I’ve been a customer of ING Direct for many years and have been very impressed with their no-fee, no-frills, high-interest rate accounts. However, I now think that upstart ICICI Bank offers a much better value, so I am considering moving our savings accounts.
Savings Account: 2.75% (ICICI Bank) vs. 2.40% (ING Direct)
US Dollar Savings Account: 3.00% (ICICI Bank) vs. 2.25% (ING Direct)
Current offers: ING Direct is offering 3% on net new savings in Canadian dollar accounts until Dec. 31, 2005. ICICI Bank is currently offering $20 with a minimum initial deposit of $100 for new customers of both the C$ and US$ savings accounts.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 hepman // Sep 21, 2005 at 2:33 pm
Check out Outlook Financial and Acheiva in Manitoba. Both have savings accounts which offer 2.85%. Don’t have any freebee’s for opening an account though.
2 Anonymous // Sep 21, 2005 at 3:47 pm
Read some of the experiences that people have had with ICICI before making your decision. I’ve seen some of the posts on redflagdeals.com and they haven’t been too positive.
People have had difficulties in accessing their funds, customer services issues and technical problems with the web site.
3 Anonymous // Sep 21, 2005 at 4:58 pm
Arbee, you don’t have an emergency fund. So, I would imagine, you don’t have a lot of money in a savings account. If you do the math, is it really worthwhile moving for a few bucks extra every year.
4 Canadian Capitalist // Sep 21, 2005 at 10:26 pm
Anon: You are right. I don’t have a big emergency fund to make a move worthwhile. I am really attracted by the spread in USD accounts though (3% at ICICI vs 2.25% at ING) and I anticipate a big USD cheque twice every year (when selling shares in ESPP).
Anon: Great point. I will definitely check out the feedback before opening an account.
Hepman: I am mainly interested in the high USD interest rate. Maybe, I will just open a USD account.
5 Kay // Feb 10, 2006 at 12:42 pm
Canadian Capitalist, We are moving to Toronto (from US) in two months and I was looking at various banking options. Looks like the interest rates have gone up since this January. ING offers 3% and ICICI offers 3.25%
Are you having any problems with ING being an internet bank? Can you recommend any other bank to have a checking account, with min. fee?
Thanks!
6 Canadian Capitalist » This and That // Nov 27, 2006 at 1:02 am
[...] ICICI Bank Canada does not offer the best high-interest savings account anymore (even for US dollars). Also, as this Toronto Star story points out there are customer service problems at the bank. [...]
7 mario // Mar 2, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Avoid Icici at all costs, I’m still waiting for my interest and can’t get them to reply to my e-mails.
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