Promotional Savings Rates: Check the Period and Eligible Balance
Note the promotion dates and check whether the rate applies to new deposits only or to the whole balance.
Published 2026-07-21
The promotional savings rate is institutions' favourite recruiting tool, and its real return depends on four lines of conditions the poster compresses into one number. The period first: fixed dates or from your deposit, it shortens for anyone arriving mid-promotion. The scope next: new deposits only or the whole balance, the difference changing everything for money already in place. The aftermath finally: the regular rate that follows the promotion, often below the rate of the account being abandoned, which reverses the twelve-month calculation. Then there is the effort: opening, transferring, tracking and repatriating, against a sometimes modest net gain. A promotion plays well with a calendar, a full-year calculation and an exit date decided in advance. This article supplies the four checks, the standard calculation and the reminder to set before the very first transfer — because the end date is the promotion's most important number.
Pin down the promotion's exact window
A savings promotion lives between two dates, and their mechanics decide the real gain. Some run on fixed dates, March first to June thirtieth, say: arriving mid-course shortens the window accordingly, the headline rate applying only to the remaining weeks. Others start from your deposit, offering the full duration whenever you arrive. The distinction lives in the conditions, never on the poster, and doubles or halves the calculation for a latecomer. Note both dates at opening and calculate the gain on the genuinely available duration: a four-month promotion joined halfway is a two-month promotion that has not updated its price.
Verify which money earns the rate
The headline rate's perimeter is the second decisive condition: new deposits only, or the whole balance? Most promotions target fresh money, the kind arriving from another institution, with money already in place staying at the regular rate. Some even require a net growing balance, a withdrawal cancelling the eligibility of an equivalent deposit. For anyone hoping to boost existing savings at the same institution, the headline rate often simply does not apply. Read the exact definition of eligible money before transferring anything: the gain is calculated on the amount that genuinely earns the rate, not on the account's total balance.
Look at what waits after the end
Every promotion lands on a regular rate, and that landing rate is frequently below the account you are leaving: the institution recruits with the headline and retains with inertia. The honest calculation covers a full twelve months: the promotion for its duration, the regular rate after, compared with the current account left in place. A few-month promotion followed by a starved rate routinely loses that annual comparison. The remedy is calendar-based: a reminder set on the end date, and the exit decision made in advance, money repatriated the day after the promotion to the account with the best regular rate. The gain is then collected without paying the tail.
Weigh the effort against the net gain
A promotion hunt's net gain is priced before running: the real rate gap multiplied by the amount and duration, minus tax outside a TFSA. On modest sums the result disappoints — a few dozen dollars against opening an account, the transfers, the condition-watching and the final repatriation. On large sums and long promotions, the exercise pays honourably. Set your personal threshold, the amount below which the hunt is not worth the hour, and apply it coldly. And always compare with the lazy alternative: an account with a solid regular rate, no conditions, earning without calendars or reminders. The best promotion is sometimes the one you never needed to track.
Quebec scenario: compare before confirming
A couple in Beloeil sees a 6% savings promotion go by and nearly moves $25,000. Before filling out the form, they put four precise questions to the institution. Does the promotion start at account opening or at deposit? It runs from March 1 to June 30 regardless of when the money arrives, so showing up in May already shrinks the window. Does the rate apply to the whole balance? No, only to new deposits; money already at the institution stays at the regular rate. What happens afterward? Back to 1.4%, less than the 3.7% their current account pays. Finally, is the gain worth the effort? Over the four real months, the net difference comes to about $190, before counting the time spent opening the account, moving the funds and bringing them home at the end. They go ahead, but with a calendar reminder set for June 30 and the decision already made to move the money back to the regular account the day after the promotion ends.
Checklist
- Note the promotion's start and end dates
- Check whether it targets new deposits only
- Read the regular rate that follows
- Calculate the net gain over twelve months
- Compare with the current account before leaving it
- Price the opening and transfer effort
- Set a reminder for the end date
- Decide in advance where the money returns
- Execute the return the day the promotion ends
Frequently asked questions
Does the promotional rate apply to my whole balance?
Often not: many promotions target new deposits only, money already at the institution staying at the regular rate. Also check whether the period runs on fixed dates or from your deposit: arriving mid-promotion shortens the real window.
What happens to my rate after the promotion?
It falls back to the institution's regular rate, often well below your current account's. Calculate the return over a full twelve months, promotion and reversion included, before moving anything. The honest comparison covers the year, not the storefront.
Is chasing promotions worth the effort?
Price the net gain: the real rate gap times the amount and duration, minus the time spent opening, transferring and tracking. On small amounts, a few dozen dollars reward a lot of errands. A calendar reminder for the end date is non-negotiable.