Tangerine | Financial Crooks

What is Tangerine.ca?

As I mentioned Tangerine is the new name for what used to be called ING Direct. They recently changed their website address to tangerine.ca. They also “refreshed” their website’s look. Personally, I don’t think they improved it much but it’s not significantly different in a good or bad way, which is good, right?

It Matters That ING Direct has Changed Its Name to Tangerine If You Have a Mortgage or Unmortgage

Because your home insurance policy and your municipal (property) tax department may have the name of the company owning your mortgage on their files, you need to tell them that your bank’s (mortgage’s) name has changed from ING Direct to Tangerine.
The name “unmortgage” has been changed to “Tangerine Mortgage.”

What Happened to my THRiVE Chequing Account?

Nothing has changed with anyone’s existing ING Direct THRiVE chequing account, except the name. They are now called Tangerine chequing accounts. (Which is easier to spell, admittedly.) You can still use your existing paper cheques and transfers will go through the same as they did before this change to the name used for advertising the accounts.

Cheques ordered in May 2014 and later will have the Tangerine name.

The savings account name has also been changed from the ING Direct investment Savings Account to a Tangerine Savings Account.

What Happened to the Streetwise Funds?

Similarly, the name has changed for the ING Direct mutual funds now they belong to Tangerine.

The word “Streetwise” in the title has been changed to “Tangerine.” For example, the Streetwise Balanced Fund is now called the Tangerine Balanced Fund, as of May 2014.

ING Streetwise Portfolios have been renamed Tangerine Investment Funds.

Where Can I Get Cash or Make a Deposit to my Tangerine Account?

Although they have updated their website and changed their URL, Tangerine/ING Direct are still working on changing which Automated Bank Machines you can use for free.

Tangerine (formerly ING Direct) customers have access to ABMs to make deposits and withdrawals to and from their Tangerine chequing accounts.

Tangerine customers who only have a savings account generally make their deposits to a bank account linked to Tangerine, then transfer the money into the account electronically. (In the past, I personally have mailed cheques in to ING Direct to be deposited in my savings account. I’m not clear if that is still an option because now I have a Tangerine chequing account, and I can deposit my cheques by taking a photo of them with my tablet and using the Cheque-In deposit app.)

Right now until September 29, 2014, customers can still use ABMs that belong to the Exchange Network for free. These machines are usually in credit unions or National Bank branches. You can find the location of these ABMS using the Tangerine website. https://secure.tangerine.ca/web/InitialTangerine.html?locale=en_CA&device=web&command=goToAbmLocator

You can, of course, also just use cash back when making a debit purchase at a store. Debit transactions are no-fee with Tangerine.

As of September 30, 2014, however, the ABMs customers can use will be switching. At that time, customers will have to use machines belonging to the Scotiabank ABM Network. For cash withdrawals, these include the ones at Scotiabank branches but also include some at Shell stations, 7-Eleven’s, Quickie convenience stores, Cineplex Theatres and Couche-Tard’s. For deposits including cheques customers will probably have to go to a Scotiabank branch ABM. In fact, customers should be able to start using these Scotiabank ABMs starting in June.

This switch in ABMs is annoying many customers in B.C. where the Exchange network is larger than the Scotiabank network. Tangerine is therefore still trying to find a way to improve what they offer.

Using International Bank Machines, ABMs. with Tangerine

Scotiabank belongs to the Global ATM Alliance. This means that Tangerine will not charge you a surcharge or access fee when you withdraw cash from nearly 50,000 machines in over 40 countries. There are sometimes fees charged by the international ABM’s bank, though, so check the details with Tangerine before you travel.

Withdrawing US Dollars from Tangerine

If you can get to a Tangerine ABM (there aren’t very many) you can withdraw US dollars from your US dollar Tangerine account.

Are Tangerine’s Fees Changing?

So far, Tangerine has not announced or admitted to any plans to increase any fees. To stay competitive with other e-banks such as President’s Choice Financial, they may decide to continue to offer many no-fee services.

NOTE: As of January 2015 Tangerine now charges a fee if you transfer your RRSP, RRIF or TFSA money to another financial institution. (You can still withdraw cash from your TFSA for free but remember not to contribute it/deposit it again until the next January 1 to avoid over-contributing and having to pay the CRA a fine.)

As of May 4, 2014, Tangerine.ca offers

unlimited free debit transactions
unlimited free cash withdrawals
unlimited free deposits
unlimited free transfers between an external linked bank account and your Tangerine account
unlimited free bill payments
no charges for using a cheque with your Tangerine chequing account but you have to buy the paper cheques

Is Tangerine Offering Any Bonuses or Promotions Right Now?

Today, May 4, 2014, Tangerine.ca is offering the following promotions and bonuses:

If you make a deposit into your existing

Savings account
RRSP investment savings account
TFSA investment savings account
RRIF investment savings account

which increases your total balance above what it was on April 7, then the amount that is above that April 7 total will earn interest at a rate of 2.5% per year, calculated on the balance at the end of each day, and paid monthly. The higher interest rate will only be paid until July 31, 2014.

UPDATE: In January 2015, Tangerine.ca is offering a similar deal for deposits made. The higher rate will only last until March 31 2015. Check their website for the details.

To try to make this clearer, if you have a TFSA, a Tangerine chequing account and 3 savings accounts at Tangerine, they will add up how much money in total was in all 5 accounts on April 7. They will then add the totals every day from April 8 to July 31. Every day where the daily total exceeds the daily total on April 7, they will pay bonus interest on the amount above the starting April 7 amount.

They had to make it that complicated because people love to game the system. They love to transfer money from one account to another to try to get bonus interest. Many people will even transfer money from one bank to another to try to get bonus interest.

For most of us, this bonus interest offer is not that important.

For example, if you could increase your total account balance at Tangerine by $1000 over the total on April 7, the most bonus interest you could earn, if you deposited the $1000 on April 8 and left it there till August 1, would be about
$1000 x (2.5/365)(23+31+30+31)= $7.88
(That’s just approximate. It’s not exactly how they calculate the interest but it’s close.)

So if you just sold your boat or got a major tax refund, it may be worth depositing the amount in your account. Of if you have $40 000 saved up for your next car at a different bank, and you were going to open a Tangerine account anyway now might be a good time to do that. But it’s not a huge incentive.

New Savings, TFSA, RRSP, and RRIF Account Bonus

~~There’s more money to be made if you decide to open a new Savings account at Tangerine before June 30 2014.~~

This only works if you have *never* had a savings account at ING Direct/Tangerine. They keep track even if you’ve closed an account there years ago. They include TFSA, RRSP and RRIF accounts as “savings” accounts. So if you had a TFSA account, and even if you’ve closed it years ago, you still can’t get a bonus for opening a new savings account today at Tangerine.

~~If you open your first Savings account with Tangerine.ca and if you put in at least $250, they will pay you a bonus of $50 within 30 days after you opened the account.~~

You can only get one bonus regardless of how many types of savings accounts you open.
E.g. you can get a bonus for opening one of

a Savings account
a TFSA account
a RRSP account
a RRIF savings account

but you can not get 4 bonuses for opening one of each.

New Tangerine Chequing Account Bonus

~~If you open your first chequing account ever, and if you put it at least $250, they will pay you a bonus of $50.~~

They keep track of whether you had a chequing account and closed it so you can’t get a bonus if you used to have a chequing account even if you closed it.

If you have a savings account only, though, you still can get a bonus for opening a chequing account. (That’s a bit unusual for Tangerine.ca promotions.)

NOTE that chequing accounts do not qualify for the 2.5% bonus interest rate promotion.

Direct Payroll Deposit Bonus

If you complete the paperwork to have your pay cheque deposited directly to your Tangerine Chequing Account by July 31, 2014, they will pay you a $50 cash bonus. You should read the details on this because they are a bit complicated.

Various people have tried to get this bonus for direct deposit on non-payroll money, such as an automated payment in from another bank account. It doesn’t work. They are only interested in paying the bonus for a real pay cheque being deposited regularly from an employer.

Related Reading

Join In
Do you like to try to play bonus interest games? Do you shift a large chunk of money back and forth between banks such as Tangerine and PC Financial to catch these different offers? Does it amuse you? Please share your experiences with a comment.

image of thin green double line

This is a tale of two TFSAs. Actually, it’s a tale of four Tax Free Savings Accounts. The first two TFSAs were at ING Direct. (Now called Tangerine.) ~~ING Direct~~ Tangerine offered 2.5% interest for a few months for savings of up to $5500 per account (one account per client) provided the savings were transferred automatically into the client’s TFSA on January 1. My husband and I took advantage of that offer. Then, on January 2, we sent in the forms to transfer our TFSAs from Tangerine to our BMO InvestorLine accounts—but how long would it take?

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.

How Did We Apply to Transfer Our TFSA Funds?

It’s important to transfer TFSA funds. If you actually withdraw the funds from a TFSA account, you have to wait till January 1 of the next year before you are allowed to deposit them again in the same TFSA or in a different TFSA at another financial institution. You can transfer TFSA funds at any time with no tax penalty.

Be careful to check whether there is a fee charged by the bank etc though before starting a transfer. ~~ING Direct Tangerine does not charge transfer fees. (At least not as of when this was written in January 2014. Always check.)~~ UPDATE: As of January 2015 Tangerine plans to start charging a fee to transfer TFSA funds to another financial institution.

To request the transfer of our TFSA funds to BMO InvestorLine, we signed into our InvestorLine accounts and filled out a T2033 each. The form is available under the Account Services tab, then the Forms link, then the Transfers tab, then the Transfer forms: Personal Accounts link.

You can read some more about this in How to Transfer Assets to a BMO InvestorLine Account from Another Bank Using a T2033 Form.

After we completed the forms, printed and signed them, we mailed them to BMO InvestorLine.

How Long Did It Take for My TFSA to Transfer from Tangerine to BMO InvestorLine?

I mailed our requests to transfer our funds in a bright red street mail box on January 2. I have no idea whether it got picked up that day or the next.

On Tuesday, January 14, my money was still in my TFSA at Tangerine.ca.
On Wednesday, January 15 it was gone!

First thing in the morning on January 17, my TFSA funds appeared in my cash balance in my BMO InvestorLine TFSA.

So it took 15 days for my funds to transfer, or 11 business days. That includes the “Canada Post” factor of getting my request delivered to InvestorLine.

How Long Did It Take for My Husband’s TFSA to Transfer from ING Direct (Tangerine) to BMO InvestorLine?

We don’t know yet.

That’s right. It’s now January 22 and his funds have not yet left Tangerine. They are sitting in a cash TFSA account which is fortunately earning 2.5% while he waits.

UPDATE: Thursday, January 23: My husband’s TFSA has now left Tangerine. It has not yet arrived in his BMO InvestorLine account as of the morning of Monday, January 27.

Ah! As of the morning of Tuesday, January 28, his cash is in his InvestorLine account.

So in his case it took 26 days, or 18 business days including the Canada Post time, to transfer.

As I said earlier, don’t expect these things to happen quickly!

The Moral of the TFSA Transfer Story?

There’s no simple answer for how quickly your TFSA transfer will take place. There’s not even any simple way to check on the status of the transfer. We’ll wait another few weeks before calling InvestorLine to see if they have received the transfer request. Phoning now, during RRSP season, is not worth my time. (We didn’t need to phone.)

If you’re hoping to have cash in a specific account to catch a short term opportunity, beware. It takes time to move things from bank to bank. Plan ahead.