deposit cheques on the Tangerine website at ~~http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/landingpage/chequein/index.html~~
https://www.tangerine.ca/en/ways-to-bank/mobile-banking/index.html#cheque-in
and http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/landingpage/chequein/faq.html.
https://www.tangerine.ca/en/faq/ways-to-bank/mobile/index.html

NOTE:

You can only deposit Canadian cheques written in Canadian dollars at this time (October 2013.)
You don’t need to endorse the cheque.
You can deposit a maximum of $20,000 per day.

Get the Tangerine Mobile Banking App

First you will have to download and install the Tangerine mobile banking app on your smart phone, tablet, iPad or iPod. They have an app for Windows 8 devices (all five of you should be happy!), Android devices, Blackberrys, and some tablets.

You’ll need a recent version of the app to get the cheque depositing feature and you’ll need a device with a camera with good resolution.

Depositing a Cheque with the Tangerine Mobile Banking App

Once you’ve installed the Tangerine mobile banking app, you will also have installed their new Cheque-In feature.

I tested this new feature using an iPad. There may be slight differences in how the app works on different devices. Sorry!

Log In To Mobile Banking

On your iPad, tap on the Tangerine icon.
In the Log me in field, type your Tangerine client number, card number or username.
If necessary, tap on the Go button.
If applicable, in the Your Secret Question field, type the answer to your personal question, then tap on the Next button.
In the Your PIN field type your personal identification number then tap on the Next button.
Read the Location Capture Terms of Use and if you agree, tap on the I Accept button.

Start the Cheque-In Feature

At the bottom of the I’m a Client, let me in! screen, is an icon called Deposit.
Tap on the icon.
Read the info about Cheque-in Deposit.
Tap on Get Started Now
Read the Terms of Use and if they seem ok to you, tap on Yes, I Agree.

Deposit the Cheque Using Cheque-In

From the Select Account, tap on the right facing arrow and choose the account into which you wish to deposit the cheque.
In the Enter Amount $ field, type the amount of the cheque and tap on the Done key on your keyboard.
To Take pictures of your cheque, tap on the cheque side Front button.
1. Read the Image Tips, then tap on Continue OR tap on OK, don’t display again
2. Tap on the Camera icon to take the photo.
3. If it’s even slightly unclear, tap on the Retake button.
4. If it’s crisp with no shadows, tap on the Use Picture button at the top right of the screen.
Tap on the cheque side Back button.
Repeat the photo taking as above, A-D.
When you have an image you like, tap on the Next button.
It will spin a circle stating Processing Cheque.
If the deposit information looks correct, tap on Deposit Cheque.
You will receive a confirmation message with a number.
KEEP the cheque!
IF you’re done, tap on the Logout button.

Tangerine should send you an email message with an hour or two stating that it has received your request and asking you to hold on to your paper cheque.

When Can I Get Rid of the Paper Cheque?

Now you have to wait. According to various users on RedFlagDeals (http://forums.redflagdeals.com/has-anyone-been-able-use-ing-direct-cheque-deposit-deposit-mbna-sc-check-1374213/) not all cheque photos will be accepted by Tangerine. If the photo is unclear, they will tell you and you will have to start over again or deposit the cheque at a bank machine or by mail. So do not dispose of the cheque yet!

I received confirmation that my cheque images had been accepted 4 business days after I sent them in. That confirmation, sent by email, requested that I dispose of the original cheque, preferably by shredding it.

How Fast Is the Cheque Deposited?

In my test case, the cheque was not fully deposited until the images had been confirmed 4 business days after I sent them in. I started earning interest the day I made the deposit, however.

I don’t know how long the funds for the cheque might have been kept “on hold” because they don’t put a hold on small amounts due to my account balance. You’d have to phone Tangerine and ask what rules would apply to your account before making a deposit of a cheque.

What Didn’t I Like About Depositing a Cheque using Cheque-In?

I did discover that I don’t like trying to take crisp, unshadowed photos of cheques using an iPad. It’s a bit heavy and bulky for me to use. I think I would be happier using an iPod.

For some reason I didn’t particularly like having the cheque around the house while I waited to see if it processed properly. That’s odd because it would have taken me a day or two to bother taking it to the bank machine anyway!

I was hoping I’d be able to see the cheque image in my account history after the deposit was complete but it does not seem like I can. I only see a line item stating I made a deposit on a certain day for a certain amount using Cheque-In.

What Did I Like About Depositing a Cheque Using Cheque-In?

It was fast and simple. No driving, walking or biking required.

Would I use it again? Yes.

Related Reading

How To Look at Your Cashed Cheques for Free! Using Tangerine

Join In

Have you tried Cheque-In? Did it work for you? Please share your experiences with a comment.

image of thin green double line

ING Direct, now called Tangerine, spent a great deal of money mailing me an ad recently asking me to open a TFSA Kick Start Account. Should I? For those who didn’t get the ad, here’s the offer:

You put up to $5500, the maximum new contribution to a TFSA for 2104, into a special savings account at ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine.
You earn the regular daily interest rate (currently 1.35%) on that money until the end of December 31.
They will add up how much interest you earned till the end of December 31, and double it.
On January 1, 2014 ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine will automatically contribute up to the maximum of $5500 of the money and interest in your special savings account to your ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine TFSA.
If there is more than $5500 in the account, the extra (in other words the interest) will be deposited into your regular ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine savings account. That’s because you can’t contribute more than $5500 to your TFSA in 2014 unless you have unused contribution room from previous years which ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine has no way to know about.
If you don’t have a regular ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine savings account, they will automatically create one for you.

How Much Money Could I Make from an ING Direct Tangerine TFSA Kick Start Account?

What is it with you readers and money? Don’t you want to do this just to make ING happy?

Ah well. Say you had put the entire $5500 maximum 2014 TFSA new contribution into an ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine TFSA Kick Start account on October 1, 2013. Say ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine keeps the current interest rate of 1.35% until January 1, 2014. (Which is pretty likely: their rates don’t change often.) For one year at 1.35%, $5500 would earn about $74.75 in interest. For 3 months, it would earn about $18.58. (There’s a nice calculator on the ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine website, if you want to play: https://www.tangerine.ca/en/calculators/calculators.html#isa. Putting your money into this TFSA Kick Start account earns you the regular interest that you would get anyway on your money PLUS it doubles the interest earned to the end of December 31 just before it transfers the money into your TFSA account. That means if you put in the full $5500 on October 1, 2013, you would earn about $18.58 more than if you didn’t open a Kick Start account.

You can see that’s not a lot of money! However, around here, that’s enough money for 2 of us to go for dim sum including tax but not including tip. Or for all 4 of us to have a hefty lunch at home. And it’s “found money” because it doesn’t cost us anything to get it. So we’re going ahead and opening a Kick Start account.

UPDATE: Please be aware that as of January 2015, Tangerine has started charging a fee if you transfer your RRSP or TFSA from Tangerine to another bank, credit union, brokerage or financial institution.

Given that change, I would no longer recommend the Kick Start program unless you plan to keep your TFSA money at Tangerine for the long term.

Other Advantages of an ING Direct Tangerine TFSA Kick Start Account and Tangerine TFSAs

It’s incredibly easy to contribute. If you already have the money in another ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine account, in about 2 minutes you can complete the entire process, including reading all the legal terms and conditions. (You DO read all those legal things before you click “I accept” don’t you?!)

For a Ready-Cash TFSA

If you are investing your TFSA in a daily interest savings account because you need the cash readily and quickly available, ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine’s Tax Free Investment Savings Account offers a reasonable rate of interest. As of October 4, 2013, it is paying 1.35% per year. (Some trust companies, however, are paying 3% a year.)

For a “Couch Potato Equities and Bonds Mutual Fund” TFSA

If you are going to invest your TFSA money in a “couch potato” mutual fund manner, you can invest at ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine in their Streetwise funds. According to the Canadian Couch Potato (Read: the One Fund Solution) this is a reasonable choice.

For a GIC-Only TFSA

If you are ultra-conservative and only want to invest your TFSA in GICs, you could do so within your ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine TFSA. The drawback is that their GIC rates are not as good as those you can get within a self-directed brokerage account at BMO InvestorLine, or even Investor’s Edge which does not offer as good a selection as InvestorLine. If you have enough money in your TFSA to avoid paying any annual fee for a TFSA account at InvestorLine or Investor’s Edge, you may want to consider opening an account there. You don’t have to buy stocks to use a brokerage account. For example, today, October 4, 2013, the TFSA GIC rate

at ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine for a one-year term is 1.35% and
for a 5-year term is 2.25%.

(Note: the TFSA daily interest savings rate is 1.4% so don’t buy a one year GIC unless you really expect rates to drop!) The best TFSA GIC rate at InvestorLine today

for a one-year term is 1.96% from Home Trust and
for a 5-year term is 2.91% from Canadian Tire Bank.

One curious feature of ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine is they offer GIC “sales” from time to time. For example, on Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday) they often offer a special rate on GICs or other products. During one such sale, I picked up a 3% rate on a GIC, about double their regular rate. It’s worth keeping an eye on your ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine “flyers.”

Drawbacks of Opening an ING Direct Tangerine TFSA Kick Start Account

Tangerine will start charging a fee in January 2015 to transfer TFSA money to another financial institution.
If you want to move the cash to a self-directed brokerage account TFSA in 2014 you will have to fill out a T2033 for that brokerage in 2014 and send it to ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine. (Tangerine will require a signed original T2033.)
- For brokerages like Investor’s Edge, you may also have to visit your CIBC branch to get a rep there to send a copy to Wholesale Brokerage Accounts.
- For brokerages like InvestorLine you can just mail it directly yourself.
You will have to wait for the cash to transfer from your ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine TFSA to your self-directed brokerage account TFSA in 2014.
You might have to pay a fee, if ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine changes its “no fee” policy between now and the date you make the request to transfer the funds. As of October 4, 2013, ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine does not charge to transfer funds out of a TFSA. If you want to move the money to a TFSA at another financial institution in 2014. UPDATE: Tangerine will start charging a fee in January 2015.
you will have to wait up to 4 weeks for the money to get transferred. (Although a recent transfer from ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine to Investor’s Edge took only 12 business days.)

If, like me, you want to go ahead and seize that $18 and change with both hands, here’s how:

How to Set Up a Tangerine TFSA Kick Start Account

Log in to your Tangerine account.
Do NOT click on the big ad that says “Open a 2014 TFSA Kick Start Account. Until they fix it, that link signs you out of your accounts and takes you to a screen for someone who doesn’t bank with Tangerine! (I know because I tried it a few times and I even reported it to their telephone reps.) Instead, click on the tab: Open new account
From the list of six items, click on the Tax-Free Savings Accounts link.
A list of items will appear. Click on Open a 2014 TFSA Kick Start Account
Read the information about how the account will work. Note that on January 1, 2014:
- Up to $5500 from the account will be transferred into your existing Tangerine TFSA account.
- If you have more than $5500 in the account, due to interest, the interest will be deposited into your Investment Savings Account because the maximum new contribution permitted for 2014 is $5500. If you don’t have an ISA they will create one automatically for you.
If you agree with the plan, click on the Next button.
Review your name, address, date of birth and SIN. If they are correct continue.
- In the Amount field type the amount of money you want to contribute today to your TFSA Kick Start account.
- If desired, change the name in the Nickname field to some other name. The default name is 2014 TFSA Contributions.
- From the drop-down list, select which account to withdraw the Amount from. For example, I selected my chequing account.
- The Effective Date is the date the withdrawal will be made. If desired change it to some specific date. I left it at the default of today’s date.
- Answer the Legal questions.
- When you are sure your information is accurate, click on the Next button.
On the next screen, review the details of what you have asked to have happen. If it all looks fine, click on the Go button.
Make a note of your new account number and the confirmation number for your records.
If desired, click on View My Accounts to see if the new TFSA Kick Start account is there. If you funded it from another Tangerine account, it should have your money in it already. If you funded it from an external bank account it may take a business day or two for the funds to show up.
If you are finished banking, click on: Log me out. For added security, clear your browser cache and close your browser session.

The Secret Reason I’m Really Opening a Kick Start TFSA Account

OK, I’ll admit to one more reason (although I really like dim sum.) When TFSAs were first invented, I opened one at Tangerine. I’ve since moved most of the cash out of it, but not all of the money. So I need to do a transfer one of these days soon to clear out the rest of the money and take it over to my brokerage account TFSA. Since I’ll have to fill out a T2033 anyway, I might as well lob in next year’s donation, leave it till January 2, then move the entire amount over and out. Having my 2014 contribution in there will give me the motivation to get it moving.