Tag Archives: Tangerine

Do You Transfer Your Cash Between Tangerine and PC Financial to Get the Highest Interest Rate?

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Instead of offering a good interest rate year round, many banks now offer short-term higher interest rates to try to win new customers. Tangerine and PC Financial often do this. For example, on September 1, 2014, Tangerine started offering an annual rate of 3% on new savings deposits made between September 1 and September 15. [UPDATE: On September 16 they extended the deadline to September 30.] The catch is the higher rate only lasts until November 30. And it only applies to new deposits, not to money you already had in your accounts which continues to earn only 1.3%. These kinds of offers have led some people to start transferring their cash savings between Tangerine or PC Financial depending on which bank currently has the highest promotional interest rate: are you one of them?

3% for a Daily Interest Savings Account Sounds Great! Is it?

If you could get 3% for a full year on a no-fee, no minimum balance, daily interest savings account it would be pretty sweet. Many savings accounts are offering 1% or less a year. So at first glance, the Tangerine promotion seems great.

The reality, though, is the rate is not being offered for a year, only for 92 days. And if you didn’t deposit your money September 1, it’s fewer than 92 days.

Say you deposited $1000 on September 1. It would earn about $7.50 if you kept it there until November 1. That’s good, but it’s not epic.

And remember, you already were earning some interest on that money. For example, say you had the $1000 originally in a BMO High Interest Smart Saver Account. According to the posted rate today, September 2, of 1.05% per year, you would have earned about $2.63 if you kept it there until November 1.

So the Tangerine promo is only offering you about an additional $4.88 in interest for hosting your savings for three months. That’s good, of course, but again not amazing.

Why Do People Transfer Cash Savings Back and Forth from Tangerine to PC Financial?

In general, these promotional high interest rates are only offered on “new” savings. When they are announced, they state that they are calculated based on how much you have in all of your savings accounts at the bank as of some DATE already PASSED. You don’t know what that date will be until they make the announcement.

They only pay the higher rate on any money in your savings which is above the amount you already had on that date.

For example, in the new promo, Tangerine picked a past date of August 31 2014. (The full rules for this promotion were at https://www.tangerine.ca/en/landing-page/backtoschool/termsandconditions.html.)

So if you had $2500 in your Tangerine savings account on August 31, you will only earn the 3% rate if you have $2501 or more in your account, and even then you will only earn it on the amount exceeding $2500. (For example, if you have $2501, you will earn 3% only on $1! The other $2500 continues to earn the regular 1.3% interest.)

The trick is that often PC Financial will come out with a competing offer a few days after Tangerine. (and vice versa)

If you have a savings account at each bank, you can literally move the money to take advantage of the newest promotional rate.

For example, say on August 31 you had $2500 in your Tangerine savings account and $10 in your PC Financial savings account. Now, if things follow the usual pattern, in a few days, PC Financial will offer a special savings account rate. You can then transfer your $2500 from Tangerine to PC Financial to start earning the new rate.

Yesterday, September 1, if you had a way to spy on PC Financial transfers, I’m sure you would have seen many requests go in electronically to move savings money to Tangerine.

Because transfers are free at both Tangerine and PC Financial and because neither bank requires a minimum balance in their savings accounts, this technique works.

When Might It be Worth All This Savings Account Transferring?

The actual interest earnings are not huge even with these higher promotional interest rates. If you only have a few hundred dollars in savings, they are not very interesting.

But if you have a large amount in cash savings, perhaps because you plan to buy a house in the next few months, or you have a major trip or renovation or tuition bill coming up soon, these rates can be more attractive.

For example, say you have $50 000 in cash which you need in 6 months but not now. Most short-term GICs are offering under 2% and you can’t get your money as simply as you can withdraw it from a cash bank account.

If you could put $50 000 in at 3% annually for a 3 month period, you could earn $375.

That would buy 2 new bicycles and helmets for your children. (Can you tell what we had to do recently?)

More Info on this New Tangerine 3% Promotion

Tangerine is also offering some incentives on new deposits to its TFSA, RRIF and RRSP cash savings accounts. You’d want to read the details of the promotion carefully to see if you would actually be eligible for this temporary higher rate.

What If I Don’t Have an Account with Tangerine? Can I Get This Rate?

Yes.

Just open a new account with Tangerine and write a cheque to deposit your savings.

If it’s like most promotions at Tangerine, they will start paying you interest from the day they receive your cheque.

Remember, though, that the bonus rate only applies to funds deposited between September 1 and September 15, 2014 [UPDATE: now September 30], and it only lasts until November 30. So you’d have to move pretty fast to make any money.

What Am I Doing?

As you may know, we have savings accounts at both Tangerine and PC Financial. Right now, ironically, most of our money is at Tangerine. So we’ll be hoping for a matching promotion from PC Financial. But since we don’t have $50 000 just sitting around, we won’t be devastated if PCF ignores this latest round in the rate wars.

UPDATE: The matching promo has launched!

Our TFSAs and RRSPs are already maxed out, so there’s no way to take advantage of the higher rates there, either.

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What about you? Do you have some cash savings that you intend to shift around to take advantage of this short-term promotional rate? Please share your ideas with a comment.
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How to Accept an Email Money Transfer Sent to You by a Tangerine Customer

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So you’re at the ticket line at the movies and your friend realizes she doesn’t have her wallet. You agree to pay her way in and she pulls out her phone and emails you the money from her Tangerine chequing account. You thank her and go watch the show. It’s not till you get home that you wonder exactly how you can accept this Tangerine email money transfer and what you have to do to get your money back.

Here’s how you’ll actually get the money deposited into your own bank account and what you’ll need to do it.

What’s In the Tangerine Email Transfer Message?

First, you need to receive the email message that contains the details of the money transfer.

Check your Inbox for a message from the person sending you the money. It will have a Subject or Title line that says:
[Your Friend/Colleague/Relative’s] Name has sent you a Tangerine Email Money Transfer

Open the message.
The email message will say you have until a specific date to accept the money.
For my test, the transfer was sent on July 14.
The note says it must be accepted by August 13.
(Both are business days.)

The message will also include an Email Money Code and the last name of the person who sent you the money.

To Accept Your Email Money Transfer to Permit the Deposit of the Money In Your Bank Account

If you are a Tangerine banking customer and wish to deposit the money in a Tangerine account, you just need to know your client number, security answers and PIN to sign in to Tangerine.

For any other bank, credit union, or trust company, before you start trying to get the money, make sure you know

  • the institution number
  • the transit number and
  • the account number

for the branch and account in which you want to have the money deposited.

You can find all three numbers on your cheque, if you have a chequing account.

You can also look up institution numbers online. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_transit_number and look for the Canadian transit number, which is a 3-digit code for banks etc.

For example,

  • BMO is 001;
  • TD is 004;
  • CIBC is 010.

To Get the Money Sent by a Tangerine Email Transfer If You Are NOT a Tangerine Customer

To get your money, first you have to accept the email transfer. Then Tangerine will send the money to your bank account electronically. Like a bill payment, it will take several business days for the money to arrive in your account, unless your account is also with Tangerine.

Your bank may also put a temporary hold on the money when it is deposited, just like it may put a hold on a cheque you deposit into your account.

Go to: tangerine.ca/transfers

The Email Money Transfer / Transfer Authentication Page

  1. In the Email Money Transfer code field, type the Email Money Code that was in the message you received.
  2. In the Sender’s last name field, type the sender’s last name, or other word as specified in the message you received.
  3. Click on the Next button.

The Transfer Question Page

  1. In the Email Money Transfer answer text field, type the answer to the security question asked by the person sending you the money.
  2. Click to select the button Yes or No to answer the question Would you like your money to be deposited into a Tangerine account?
    I clicked No.
  3. Click on the Next button.

Transfer Details Page

  1. In the Transit number (Branch) field, type the transit number for your bank account.
  2. In the Institution number (Bank) field, type the institution number for your bank, trust company or credit union.
  3. In the Account number field, type your bank account number.
  4. In the Confirm account number field, type your bank account number again.
  5. Read the details about transfers to non-Tangerine accounts: Tangerine will send the money to your bank. That bank will put the money in your account based on their usual procedures.  Tangerine cannot tell you when that will be.
  6. Click on the Next button.

The Confirmation Page

  1. Read the details of the proposed transfer.
  2. Click on the Accept Transfer button.
  3. Make a copy of the information in case you have any future questions.
  4. If you are finished, be sure to click on the Log me out link, clear your browser cache, and close your browser session for increased security.

You’ll now have to wait for your bank account to receive the money. If you sent it to a non-Tangerine account, it will probably take 2-3 business days to show up.

To Get the Money Sent by a Tangerine Email Transfer If You Bank with Tangerine Yourself

It’s much easier to accept an email transfer if you are a Tangerine customer yourself: and it’s faster!

Go to: tangerine.ca/transfers

The Email Money Transfer / Transfer Authentication Page

  1. In the Email Money Transfer code field, type the Email Money Code that was in the message you received.
  2. In the Sender’s last name field, type the sender’s last name, or other word as specified in the message you received.
  3. Click on the Next button.

The Transfer Question Page

  1. In the Email Money Transfer answer text field, type the answer to the security question asked by the person sending you the money.
  2. Click to select the button Yes or No to answer the question Would you like your money to be deposited into a Tangerine account?
  3. I clicked Yes.
  4. Click on the Next button.

The Transfer Details Page

  1. In the Client Number field, type your Tangerine client number.
  2. In the Answer Your Secret Question field, type the answer.
  3. Click on Next
  4. In the Enter Your PIN field, type your Tangerine banking PIN.
  5. Click on Go
  6. From the drop-down list in the Deposit to Account field, choose into which account to deposit the emailed money. NOTE: If you choose to deposit it into your RRSP, spousal RRSP, or TFSA account, you are making an annual contribution. Do not do this unless you have available contribution room!
  7. You can click to select Yes or No to Auto-accept email money transfers from this person in the future. For example, a student may get a monthly email money transfer from their parents. In this case, the student may decide to select Yes to automatically accept transfers from this sender. It saves having to go through all of the steps of accepting the transfer each time an email transfer is sent.
  8. Click on Next

The Confirmation Page

  1. Review the transfer details. If they are acceptable, click the Accept Transfer button.
  2. Click Continue Banking.
  3. The money should appear immediately in your bank account.
  4. If you are finished, be sure to click on the Log me out link, clear your browser cache, and close your browser session for increased security.

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Do you like receiving your money by email transfer instead of by cheque? Is it easier to get your money this way? Have you ever had trouble depositing money sent by email transfer? Please share your experiences with a comment.

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