Citizens Bank TFSA Rate And Plan

Here is another bank added to the list. Citizens Bank is a division of Vancity and so it is not too surprising that the annual interest rate is virtually the same at 2.75% as you can see here:

They are dubbing this plan as the “Tax-Free Ultimate Savings Account”. Since this a virtual banking option, you will have to be prepared to do all of your banking transaction mostly through the phone or online as oppose to doing it in-branch. Another note is that on the site they indicate that if you were thinking of transferring your TFSA funds from another financial institution they will credit you up to $25 to compensate for the transfer fees.

Overall, it seems like a decent choice when it comes to a decent rate as well as flexibility.

HSBC TFSA Interest Rate

HSBC offers two different types of savings account for TFSA shoppers. As you can see here, they have a “TFSA High Interest Savings Account” where you can earn a regular maximum of 2.5% or with its “Direct TFSA” account where the regular figure is 2.75%.

Now the main difference between the two to justify the difference is that the high interest savings account has traditional banking features where you can walk into a branch to do your transactions. However, with the Direct TFSA option you don’t have an in-branch option. Therefore, you must do your banking online, through the phone or an ATM machine.

As well, the bank’s interest bonus is still going on it seems where new accounts can earn an additional 1% interest until March 16, 2009. For example, the 2.75% rate will be 3.75% instead for a limited time.

The Direct TFSA seems to make the most sense for people considering HSBC. For the High Rate Savings Account, it mentions that you need a balance of $100,000+ to earn a 2.5% rate. Considering the limit is $5000 a year it seems, that plan makes no real sense to me other than to sway people to use the Direct TFSA option, in my opinion.