Canadian savings account recommendations

[Darren]

Heyo,

Looking for advice from fellow Canadians. I'd like to set up several high-interest savings accounts (not TFSA). Does anyone have any current recommendations? I'm in Ontario. I'm looking to set up several accounts as savings "buckets" for both my partner and myself. These would be for savings goals between one and five years (cars, vacation, etc.).

Ratessupermarket currently lists the following. Has anyone had any experience with any of these banks/accounts?
Alterna Bank at 2.30%
Oaken Financial at 2.30%
Motive Financial at 2.80%
EQ Bank at 2.30%

One other question I just thought of as I was typing. Do we pay tax on interest on normal checking and savings accounts? I typically only keep about $500 in my main checking account and each month I make about a nickel in interest. Have I been needing to pay taxes on my nickel for the past 20 years?

Thanks team!

[daverobev]

I like Oaken. Their GIC rates are no-fuss and at least as good as the competition, sometimes better. Their web interface is functional but nothing more.

EQ are fine as well.

Haven't had dealings with the other two.

Yes you should be declaring interest. Anything under $1 nobody cares, but under $50 you don't always get a T slip - if you don't you should be totting up the amount and declaring it, yes!

You might want to look at Tangerine as well; they often have promo rates going. And you can get a sign up bonus (ask me for an Orange Key if you care), but if you're looking for a one stop no faff with 3-month-specials-dropping-to-crap... stick with Oaken.

You could do pots in short term GICs at Oaken, rather than having separate accounts. Or just keep a spreadsheet!

(https://www.tangerine.ca/en/ 48322202S1 is my key, you get $50 I get $50 if you open and deposit at least $250 within 60 days... Current savings offer is 2.75%)

[Brokenreign]

I recently got my account at Motive and am happy with them. The interface is easy and transfers all went smoothly. I opened this account because I was tired of chasing the 2.75% promos at Tangerine. It's nice to just leave it at 2.8%. They are slow to open accounts for now, likely due to high demand. There was a one month delay between applying and the account being active. The application process is a little bit manual too. Lots of emailing signed documents. Now that it's open though, no complaints.

I have had an account at EQ for a couple years as well. No complaints about them either, but why not go for the extra 0.5% at Motive? My EQ was primarily used for holding deposits in between Tangerine promos.

I also have a Tangerine account that I use for daily banking and highly recommend them. It's nice to stick with them as a customer as you sometimes get neat promos (other than the 2.75% ones). Recently they offered some customers a $30k line of credit at 0% for 90 days. I promptly maxed it out and moved it to Motive. 5 minutes of work for $200 isn't too bad!

Yes you are supposed to declare interest income even if you don't receive a T5 but I wouldn't fuss about it. If you didn't get a T5 the amounts are small enough that no one would care.

[K-ice]

I have held equitable bank and home trust GICs I was a bit leery at first but one has matured with no problem and I verified they are CDIC insured.

I have not held either savings accounts you mentioned but went for the RBC 3% 6 month promo last year. It is only 1% for me now and 2.5% for new customers. It would be nice to look into some of these higher rates that are "subject to change", of course, but not just a promo.

Yes you need to declare & pay tax for sure. Even on small amounts. I wish there was a higher exemption like $500 interest a year or something because I bet a lot of Canadians are unknowingly breaking this rule.