Tag: Qtrade Investor

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – April 28, 2017

This week, NAFTA was causing all kinds of nausea for media, government and economists who were trying to figure out exactly what was happening with this long standing free-trade deal. While not a multinational economic agreement, Canadian discount brokerages are looking to their own free-trade deals as a way to generate interest and enthusiasm across the nation of DIY investors.

In this week’s roundup, we look at the latest promotions to hit our radar, both of which are from bank-owned online brokerages. From there, we take a look at the parent company of one brokerage that may be looking to go on a bit of a buying spree and potentially change the Canadian discount brokerage landscape in the near future. Of course, what would a roundup be without the tweets of the week? We’ll serve those up alongside the investor chatter on the forums.

Play Date

The 7th edition of the Horizon’s ETF ‘Biggest Winner’ competition is back and, once again, is being sponsored by National Bank Direct Brokerage.

This popular annual competition, which kicks off on May 8th,  comes at a time in the financial markets where activity and uncertainty have picked up. For contestants, this means that there are bound to be a handful of exciting trading days – especially if it’s fantasy money on the line.

The prizes for this contest, however, are not make believe and include:

  • $7500 cash for the grand prize
  • $2500 for the runner up
  • 6 weekly prizes of $500

As this competition is restricted to only Canadian ETFs, the ultra ultra leveraged ETFs in the US will not be available to trade here. That said, one of the more interesting names in the game is likely to be the recently launched HMMJ, a long-awaited ETF that includes companies in the marijuana space.

Fantasy stock market games, such as this one, are fun ways to follow and learn about markets. In this case, the name of the game is to get the best performance using only Canadian ETFs.

For contest sponsor National Bank Direct Brokerage, the branding win is clear. They are the only Canadian discount brokerage to offer fully commission-free buying and selling of all Canadian ETFs (not just the Horizons family of funds).

As and when this competition goes live, there’s likely to be more attention directed to the National Bank Direct Brokerage brand and their commission-free ETF offer. Although the summer months are typically quieter than the rest of the year, if there’s one thing that’ll get the attention of investors and traders everywhere, it’s a cash prize. For more information on the contest, click here.

Free Trades & a Show?

Another creative offer for DIY investors also just crossed our radar this week, this time from Scotia iTRADE.

Their latest promo is a combination of free trades and, for the cinephiles, free movies. The headline offer (which is typically available to the highest deposit tier in the offer) is 100 free movie admissions.

The catch? It’s not available until May 1st 2017.

Drilling down into the promotion, there are 6 tiers of deposit which range from a minimum of $25,000 all the way to $1,000,000+. For each of those tiers, eligible new clients will receive 50 trades plus the associated number of scene points. At the minimum deposit tier, in addition to free trades, there are 5,000 scene points up for grabs, which translates into either 5 movies or a $50 credit at dining or sporting wear retailers (in case being inside during the summer is not your thing).

Two things stand out as interesting about this promotion. First, Scotia iTRADE is once again reaching into its toolbox to leverage scene points / free movies incentives. There have been a handful of times when Scotia iTRADE has run a cross promotion with the free movie incentive (including one of the more memorable ones where visitors to the Toronto iTRADE had to take selfies) but the fact that they can do that gives them a unique promotional edge.

Screenshot of Scotia iTRADE’s latest promo offer (source: Scotia iTRADE website)

The Scotiabank tie-in with the Cineplex Scene points program means that Scotia iTRADE can offer something that other Canadian brokerages don’t.

A second interesting aspect of this promotion is that it is being telegraphed publicly before the deal actually goes live. This is an unusual step, something typically seen in contests not free trade offers.

As we head into the summer blockbuster season, a world awash in Netflix content (oh and don’t forget Game of Thrones) and good weather generally, it will be interesting to track if DIY investors prefer the indoor scene or the outdoor scenery.

Desjardins Getting Ready to go Shopping

Some people love the thrill of shopping, some people loathe it. Desjardins Online Brokerage’s parent Desjardins Financial, however, appears to be in a spending mood.

This week, the CEO of Desjardins Group (Guy Cormier) mentioned in an interview on Bloomberg Canada that Desjardins is looking to expand its reach outside of Quebec, stating that “Desjardins is open for business.”

Aside from the very encouraging sound bite, the article went on to specify that Desjardins would be particularly interested in insurance providers, as well as looking to take on full ownership of Qtrade Investor, the Vancouver-based brokerage that they bought a 40% stake in in 2013. Desjardins’s desire to be “more aggressive and have a stronger presence outside Quebec on wealth management” means that after firming up full ownership, there will likely be a very interesting transition in the Canadian online brokerage landscape.

Whether Qtrade Investor remains an independent brand or gets merged into either the long-standing DISNAT or more recent Desjardins Online Brokerage is an open question – one that will need to weigh the many years of Globe and Mail online brokerage ranking wins and other achievements against the desire to work under a united banner. From a look and feel perspective, there are some similarities, but there are some very clear design and branding differences.

How this all unfolds is going to be interesting to say the least. With other independent brokerages, or bank-owned brokerages that don’t necessarily want to continue an increasingly costly business unit, the time might be ripe for some consolidation or M&A activity of some of the players on the field.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

Spring may have sprung, but there are plenty of storms that blew through social media this week. Mentioned are BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing, and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Pool Sharks

The mechanics of trade execution are details that only very few individuals can truly claim to understand. Even after a reading of Flash Boys, the intricacy and complexity of the transaction system is mind boggling. So, where exactly does an order go and are investors getting the ‘best’ price available? It was this set of questions from one investor that had sparked a conversation in this post on the Canadian Money Forum – definitely worth a read.

Tuning In

Something, or rather someone, very interesting was spotted in the DIY investor forums this week – BMO InvestorLine. In this post on RedFlagDeals.com’s investing forum, one unhappy user asked the community of readers for a suggestion for an online brokerage. The answers themselves were all quite interesting however seeing that a ‘verified’ BMO InvestorLine responded. This appears not to be a one off as there’ve been at least three other posts to date.

Into the Close

Some folks look at the weekend as a time to relax while the current leaders of two nuclear armed countries appear to relish Friday’s for some old-fashioned high stakes shouting. While that’s kind of an odd note to sound off on, perhaps the video below offers some hope that people can resolve their differences amicably and that beer commercials may be able to save the world. Enjoy the weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – April 14, 2017

With markets closed today in observance of Good Friday, investors on both sides of the border can spend their weekend recounting United Airlines memes, legalization of marijuana in Canada and the mother of all bombs. Say what you will about the news, but investors have a lot on their plates to digest – and that’s before sitting down to a long-weekend dinner.

Fortunately, one thing DIY investors won’t have to do this weekend is search for the latest news from Canadian discount brokerages. In this week’s roundup we take a look at movement from two western-Canadian based brokerages. The first is reviving a new deal that might be part of a broader strategy to attract younger investors (even away from other discount brokerages). The second story focuses on changes to user experience brewing at another western Canadian online brokerage and what that might mean for competitor brands. As usual, we have the fan favourites of DIY investor chatter from Twitter and investor forums to close out on.

Qtrade Investor launches new transfer deal

After a small lull in the deals and promotions section this month, a “new” transfer deal has emerged from Qtrade Investor. The deal itself isn’t new per se; it is a reboot of an offer that has shown up from time to time over the past several years.

Still, a deal is a deal. And when it comes to transferring accounts, this latest offer from Qtrade Investor stands head and shoulders above other transfer offers. Specifically, Qtrade Investor is offering to pay the transfer out fees (typically around $150) for a minimum deposit of $10,000. Qtrade Investor normally requires deposits of at least $25,000 in order to rebate a transfer fee from another brokerage, so it is an interesting offer for those on the fence about switching to Qtrade Investor.

Typically, Canadian discount brokerages offer to cover transfer out fees for deposits of at least $25,000. Exceptions to the $25,000 threshold are RBC Direct Investing, who requires deposit of at least $15,000, and more recently National Bank Direct Brokerage, who has lowered their transfer fee coverage threshold to $20,000.

Although Qtrade Investor’s latest promotion is a limited time offer, it appears that there might be additional momentum starting to build amongst brokerages to lower the bar to cover transfer fees.

Of course, the transfer fee coverage game is a tricky one.

At any time, a major player in the market could decide to raise the bar to leave and effectively negate (or cost) other brokerages trying to incentivize clients to switch. Switching fees are not something brokerages actively advertise so once a DIY investor chooses to become a client of an online brokerage provider, the cost to exit isn’t generally part of what they think about. Arguably, however, every investor and trader should consider the cost to exit before agreeing to enter.  In reality, it is unlikely that many investors consider the switching cost as part of the reason to choose a brokerage.

On a side note, Qtrade Investor’s latest promotional offer also appears to visually be appealing to younger, more active individuals (or those who aspire to be). For those who keep a close eye on the ‘imagery’ choices of Canadian online brokerages, there has been a distinct shift in what an investor “looks like”. This includes the visual identity for Qtrade Investor.

Clearly the combination of a lower threshold for switching to Qtrade Investor and some younger, more active characters helping to sell the deal and other features on Qtrade Investor signal a definite interest in appealing to the millennial investor crowd. An interesting (perhaps ironic) question is whether other brokerages can ‘keep up’ with what Qtrade seems to be doing.

Credential Direct signals a digital shift

Hunting around on Easter seems to be a thing that people look forward to. Not so much on websites, however, where hunting around for information generally leads to frustration if not outright abandonment.

This past week we noticed an invitation to complete a survey about the Credential Direct website on the front end which naturally piqued our curiosity.

Specifically, the 10-minute survey stated that it was requesting feedback on a prototype of the website, with the feedback being used to make some informed decisions on how to organize the menus to make them as user-friendly as possible.

The usability questionnaire asked visitors to complete an action based on a scenario/question, such as locating information in the website menu for upcoming webinars. Specifically, it appears that Credential Direct is looking to discover where users are most likely to look for information.

For comparison, the website menu structure is organized into the following top level sections:

  • Why us
  • Pricing
  • Research & Tools
  • Education
  • Forms
  • About Us

The prototype menu structure, however, appears to consist of the following top-level options:

  • Features
  • Fees
  • Knowledge & Support
  • About
  • Partnerships

One of the first things to note is that there are fewer menu items, a sign that some navigation simplification is in order. Secondly, there seems to be a shift away from a ‘hard sell’ to a ‘soft sell’ highlight features instead of telling users ‘why’ they should choose Credential Direct and changing the term ‘pricing’ to ‘fees’.

Another interesting observation stems from the items being included in the ‘Knowledge & Support’  – specifically the inclusion of the categories for popular content, featured content and DIY Investor knowledge.  It’s one thing to create special categories of information, however, it’s another to populate these categories with enough information to warrant making a category in the first place.  These categories seem to suggest that Credential Direct might shift the current set of ‘DIY Investor knowledge’ on markets and investment types for a new home, but perhaps they may also be prepping to include more DIY investor focused content, something that their competitors across the street (quite literally) at Qtrade Investor have been building out.

Although things are still very much in the prototype stage, it’s clear that change is brewing at Credential Direct. One other interesting data point in support of this digital evolution is a tweet from their account (which appears to have been deleted and replaced later by a tweet from the parent Credential Financial account) that suggests that building a better digital experience for wealth management service providers is on the minds of the Credential leadership.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

What happens when a brokerage popular with social media savvy users has an outage? Read on. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Spot the DI-fference

One of the challenges that the big five Canadian banks have is differentiating themselves to consumers. For those DIY investors thinking of going with a big bank-owned online brokerage (aka direct investing with an online brokerage) the challenge of telling them apart is even trickier. In this post from Reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section, readers weigh in with their experiences on a couple of bank-owned online brokerages.

Getting an Edge

Active traders are always on the look out for ways to shave costs. That said, price isn’t the only factor, there’s also user experience and trade executions that matter. One reader on Canadian Money Forum in this post sought advice from other readers on shifting away from CIBC Investor’s Edge and got some interesting recommendations.

Into the Close

With the combination of playoff hockey and basketball and spring baseball, there’s no shortage of fun distractions heading into the weekend. Of course, there are also lots of not-so-fun distractions to keep an eye on too; however, hopefully you-know-who decides to play golf rather than a real-life version of risk. Have a safe and hoppy Easter weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – April 2017

*Updated April 14* Even though this is technically April Fool’s Day, the pullback in deals is no laughing matter. After a very busy March in which there were as many as 35 deals in play, April kicks off with a more modest 24 live deals. The bigger story, however, is recognizing that now might not be the best timing for brokerages to be on the sidelines.

Having compared online brokerage deals & promotions for several years now, there is clearly some seasonality at play. Last year, for example, the transition from March to April saw the deal count drop from 33 to 19.

Discount brokerage deals and promotions typically ramp up at the beginning of a new year and crest heading into the RRSP contribution deadline at the beginning of March, after which things slowly subside.

Coming into 2017, however, it was noteworthy that several online brokerages had launched their major promotional pushes just before the end of 2016, signaling a much fiercer competitive environment for attracting new clientele.

And, although the start of April begins with a major contraction in offers, it is also interesting to see that competitive forces are still at play in the early part of 2017.

While we can’t be certain of the timing of this change, National Bank Direct Brokerage quietly lowered their minimum transfer deposit requirement from $25,000 to $20,000 for individuals to receive a transfer fee credit. The majority of Canadian online brokerages have set the bar at $25,000 to qualify for the transfer fee credit to apply so this move from NBDB might be enough to tip a few competitors to do the same.

Another interesting development at the outset of a new month is absence of special offers listed on the Scotia iTRADE ‘special offers’ page.

Along with BMO InvestorLine, Scotia iTRADE has been a stalwart of the deals race, typically running promotions to attract new clients. Interestingly, the ‘refer-a-friend’ and the ‘Start Right’ offers appear to have been labeled as “programs” (in the Fees section) rather than being listed under the special offers section.  The same is true for their ‘buck-a-bond’ offer, which has been a fixture of previous special offer sections.

The restructuring of Scotia iTRADE’s deals could be a consequence of the new website organization but for DIY investors looking for an incentive, this change has made it less clear that there are offers available.

On the surface, it seems that running offers/promotions when DIY investors are in the market for opening an account makes sense. It’s why retailers concentrate their efforts around big shopping dates in the calendar year. Unlike retail, however, the reality is that DIY investors, especially those on the margins, might be driven more by the investment climate than by seasonal deadlines.

With our own internal data showing steady DIY investor interest, markets trading at all-time highs and economic forecasts flashing green, there’s a case to be made that there’s no better time for brokerages to be offering up more promotions rather than less. If investors are coming back to the markets, it will be interesting to see just how long brokerages are going to sit this opportunity out. Stay tuned.

Expired Deals

*Update: April 3 – BMO InvestorLine has retired their winter promotion and replaced it with a new offer (see below).*

There were 12 deals that expired at one point or another during March. Here’s a list of the deals that didn’t make it into April (as of April 1st):

  • CIBC Investor’s Edge – Cash back promotion
  • Credential Direct – Cash back promotion
  • HSBC InvestDirect – 50 commission-free equity trades
  • National Bank Direct Brokerage – Cash back promotion
  • Qtrade Investor – Cash back promotion
  • RBC Direct Investing – Pay with points promotion
  • Scotia iTRADE – Travel points promotion
  • Scotia iTRADE – Transfer fee promotion
  • Scotia iTRADE – Visa Gift Card promotion
  • TD Direct Investing – 200 commission-free trade promotion
  • Virtual Brokers – $10,000 commission rebate offer
  • Virtual Brokers – 5i Research Subscription Offer

Extended Deals

No deals that were set to expire at the end of March have been extended (as of time of publication).

New Deals

*Update: April 14 – Qtrade Investor is once again offering their transfer promotion which lowers the minimum deposit amount required to qualify for covering transfer fees from $25,000 to $10,000. This is the most competitive transfer fee offer currently available from a Canadian online brokerage. See table below for more details.*

*Update: April 3 – BMO InvestorLine has introduced a very competitive cash back or commission-free trade deal for DIY investors. For deposits of at least $100,000, eligible individuals can receive either $200 cash back or 20 commission-free trades; for deposits of at least $250,000, eligible individuals can receive either $1,000 cash back or 100 commission free trades. According to the terms and conditions for this deal, the eligible account types are cash or margin (individual or joint) accounts, corporate accounts, sole proprietorship accounts, RRSP and spousal RRSP accounts.*

No new deals or promotions to report (as of time of publication).

Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2017
Open and fund a new registered account at Virtual Brokers with at least A) $5,000; B) $25,000; or C) $50,000+ in new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $30; B) $50; C) $100 cash back. Use promo code RRSPCB2017 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $5,000 – $24,999 B) $25,000 – $49,999 C) $50,000+ A) $30 B) $50 C) $100 Cash back will be deposited just after October 31, 2017 RSP cash back bonus April 30, 2017
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 2 months of commission-free equity trading and a $250 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 2 months. Use promo code 2MFREE2017 at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 2 months commission-free equity trading + $250 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 2 months 2 months free trading April 30, 2017
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering new clients 1% of assets transferred into the new account in the form of commission credits (to a maximum value of $1,000). Minimum qualifying deposit is $10,000. To qualify, individuals will have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex or email: [email protected]. See details link for more info. $10,000 1% of assets transferred in the form of commission-credits (max credits: $1,000) 6 months Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo April 28, 2017
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine or fund a qualifying existing account, with at least A) $100,000 or B) $250,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $200 cash back or 20 commission-free trades; B) $1,000 cash back or 100 commission-free trades. Use promo code CASH when signing up for cash back offer or TRADES to be eligible for commission-free equity trade offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $249,999 B) $249,999+ A) Cash back: $200 OR 20 commission-free trades B) Cash back: $1,000 OR 100 commission-free trades. Cash back will be deposited the week of January 8, 2018. Commission-free equity trades are eligible for use up to August 6, 2017. Cash back or Free trade offer June 5, 2017

Expired Offers
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least A) $100,000; B) $200,000 or C) $300,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $200; B) $400 or C) $750 cash back. Use promo code PROMO750 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $199,999 B) $200,000 – $299,999 C) $300,000+ Cash back bonus A) $200 B) $400 C) $750 Cash back will be deposited the week of November 6, 2017. 2017 Winter Campaign *Expired* April 2, 2017 *Expired*
Last Updated: April 22, 2017 01:00 PT

Referral Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Incentive Structure Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Deposit Details Link Deadline
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $25 cash back and they receive either A) $25; B) $50; C) $75; D) $100; or E) $250 depending on the amount deposited amount. Enter code: 476104302388759 during account sign up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for eligibility and additional bonus payment structure and minimum balance requirements. A) $1,000 – $9,999 B) $10,000 – $24,999 C) $25,000 – $49,999 D) $50,000 -$99,999 E) $100,000+ $25 cash back (for referrer per referral; $50 bonus cash back for every 3rd referral) For referred individuals: A) $25 cash back B) $50 cash back C) $75 cash back D) $100 cash back E) $250 cash back Cash deposited into Questrade billing account within 7 days after funding period ends (90 days) Refer a friend terms and conditions Code Number: 476104302388759 none
Scotia iTrade If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link. A) $10,000 B) $50,000+ A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50) 60 days Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade tbd
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs 45 days after minimum 90 day holding period(subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2017

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit 30 days none none
Last Updated: April 1, 2017 14:30 PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $20,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $20,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Transfer $10,000 or more to Qtrade Investor from another brokerage and Qtrade Investor may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more details. $150 $10,000 Transfer Fee Rebate May 11, 2017
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to contact TD Direct Investing for further details. $150 $25,000 Contact client service for more information (1-800-465-5463). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Virtual Brokers and they may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee promo tbd
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 Confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more information (1-800-567-3343). none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo April 28, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: April 14, 2017 23:30 PT

Other Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Required Details Link Deadline
Credential Direct has partnered with Trend Micro to offer 50% off Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security. Use code “TrendCF” at checkout. n/a Trend Micro Special Offer Code none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage, in conjunction with MoneyTalks, is offering 3 months of the “Inside Edge” investor information service to Desjardins Online Brokerage clients. Use promo code DESJ2016 during checkout to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for more information. n/a MoneyTalks Inside Edge Discount none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering $50 in commission credits for new Disnat Classic clients depositing at least $1,000. See terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 Broker@ge 18-30 Promotion none
Scotia iTrade Scotiabank StartRight customers can receive 10 commission-free trades when investing $1,000 or more in a new Scotia iTrade account. Trades are good for use for up to 1 year from the date the account is funded. Use promo code SRPE15 when applying (in English) or SRPF15 when applying in French. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 StartRight Free Trade offer none
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) and you may be eligible to win a $250 gift card to the Apple store. Use promo code 250AGC2017 during sign up to be eligible. Residents of Quebec are not eligible for this contest. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account) $250 Apple Gift Card Draw April 30, 2017
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) or $5,000 (for the Commission Free Trading Account) and you may be eligible to receive a one-year subscription to access 5i Research. Use promo code 5iVB2016 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account); $5,000 (Commission Free Trading Account) 5i Research Offer March 31, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: April 1, 2017 14:30 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – March 31, 2017

Even though March is over, it still doesn’t quite feel like the madness is behind us yet. Nonetheless, housing prices (in Toronto) and stock markets are still buoyant, and are managing to keep up appearances. For investors & discount brokerages, it seems the old farmer adage stands: make hay while the sun shines.

In this edition of the roundup, we look at the deals and promotions turnover set to take place across the board as we head into a new month. From there, we’ll review the latest security feature from a Canadian bank-owned discount brokerage that leverages voice biometrics. As always, we’ll look at what DIY investors had to say on Twitter and wrap up the week with a couple of interesting forum posts.

Marching Forward

After the madness of the RSP contribution season, a rally in the stock market, and rumblings of interest rate increases, it appears as if the landscape for online brokerages is due for a bit of a shakeup.

As we head into a new month, it is already clear that there will be a great deal of change on the deals & promotions front with at least six offers officially set to expire at midnight. Interestingly, deals from National Bank Direct Brokerage, CIBC Investor’s Edge and Scotia iTRADE were pulled from their websites in advance of the official calendar roll over.

The transition from March madness to April (sadness?) is not unusual. Last year, the shift from March to April saw the deal count fall 42% from 33 offers down to 19, with most of the offers disappearing from the cash back/free trade category. The deal count through March of this year reached close to 30 before pulling back slightly with the expiration of deals from Credential Direct, Qtrade Investor and HSBC InvestDirect.

One curious observation this year is that online brokerages have removed offers from their website in advance of the calendar roll over. Typically these deals last through the last day of the offer, even sticking around a few days after the deal has expired.

It’s not quite clear what this means for publication of new offers, however it seems that brokerages are being slightly more responsive than they have been previously. Also, it is curious to note that, at the time of publication, there were no longer any promotional offers or deals listed on the Scotia iTRADE special offers section. Scotia iTRADE has been staple of the deals race for a very long time, so it will be interesting to see if they populate their deals section again soon or if this is a signal of a change in strategy.

We will continue to monitor the deals & promotions section heading into April, especially since the landscape for DIY investors’ choice of promotions keeps shifting. With several ‘coming soon’ features announced by brokerages (including one described below) there may be a convenient promotion to accompany new feature releases.

List of some of the brokerages and deals expired as of March 31st:

  • Virtual Brokers’ $10,000 Commission Credit Offer
  • National Bank Direct Brokerage Cash Back Promotion
  • Scotia iTRADE Winter 2017 Commission Rebate Offer
  • CIBC Investor’s Edge Cash Back & Free Trade Offer
  • TD Direct Investing 200 Commission-free Trade Offer

New Voice of Security

Whether it’s Siri, Google or Alexa, there’s no question that voice recognition is playing a greater role in the day to day lives of consumers. Now, it appears, it will do the same for DIY investors.

Voice recognition technology has typically found its way into the financial services world as a means to replace users having to push numbers on a keypad to navigate, but now it is possible for this technology to verify the identity of who’s on the line.

An announcement posted on the CIBC Investor’s Edge website indicates that voice recognition biometrics will soon be integrated into the customer service experience at one of Canada’s bank-owned online discount brokerages. Instead of fumbling about with passwords, PINs or security verification questions, individuals who are in a hurry will simply be able to rely on a ‘voiceprint’ for security authentication.

Screenshot from CIBC Investor’s Edge Website

How much time can be saved using voice biometric login? Quite a bit, it seems. A recent study of voiceprint-based biometric authentication from Citibank’s Asian Pacific region found that the average time to validate a client’s identity dropped from 45 seconds to 15 seconds using this new technology. In a world where user experience online demands web pages load in fractions of a second, it’s easy to see why making the case to shave the telephone authentication experience down makes sense.

Another improvement to the telephone experience CIBC Investors Edge users will enjoy is being able to schedule a call back instead of waiting on hold.

Granted, it seems like a small improvement, but for impatient traders or investors who would rather listen to the market news instead of hold music (or hold commercials), the call back feature is a godsend and will make scenarios like the one mentioned above a thing of the past. Of course, while call backs are preferable, how long it takes for an agent to call back is another matter entirely.

The announcement page for this new feature also has compiled a useful list of questions, including what should happen if voice authentication does not work or does not allow a user in.

This latest feature announcement, while not revolutionary, is still evolutionary and helps to exemplify that the bigger bank-owned discount brokerages are not standing still when it comes to innovation. When it comes to deciding on how to improve consumer experience as an online brokerage, this one seems to be a good call.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

If there’s a rule to social media and discount brokerages, it’s that when things break, you’ll hear about it on Twitter. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, Disnat, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing & Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Conversion Factor

DIY investors are always on the lookout for a good deal. In this post, from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada, one DIY investor looking for a better way to convert between USD & CAD found a good tip to consider at a popular online brokerage.

Qtrade vs Questrade

Without meaning to, the Q-named Canadian discount brokerages are often mistaken for one another. In this post, however, one user had narrowed the field down to choosing between Qtrade Investor and Questrade. More instructive, however, is the response on this channel that Questrade managed to provide.

Into the Close

That does it for another week in the markets. Assuming that nothing totally crazy happens on Twitter this weekend, enjoy April Fool’s Day, the start of spring training and celebrating the successful launch (and return) of the SpaceX rocket. For a head start on April Fool’s pranks, here’s a fun rundown of them.

 

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – March 3, 2017

Crazy real estate, crazy IPOs, crazy politics, crazy Oscars, crazy Amazon outages and one very crazy sprint to the RRSP contribution deadline. Not a bad way to ring in the third month of 2017. There’s certainly no shortage of items pulling DIY investors’ attention in every direction this past week and perhaps no coincidence that Canadian discount brokerages are trying to capitalize on the increased attention investors are paying to the market by making some ‘bigly’ moves of their own.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at the latest collection of discount brokerage deals that DIY investors can choose from and how different brokerages are working to stay on the radar of those investors. Next we take a look at the big news story for investors – the Snapchat IPO and whether investors will be over it or all over it.  From there we take a look at the latest online brokerage tweets of the week as well as a couple of interesting posts from the investor forums.

New Deals Roundup

With stock markets flirting with new all-time highs, investor sentiment towards getting into the markets has clearly thawed. Investment capital is flowing again and there’s no better indicator of that than the excitement and hype that was the ‘snapchat’ IPO. Another interesting indicator, however, is the number of Canadian discount brokerages offering up promotions or deals.

Heading into the new month, almost all Canadian discount brokerages, with the exception of two (Interactive Brokers Canada and Laurentian Bank Discount Brokerage) are offering some kind of incentive offer to attract new clients or new assets from existing clients. In total, we’ve spotted 30 deals that are being actively advertised or publicly promoted.

Breakdown of Canadian discount brokerage deals for March 2017.
Breakdown of Canadian discount brokerage deals for March 2017.

While most brokerages offer up the standard transfer fee coverage, this category of deal makes up roughly one third of the offers out there. The rest are a mixture of commission rebate offers, cash back promotions or some other kind of promo.

Although no new deals technically hit the wires at the outset of the month, there was some activity in the final days of February which helped put a little spring in the step of the deals activity heading into March.

The good news from two brokerages came in the form of deal extensions. Both Qtrade Investor and Desjardins Online Brokerage extended their offers a little further into 2017. In the case of Qtrade Investor, their cash back offer was extended to mid-March. For Desjardins Online Brokerage, their popular 1% commission-rebate offer has been extended out to almost the end of April (April 28th).

Scotia iTRADE was the other Canadian discount brokerage to ramp up the deals activity with the launch of their VISA gift card offer that coincided with the launch of their new front-facing website. The deal itself offers between $50 and $500 for deposits ranging from $25,000 to $1,000,000+.

Overall, Virtual Brokers is leading the pack with six different offers in play followed by Scotia iTRADE which is now offering up five. Interestingly, the Scotia iTRADE site special offers section currently is displaying only two offers, however links to the deals (shown in the deals & promotions section tables) do point to the live offer pages.

As we head further into March, however, it won’t be just the number of deals that makes the difference but also the visibility of those offers.

TD Direct Investing, for example, does not have as many deals going as their peers but has increased their advertising presence – including front page newspaper ads and increased online advertising – in a bid to get their deal or brokerage noticed. It will be interesting to see how their counterparts, such as RBC Direct Investing who doesn’t have a commission-free or cash back offer (they do have a ‘points’ related offer for existing RBC clients) or CIBC Investor’s Edge (who does have a very competitive offer) elect to respond in the sprint to income tax refund season.

From the Blog: Oh SNAP! An IPO like no other?

It may have taken a couple years to get here, but the biggest threat to Facebook’s dominance in the social media space successfully IPO’d this past week and now has a market cap of $34B US.  From a startup in 2010 to public company in 2017, Snapchat – or more formally Snap Inc, debuted on Thursday to a very warm reception.

Screenshot from the opening of SNAP at NYSE.

Despite all of the hype leading up to the IPO, there were lots of investors – mainstream investors in particular – that had to wait until shares went live on the open market in order to get a piece of the action.

Only time will tell if this millennial phenom can sustain the imagination of investors, advertisers and the very fickle user base of younger technophiles.

In a blog post this week, we took a look at the lead up to the Snapchat IPO and add a bit more colour to a story that is bound to have investors of all ages debating whether SNAP is a hit or is just hype. Click here to read more.

Fraud Prevention Month

March is the official month of fraud awareness and prevention. For DIY investors, the world of investing can be a dangerous place. From ‘hot tips’ to the threats of being hacked, there are numerous risks that all investors would be wise to understand and properly prepare for.

Stay tuned this week as we launch an interesting comparison of the different fraud protection measures currently in place at Canadian discount brokerages and what DIY investors can do to better protect themselves against fraud – including evaluating the security of their online brokerage.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

Lots of chatter as DIY investors slid into the RRSP contribution deadline this week. Mentioned were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Closing time

Break ups are hard. But for one DIY investor, who chronicled their exit from Virtual Brokers, the process was not as simple as it seemed. Click here to read the reddit post on how it all went down.

Down to the Wire

The procrastinators for RRSP contribution deadlines might be able to relate to this post from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section. One user who was close to the deadline was looking for a quick route to open an online brokerage account for an RRSP and was considering Questrade but was up against a few hurdles for just how long it would take to get funded. Read on to find out the play by play heading into the contribution deadline.

Into the Close

Well if there was one lesson from this week, it’s to expect the unexpected. Good tip for traders heading into the weekend as chatter of interest rates and more fallout from scandals from the US await. So, on that note, have a great weekend and for a bit of schadenfreude, here’s that Oscar moment that is so hard to watch but so hard not to.

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – March 2017

March is finally here. With the promise of spring ahead of us and the RSP deadline now behind us, attention is going to shift to tax season and where, how and with whom those refunds will be invested.  The great news for DIY investors is that there are still lots of promotional offers to choose from when looking at potential Canadian discount brokerage deals, so there’s no shortage of options.

This month we kick off with a whopping 29 offers from 13 different discount brokerages. Almost all Canadian discount brokers have some kind of promotional offer (except for Interactive Brokers), even if it is just a simple transfer fee coverage offer. Like all good things, however, several of the discount brokerage deals offered this month have a particularly short shelf life expiring during or at the end of March. So, while it has been possible to see what offers might have launched through the RSP deadline, there’s a good probability that many of these deals won’t be around for the rest of the year or even until next year.

Read on to get the full breakdown of expired, extended and new offers to hit the tape this month. Of course if there are any offers that you spot or know of that other DIY investors would find useful, let us know in the comments section below.

Expired Deals

After having received a minor extension to meet the RSP contribution deadline, the RBC Direct Investing Rewards points offer officially expired on March 1st.

Extended Deals

There’s nothing like the word ‘extension’ to put a smile on the faces of procrastinators everywhere. Fortunately, two offers managed to stick around just a little while longer.

The first extension is from Desjardins Online Brokerage who extended their commission rebate offer through to April 28th. Next, Qtrade Investor extended their cash back offering until March 15th. See the table below for more details.

New Deals

Rolling into the new month, there were technically no new offers announced at the very start of March. In late February, however, Scotia iTRADE launched a new Visa card (cash back) deal that coincided with the launch of their new website. Although the offer itself didn’t appear in the promotions section at the time of writing, the link to the offer was live on their site.

Visa card values range from $50 to $500 for deposits that range from $25,000 to $1,000,000+. See table below for more details.

Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2017
Open and fund a new registered account at Virtual Brokers with at least A) $5,000; B) $25,000; or C) $50,000+ in new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $30; B) $50; C) $100 cash back. Use promo code RRSPCB2017 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $5,000 – $24,999 B) $25,000 – $49,999 C) $50,000+ A) $30 B) $50 C) $100 Cash back will be deposited just after October 31, 2017 RSP cash back bonus April 30, 2017
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 2 months of commission-free equity trading and a $250 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 2 months. Use promo code 2MFREE2017 at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 2 months commission-free equity trading + $250 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 2 months 2 months free trading April 30, 2017
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering new clients 1% of assets transferred into the new account in the form of commission credits (to a maximum value of $1,000). Minimum qualifying deposit is $10,000. To qualify, individuals will have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex or email: [email protected]. See details link for more info. $10,000 1% of assets transferred in the form of commission-credits (max credits: $1,000) 6 months Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo April 28, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Virtual Brokers with at least $10,000 and you may be eligible to receive a commission-credit of up to $10,000. Use promo code 10K2017 at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $10,000 Up to $10,000 in commission credits (@ $9.95 per trade) deadline to use trades March 31, 2017. Commission rebates to be offered in January 2018. $10,000 Commission Credit Offer March 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account by March 31st with at least A) $20,000 or B) $100,00+ and you may qualify to receive up to either A) $500 or B) $1000 in commission reimbursements. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. A) $20,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) up to $500 commission reimbursements B) up to $1000 commission reimbursements 90 days National Bank Direct Brokerage Cash Back Promotion March 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000 or C) $100,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 50; B) 100 or C) 200 commission-free trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000+ A) 50 commission-free trades (max value: $500) B) 100 commission-free trades (max value: $1000) C) 200 commission-free trades (max value: $2000) April 28th, 2017 Commission charges will be credited the month following when the charge was incurred. TD Direct Investing 200 Commission-free Trade Offer March 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000 or D) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 75; B) 150; C) 200 or D) $250,000+ in commission-free trades. In addition, new clients will also receive FlightDesk active trading platform free for 90 days. Use promo code W17FT when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ A) 75 (max value: $749.25) B) 150 (max value: $1498.50) C) 200 (max value: $1,998) D) 250 (max value: $2,497.50) 90 days Winter 2017 Free Trade Offer March 31, 2017
CIBC Investors Edge Open and fund a new account at CIBC Investor’s Edge with at least A) $50,000 or B) $100,000 and you may be eligible to receive A) $200 or B) $400 in cash back. Also, individuals who setup a regular investment plan may also be eligible to receive 50 commission-free equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for more information. A) $50,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) $200 B) $400 +Bonus 50 commission-free trades for setting up Regular Investment Plan. Cash back will be deposited within 30 business days after account funding. Commission-free equity trades good for 60 days after setup of Regular Investment Plan. Cash Back & Free Trade Offer March 31, 2017
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least A) $100,000; B) $200,000 or C) $300,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $200; B) $400 or C) $750 cash back. Use promo code PROMO750 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $199,999 B) $200,000 – $299,999 C) $300,000+ Cash back bonus A) $200 B) $400 C) $750 Cash back will be deposited the week of November 6, 2017. 2017 Winter Campaign April 2, 2017

Expired Offers
Open a new account with HSBC InvestDirect and you may be eligible to receive up to 50 commission-free North American equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. n/a 50 commission-free North American equity trades 60 days HSBC InvestDirect Cash Bonus Promo March 3, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Qtrade Investor with a deposit of at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000 or more and you may be eligible to receive a cash back bonus of A) $25; B) $50; C) $100; D) $250; E) $500 or F) $1,000. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) $1,000,000+ A) $25 B) $50 C) $100 D) $250 E) $500 F) $1,000 Cash back will be deposited by July 31, 2017. Qtrade Investor Cash Back Bonus March 15, 2017
Open and fund a new account or fund an existing account at Credential Direct with at least A) $15,000; B) $50,000; C) $150,000; D) $500,000 or E) $1,000,000+ in new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $75; B) $125; C) $200; D) $500 or E) $1,000. Use promo code CASH2017RSP when signing up. As an added bonus, Credential Direct will donate an amount equivalent to 10% of the bonus paid out to United Way. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $149,999 C) $150,000 – $499,999 D) $500,000 – $999,999 E) 1,000,000+ A) $75 B) $125 C) $200 D) $500 E) $1,000 Cash back will be deposited week of October 9, 2017. Credential Direct Cash Back Promotion March 16, 2017
Last Updated: Mar. 17, 2017 17:35 PT

Referral Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Incentive Structure Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Deposit Details Link Deadline
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $25 cash back and they receive either A) $25; B) $50; C) $75; D) $100; or E) $250 depending on the amount deposited amount. Enter code: 476104302388759 during account sign up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for eligibility and additional bonus payment structure and minimum balance requirements. A) $1,000 – $9,999 B) $10,000 – $24,999 C) $25,000 – $49,999 D) $50,000 -$99,999 E) $100,000+ $25 cash back (for referrer per referral; $50 bonus cash back for every 3rd referral) For referred individuals: A) $25 cash back B) $50 cash back C) $75 cash back D) $100 cash back E) $250 cash back Cash deposited into Questrade billing account within 7 days after funding period ends (90 days) Refer a friend terms and conditions Code Number: 476104302388759 none
Scotia iTrade If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link. A) $10,000 B) $50,000+ A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50) 60 days Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade tbd
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs 45 days after minimum 90 day holding period(subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2017

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit 30 days none none
Last Updated: Mar. 2, 2017 00:15 PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Qtrade Investor from another brokerage and Qtrade Investor may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more details. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to contact TD Direct Investing for further details. $150 $25,000 Contact client service for more information (1-800-465-5463). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Virtual Brokers and they may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee promo tbd
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 Confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more information (1-800-567-3343). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo April 28, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Mar. 2, 2017 00:25PT

Other Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Required Details Link Deadline
Credential Direct has partnered with Trend Micro to offer 50% off Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security. Use code “TrendCF” at checkout. n/a Trend Micro Special Offer Code none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage, in conjunction with MoneyTalks, is offering 3 months of the “Inside Edge” investor information service to Desjardins Online Brokerage clients. Use promo code DESJ2016 during checkout to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for more information. n/a MoneyTalks Inside Edge Discount none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering $50 in commission credits for new Disnat Classic clients depositing at least $1,000. See terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 Broker@ge 18-30 Promotion none
Scotia iTrade Scotiabank StartRight customers can receive 10 commission-free trades when investing $1,000 or more in a new Scotia iTrade account. Trades are good for use for up to 1 year from the date the account is funded. Use promo code SRPE15 when applying (in English) or SRPF15 when applying in French. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 StartRight Free Trade offer none
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive 50 commission-free trades plus A) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 15,000 or D) 20,000; E) 25,000 or F) 50,000 travel points on an eligible Scotia travel points credit card. In addition, new clients will also receive FlightDesk active trading platform free for 90 days. Use promo code W17RP when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) $1,000,000+ Scotia reward points offer March 31, 2017
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) and you may be eligible to win a $250 gift card to the Apple store. Use promo code 250AGC2017 during sign up to be eligible. Residents of Quebec are not eligible for this contest. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account) $250 Apple Gift Card Draw April 30, 2017
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) or $5,000 (for the Commission Free Trading Account) and you may be eligible to receive a one-year subscription to access 5i Research. Use promo code 5iVB2016 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account); $5,000 (Commission Free Trading Account) 5i Research Offer March 31, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Mar. 2, 2017 00:15 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 24, 2017

Spring may still be a month away but there are many who’ve already had more than enough of winter. Of course, change is certainly the theme for Canadian discount brokerages as their new reality is one in which they will have to become better at managing it and demonstrating that they can pull it off without a hitch.

In this week’s roundup we take a closer look at one Canadian online brokerage that unveiled a major change to its front-facing website earlier in the week. From there we’ll take a look at a recent evolution by the parent of another popular online brokerage as they introduce Canada’s latest robo-advisor. As usual, we’ll close out with the latest chatter from DIY investors on social media and in the investor forums.

Scotia iTRADE website gets a major overhaul

This past week, after what likely involved many conversations about the finer points of typography, colour palettes and ‘user experience’, Scotia iTRADE unveiled their new public-facing website.

While we were given an early look at the new website, now that the site has gone live we can finally shine a brighter spotlight on the website itself, what Scotia iTRADE hopes it will achieve and what the new site means for DIY investors and iTRADE’s competitors.

Online trading continues the tradition of change

Ever since online brokerages hitched their wagons to the world of internet trading, there has been a constant tension between the world of finance and the world of technology.

On the one hand, finance is about stability, trust and continuity. On the other, technology is about change, innovation and taking chances. And, as a result, as money becomes more digital, online brokerage firms are increasingly becoming technology firms first and financial service firms second.

That said – what does the digital shift for finance have to do with online investing? In a nutshell, everything.

When it comes to online brokerage websites, it is clear to see that the first thing that consumers see and interact with will have an important impact on how perceive that particular brand or firm. Are they competent? Are they trustworthy? Do they run a dilapidated front end or do they care about what they do enough to make it look good and function effectively? These are just some of the questions DIY investors would have asked while visiting a branch in person but now ask when they visit a website or use an app.  The website is the digital ambassador for the brand and the longer online brokerages leave their sites fallow, the less inclined anyone will be to pay attention, let alone trust what the experience will be like.

That said, good websites are not cheap to design, build, implement and monitor. In a world where Canadian online brokerages are facing fierce competition from one another, as well as declining commission revenue and possible threats from products/services such as robo-advisors, justifying the spend to redo a website communicates that a brokerage is willing to keep itself in the game and that it can evolve with the times. As in the real world, you have to dress the part.

And, while we have witnessed many of Scotia iTRADE’s peers already go through the redesign process over the past three years, the fact that Scotia iTRADE has finally rolled out their new site signals that they, too, are very much in the Canadian online brokerage race for the long haul – good news, of course, for the long-term buy and hold investors who want to park their money somewhere that is well maintained.

Features, functionality and feelings

Being the weekly roundup, we can’t go into excessive detail on the new site, but given the scope of changes, we can touch on a few interesting elements in their new website and explore a bit about how these changes stack up to the previous site.

One of the most notable changes to the new Scotia iTRADE website is that it has drastically reduced the amount of text on pages in favour of a cleaner, less cluttered look and feel.  As shown in the image below, menu options – at least at the top level menu section – have been simplified from the 9 options to go somewhere down to four key categories: About, Invest, Fees & Education.

While their very meaty dropdown menus still contain quite a bit of information, they are far less overwhelming that the previous design. Also the new menus have clearer quick links to take a user to common information without having to hunt too hard to find it.

Another notable element that has changed in the new website is the removal of the login window at the top of the screen. This might be a sore spot with existing clients who would prefer not to click anywhere to go to a login window, however it was a reasonably good gamble that existing clients would accommodate the change to having to click the ‘sign in’ button to access their account to get access to their own money. The tradeoff (pun intended) is that with the new design, the iTRADE branding stands out and the sight line is cleaner as the page loads.

In keeping with a trend that appears in a number of other online brokerage sites and financial services web pages, icons have found their way onto the homepage. TD Direct Investing and Qtrade Investor’s recent website upgrades, which preceded the launch of Scotia iTRADE’s website, also rely on icons to communicate conceptually relevant information in a way that provides some visual variety to the text and photographs on the page.

 

 

Scotia iTRADE has divided the icon section into information for new clients and existing clients, placing what are likely the most popular pieces of information to either visitor at the very top of the list of icons displayed.

 

 

Lastly, the new website is also notably more diverse and colourful in comparison to its predecessor.

In keeping with a trend in Canadian financial services firms towards embracing a more diverse view of what a ‘DIY investor’ should look like, the imagery selection features many more women, investors of varying ages and ethnicities. Additionally, although the new website makes extensive use of stock images, the choices of outfits and settings of the models are more visually striking yet approachable than the previous choices of black & white photographs with red accents.

Having opted to design a responsive website for a mobile-driven world, Scotia iTRADE is clearly banking on a future in which those who want to access their website will do so from a variety of devices. The decision and execution on going the responsive route are not without their own challenges either.

As can be seen from the image above, there are still kinks to be ironed out – such as the copious amounts of whitespace in one of their most popular sections linked to commission pricing. Because mobile design likes to stack elements vertically, there are a number of examples on the new website where how information gets presented requires figuring out the unique challenges that a responsive design environment poses.

Making it happen

Ultimately, done is better than perfect. Replacing a website is a significant undertaking and not without it its risks. So, for an online brokerage to invest in an upgrade to their website – especially on at the size as scope of the Scotia iTRADE site, it is encouraging sign that Scotia iTRADE feels confident they will be in the online brokerage race for some time.

The lack of immediate public outcry or praise from DIY investors means that Scotia iTRADE can count this launch as a win. From a user experience point of view, the new site is simpler to navigate, easier to find information and more accessible.

For DIY investors, while the important features and pricing haven’t changed, it is encouraging that financial service firms understand the value in being responsive to consumer expectations and are shifting to make their product offering easier to understand.

Of course, it will be particularly interesting to monitor how Scotia iTRADE intends to keep their brand fresh and engaging to DIY investors in this new digital reality. As all online brokerages have come to learn, the digital first impression will almost certainly become what the next generation of DIY investors will use to determine whether they are in the right place or not.

On our radar

Earlier this month, Qtrade Financial (parent to Qtrade Investor) entered the robo-advisor (or digital advice) pool with their own new service called Virtual Wealth.

While the roll out is still in its early stages, Qtrade Financial is deploying a product in an already crowded space.

With over a dozen firms already in the fray, it will be interesting to see what VirtualWealth does to distinguish itself from its competitors – many of which are either startups or the products of deep-pocketed banks and to see what kind of splash it attempts to make to gain awareness and mindshare in this space.

On a more curious note, the mindshare piece may be a bit of an uphill battle – at least at first. The branding decision to go with VirtualWealth could present some challenges as online brokerage, Virtual Brokers, has largely come to be associated with the ‘Virtual’ tagline in the Canadian online investor market.

That said, Qtrade Investor is no stranger to a little bit of confusion. DIY investors on forums still routinely confuse Qtrade Investor with Questrade, despite having almost two decades to distinguish these firms from one another.

Ultimately, naming choices aside, succeeding will come down to more than just who wears it better.

In an already crowded field, the website for VirtualWealth feels at home with a clean and modern design that leans on elements from Qtrade Investor’s recent website refresh. This is clearly not their first rodeo and despite being a new product line, they don’t seem out of place.

Also, there’s a noticeable continuity between branding elements on the Qtrade Investor site and the new VirtualWealth site. And, while subtle, these elements will be very important for VirtualWealth to leverage the strong brand reputation of Qtrade Investor and Qtrade Financial as established but innovative financial services providers. This latter point is especially relevant as the ‘startup’ style robo-advisors have little to no track record to trumpet and thus will have an even more difficult time pricing their offering higher than that of the competitive rates VirtualWealth is entering the market with.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

With more DIY investors in the market as RRSP season draws closer to the deadline, the timing for outages could not be worse. This week’s tweets highlight the not so smooth rides. Mentioned are CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE & TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

Feeling De-Fee-ted

If there’s one thing DIY investors really dislike, it’s probably fees. In this post from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada, one user was looking to get his father a better deal by asking other DIY investors for their suggestions on discount brokerages.

By the Numbers

As a DIY investor, one of the unpleasant realities is record keeping and tax documentation. In this post from the Canadian Money Forum, one forum user is trying to get to the bottom of why the numbers don’t add up on an important tax form.

 

Into the Close

So this week was certainly out of this world. Yes, there are Oscar moments coming up, and probably some great hockey or grim news – but seriously – new planets?! In all the excitement, here’s hoping that we manage to keep ourselves around long enough to enjoy what is a great discovery for humankind. Have a great weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 3, 2017

It’s hard to believe a whole month has gone by in 2017. With the news cycle dominated by the ever unpredictable movements of the US president, speculation is as rampant as ever. For Canadian online brokerages, however, getting attention is far more difficult than just sending out a tweet at odd hours. Nonetheless they’re still finding a way to make some headlines.

This week there’s lots on the docket. First we take a look at some ‘yuge’ news to come out of the deals arena, as one online brokerage definitely went ‘bigly’ on the incentive offers for RRSP season. From there, we’ll cover the headlines made by two online brokers and their respective awards for service and price that were announced this past week. In keeping with the influence of the US on the news cycle, one online brokerage caused a ‘tremendous’ stir by repealing and replacing their standard commission rates with something much lower. And, as is usual fare, we’ll take a look at what DIY investors were chatting about on Twitter and in the investor forums.

New Deals & Promotions

It’s a new month and while winter still might be here (amiright Vancouver?), February’s deals and promotions at Canadian discount brokerages are red hot.

At the outset of February, Virtual Brokers made a very big splash by launching four deals at the beginning of the month, including the mind-boggling $10,000 commission-rebate offer that dwarfs anything put forward by other Canadian brokerages in recent memory. After factoring in the deals that were retired and the inclusion of credit card points related special offers, there are now at least 30 incentive offers from Canadian brokerages.

Looking back on January, there were six brokerages that announced offers, primarily timed around the RRSP season. While most were commission rebate offers, there were also a pair of cash back incentives and even a couple of credit card points offers for good measure.

Despite almost all brokerages offering some type of offer, there was one notable exception – Interactive Brokers. Perhaps because they already enjoy having significant appeal to the trader community, Interactive Brokers doesn’t need to work as hard to attract this highly prized category of the DIY investor market. Even so, with no shortage of other Canadian brokerages who are willing to try and get a share of those in the market for an online trading account, Interactive Brokers may want to reconsider their approach here in Canada in order to give them more visibility in a very crowded space.

Virtual Brokers, thanks to the launch of its recent flurry of deals now leads Canadian brokerages with 6 offers followed by Questrade and Desjardins Online Brokerage, each of whom has four. Even though Virtual Brokers saw some turnover, it’s clear they’re doubling down efforts heading into the RRSP deadline, with promotions and marketing ramping up significantly.

In terms of the deals themselves, transfer fee coverage remains a staple at almost all discount brokerages, followed by the commission-credit and cash back category. The least popular category, interestingly, remains the referral bonus with only three brokerages having an advertised program in place.

For DIY investors looking at opening an online trading account, be it for an RSP account, a TFSA or just another trading account to put in that income tax refund, this year competition amongst brokerages means a great selection of offers. And while a deal may not be the only reason to select a brokerage, the market has clearly shown that it can be the make or break factor in such a competitive race.

Accolades for Service & Pricing

For a pair of Canadian online brokerages, February is off to a great start.

At what is the busiest time of the year for Canadian discount brokerages, financial services research firm Surviscor released the results of two assessments of the Canadian online brokerage industry.

The first, an analysis of customer service quality known as the ‘Service Level Assessment Review’ found that Qtrade Investor handily outperformed its competitors, both bank-owned and independent, in terms of response times to client service inquiries.

With a score of 96% Qtrade Investor was more than 15 percentage points ahead of the second place Desjardins Online Brokerage (81%) and third place Scotia iTRADE (79%).  This assessment used 170 ‘mystery shopper’ service enquiries per firm and measured how quickly each firm responded as well as a number of other items including accuracy of response and whether a firm met its own response guidelines.

While Qtrade Investor’s strong customer service scores are in keeping with its history of strong performance in this category, it was also interesting to note just how far apart Canadian online brokerages were in terms of their scores on this assessment.

For example, the difference between the top rated Qtrade Investor (who scored 96%) and bottom rated Laurentian Bank Discount Brokerage (who scored 4%) is almost unbelievably wide. Even so, the number of firms (9) who scored less than or equal to 50% was also staggering, especially because it contained four major bank-owned online brokerages as well as firms such as Questrade (who scored 15%) who have demonstrated a strength in responding to clients across social media channels and far flung places such as reddit.

Without knowing the exact scoring methodology or how the results were gathered, however, it is difficult to put the numerical values into context and as such, while these figures likely do measure some component of the online customer service enquiry process, they should also be taken with caution.

The second Surviscor assessment which was announced was this week  was for the ‘Cost of Services’ award given to Virtual Brokers.  While the press release about this reward was published by Virtual Brokers, it was interesting to note that this particular survey simulated the cost of trading by looking at over 13,000 trades across brokerages and found that Virtual Brokers came out on top.

Further details about this survey or its methodology were not available so the results should be treated with caution however it is clear that as competition between brokerages heats up, awards and recognition for areas of strength are going to be increasingly a part of the marketing and advertising strategies of all Canadian brokerages who receive them.

Major US Online Brokerage Cuts Commissions

What a difference two dollars can make. Charles Schwab, one of the largest online brokerages in US with almost $3 trillion in assets, announced this week that they were lowering commission prices down to $6.95 per trade from $8.95. In doing so, Schwab caused a massive sell off in the stock prices of other publicly traded online brokerages such as E*Trade Financial and TD Ameritrade as markets anticipate that these firms will likely have to follow suit and lower commission prices (and therefore revenues) to compete.

The latest move is an interesting case study for industry observers as Schwab’s business model has evolved in the low interest rate, low volatility environment to rely on managed wealth fees as a significant source of revenue rather than trading commissions. Currently less than 11% of net revenues are from trading.

In the Canadian online brokerage landscape, this move might inspire a large enough player (such as a bank-owned brokerage) that has both a strong managed wealth business as well as an online brokerage component to disrupt the market as a whole with a commission price drop from the $9.95 standard.

Internal data from SparxTrading.com already indicate that for CIBC Investor’s Edge, there has been a dramatic shift investor interest away from higher cost alternatives because of CIBC’s commission price cut to a standard commission of $6.95.

The fallout from the latest move by Schwab will be interesting to monitor, in particular because it puts tremendous pressure on firms such as E*Trade Financial and TD Ameritrade to respond. Additionally, it could very well signal to Canadian firms that yet another round of commission-lowering is on the horizon, especially if the largest players at the table decide like their US counterparts, to aggressively gain market share.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

Lots of chatter on Twitter this week – there’s good, bad and even a little ugly. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing & Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Glitch Happens

This past week, a user on reddit posted a notice of a technical outage on Questrade’s platform. It was an interesting thread insofar as the author seemed to entertain switching because of a glitch however other users chimed in to provide alternate perspectives.

Platform for Trading

A familiar question comes from this recent post from reddit’s personal finance Canada section with a user looking for a trading platform/brokerage to trade ETFs. Worth a read for those in a similar boat.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on yet another crazy week. Fortunately for football fans, the big game takes place this Sunday which might offer just a little sanctuary from the political football that keeps getting tossed around. For those who don’t really care much for football, here is a little something that will hopefully send you into the weekend on an entertaining note.

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – February 2017

With the big game coming this weekend, it seems fitting to kick off the deals and promotions action for February in a big way. Canadian discount brokerage deals have reached a feverish pitch as the race to win over DIY investors intensifies to all-time highs.

The biggest news, however, is the launch of four new promotions in a single day by Virtual Brokers. If they were looking to make a splash, then this was certainly one sure fire way to get some attention.

Before getting into what’s new in February, a quick highlight of January will point to how Canadian DIY investors now have the champagne problem of which online brokerage offer to choose from when opening up a new trading account.

Like 2016, January 2017 was also a busy month for launching deals and promotions. Deals from BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor’s Edge, Scotia iTRADE, Credential Direct, Qtrade Investor and RBC Direct Direct Investing were all launched throughout the month, with almost all these offers falling into the commission-free trade or cash-back category.

Both Scotia iTRADE and RBC Direct Investing, however, launched deals that were related to credit card bonus points. In the case of RBC Direct Investing, clients who also had an RBC credit card were able to use points towards trading commissions (at RBC Direct Investing) and individuals signing up for a Scotia iTRADE account could also receive a welcome bonus of travel reward miles. Interestingly with almost all of the offers extending to at least the end of February if not the end of March, the RBC Direct Investing points bonus offer expires in mid-February, setting the stage for an intriguing question as to what – if any – offer RBC Direct Investing may come up with as Canadian DIY investors sprint towards the March 1st RRSP contribution deadline.

As always, if we’ve missed a deal or promotion, send us a note and we can hopefully share it with all of our readers.

Expired Deals

To make room for the slew of offers, Virtual Brokers also retired a couple of their promotional offers at the end of January.

Most notable among the changes was the retirement of Virtual Brokers’ three months of unlimited trading. In addition to three months of commission free trading, this deal included a free trial of the PowerTrader Pro trading platform, which was subsequently then going to be $150USD/mo after the free trial was completed. Fortunately, there is a replacement offer now on the table, although it is not quite the same deal as the one that just expired and with a slightly higher per month cost for the trading platform.

Also on the bench for the time being is the referral program which offered up cash bonuses to new clients as well as those who referred them.

Extended Deals

No deals to mention at this time

New Deals

Go big is the game plan for Virtual Brokers as they launch their most aggressive promotional campaign ever adding four new promotional offers into the deals mix in one launch.

There’s a lot to dive into, so here’s a quick overview.

First, their headline deal of $10,000 in commission rebates is something that is unprecedented in terms of size and scope. Because it is a commission rebate, individuals making up to 1005 trades would have the commissions associated with those trades refunded. What makes this number all the more headline worthy is the fact that the minimum deposit to qualify for this offer is $10,000. The catch, presumably, is that this deal would be most appealing to active traders more so than passive investors, especially because the deadline to use up the commission-free trades is the end of March.

In keeping with the RRSP season, Virtual Brokers has also included a tiered commission offer for new and existing clients. Although it is branded as an RRSP promotion, a number of registered accounts are a part of this promotion, notably TFSA accounts and RESPs. The cash back amounts being offered are $30, $50 or $100 for minimum deposits of $5,000, $25,000 and $50,000 respectively.

The third offer is another commission-free trading promotion. Similar to the unlimited trading deal that was recently retired, this current offer enables clients to trade up to two months commission-free as well as receive two months of the PowerTrader Pro trading platform for free.   After the free trial period, the platform costs $250USD per month and trading will remain commission-free. See the table below for more information.

Finally, for good measure Virtual Brokers has brought back their gift card draw for new clients. Individuals signing up for a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 will be eligible to be entered into a draw for a $250 Apple store gift card. There are five gift cards up for grabs as part of this contest and the draw for the gift card will take place on October 31, 2017.

Although it hit the deal wires late last month, we’re mentioning the RBC Direct Investing credit card points offer here and adding it to the list of offers covered in the “other promotions” section as well as adding Scotia iTRADE’s travel points promotion to the same category.

As always, we’ll be watching the deals action this month but if there are any deals that we’ve missed that other DIY investors would benefit from knowing about, let us know in the comments below and we update our list accordingly.

Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open a new account with HSBC InvestDirect and you may be eligible to receive up to 50 commission-free North American equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. n/a 50 commission-free North American equity trades 60 days HSBC InvestDirect Cash Bonus Promo March 3, 2017
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2017
Open and fund a new registered account at Virtual Brokers with at least A) $5,000; B) $25,000; or C) $50,000+ in new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $30; B) $50; C) $100 cash back. Use promo code RRSPCB2017 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $5,000 – $24,999 B) $25,000 – $49,999 C) $50,000+ A) $30 B) $50 C) $100 Cash back will be deposited just after October 31, 2017 RSP cash back bonus April 30, 2017
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 2 months of commission-free equity trading and a $250 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 2 months. Use promo code 2MFREE2017 at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 2 months commission-free equity trading + $250 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 2 months 2 months free trading April 30, 2017
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering new clients 1% of assets transferred into the new account in the form of commission credits (to a maximum value of $1,000). Minimum qualifying deposit is $10,000. To qualify, individuals will have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex or email: [email protected]. See details link for more info. $10,000 1% of assets transferred in the form of commission-credits (max credits: $1,000) 6 months Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo February 28, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Virtual Brokers with at least $10,000 and you may be eligible to receive a commission-credit of up to $10,000. Use promo code 10K2017 at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $10,000 Up to $10,000 in commission credits (@ $9.95 per trade) deadline to use trades March 31, 2017. Commission rebates to be offered in January 2018. $10,000 Commission Credit Offer March 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account or fund an existing account at Credential Direct with at least A) $15,000; B) $50,000; C) $150,000; D) $500,000 or E) $1,000,000+ in new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $75; B) $125; C) $200; D) $500 or E) $1,000. Use promo code CASH2017RSP when signing up. As an added bonus, Credential Direct will donate an amount equivalent to 10% of the bonus paid out to United Way. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $149,999 C) $150,000 – $499,999 D) $500,000 – $999,999 E) 1,000,000+ A) $75 B) $125 C) $200 D) $500 E) $1,000 Cash back will be deposited week of October 9, 2017. Credential Direct Cash Back Promotion March 16, 2017
Open and fund a new account by March 31st with at least A) $20,000 or B) $100,00+ and you may qualify to receive up to either A) $500 or B) $1000 in commission reimbursements. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. A) $20,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) up to $500 commission reimbursements B) up to $1000 commission reimbursements 90 days National Bank Direct Brokerage Cash Back Promotion March 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Qtrade Investor with a deposit of at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000 or more and you may be eligible to receive a cash back bonus of A) $25; B) $50; C) $100; D) $250; E) $500 or F) $1,000. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) $1,000,000+ A) $25 B) $50 C) $100 D) $250 E) $500 F) $1,000 Cash back will be deposited by July 31, 2017. Qtrade Investor Cash Back Bonus February 28, 2017
Open and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000 or C) $100,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 50; B) 100 or C) 200 commission-free trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000+ A) 50 commission-free trades (max value: $500) B) 100 commission-free trades (max value: $1000) C) 200 commission-free trades (max value: $2000) April 28th, 2017 Commission charges will be credited the month following when the charge was incurred. TD Direct Investing 200 Commission-free Trade Offer March 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000 or D) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 75; B) 150; C) 200 or D) $250,000+ in commission-free trades. In addition, new clients will also receive FlightDesk active trading platform free for 90 days. Use promo code W17FT when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ A) 75 (max value: $749.25) B) 150 (max value: $1498.50) C) 200 (max value: $1,998) D) 250 (max value: $2,497.50) 90 days Winter 2017 Free Trade Offer March 31, 2017
CIBC Investors Edge Open and fund a new account at CIBC Investor’s Edge with at least A) $50,000 or B) $100,000 and you may be eligible to receive A) $200 or B) $400 in cash back. Also, individuals who setup a regular investment plan may also be eligible to receive 50 commission-free equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for more information. A) $50,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) $200 B) $400 +Bonus 50 commission-free trades for setting up Regular Investment Plan. Cash back will be deposited within 30 business days after account funding. Commission-free equity trades good for 60 days after setup of Regular Investment Plan. Cash Back & Free Trade Offer March 31, 2017
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least A) $100,000; B) $200,000 or C) $300,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $200; B) $400 or C) $750 cash back. Use promo code PROMO750 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $199,999 B) $200,000 – $299,999 C) $300,000+ Cash back bonus A) $200 B) $400 C) $750 Cash back will be deposited the week of November 6, 2017. 2017 Winter Campaign April 2, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Feb. 1, 2017 21:15 PT

Referral Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Incentive Structure Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Deposit Details Link Deadline
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $25 cash back and they receive either A) $25; B) $50; C) $75; D) $100; or E) $250 depending on the amount deposited amount. Enter code: 476104302388759 during account sign up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for eligibility and additional bonus payment structure and minimum balance requirements. A) $1,000 – $9,999 B) $10,000 – $24,999 C) $25,000 – $49,999 D) $50,000 -$99,999 E) $100,000+ $25 cash back (for referrer per referral; $50 bonus cash back for every 3rd referral) For referred individuals: A) $25 cash back B) $50 cash back C) $75 cash back D) $100 cash back E) $250 cash back Cash deposited into Questrade billing account within 7 days after funding period ends (90 days) Refer a friend terms and conditions Code Number: 476104302388759 none
Scotia iTrade If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link. A) $10,000 B) $50,000+ A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50) 60 days Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade tbd
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs 45 days after minimum 90 day holding period(subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2017

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit 30 days none none
Last Updated: Feb. 1, 2017 21:30 PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Qtrade Investor from another brokerage and Qtrade Investor may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more details. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to contact TD Direct Investing for further details. $150 $25,000 Contact client service for more information (1-800-465-5463). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Virtual Brokers and they may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee promo tbd
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 Confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more information (1-800-567-3343). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo February 28, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Feb. 1, 2017 21:30PT

Other Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Required Details Link Deadline
Credential Direct has partnered with Trend Micro to offer 50% off Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security. Use code “TrendCF” at checkout. n/a Trend Micro Special Offer Code none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage, in conjunction with MoneyTalks, is offering 3 months of the “Inside Edge” investor information service to Desjardins Online Brokerage clients. Use promo code DESJ2016 during checkout to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for more information. n/a MoneyTalks Inside Edge Discount none
Existing RBC clients can redeem 20% more RBC reward points towards contributions to a registered or non-registered account as well as towards RBC Direct Investing commissions. n/a RBC Reward Points Bonus Offer March 1, 2017
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering $50 in commission credits for new Disnat Classic clients depositing at least $1,000. See terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 Broker@ge 18-30 Promotion none
Scotia iTrade Scotiabank StartRight customers can receive 10 commission-free trades when investing $1,000 or more in a new Scotia iTrade account. Trades are good for use for up to 1 year from the date the account is funded. Use promo code SRPE15 when applying (in English) or SRPF15 when applying in French. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 StartRight Free Trade offer none
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive 50 commission-free trades plus A) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 15,000 or D) 20,000; E) 25,000 or F) 50,000 travel points on an eligible Scotia travel points credit card. In addition, new clients will also receive FlightDesk active trading platform free for 90 days. Use promo code W17RP when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) $1,000,000+ Scotia reward points offer March 31, 2017
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) and you may be eligible to win a $250 gift card to the Apple store. Use promo code 250AGC2017 during sign up to be eligible. Residents of Quebec are not eligible for this contest. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account) $250 Apple Gift Card Draw April 30, 2017
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) or $5,000 (for the Commission Free Trading Account) and you may be eligible to receive a one-year subscription to access 5i Research. Use promo code 5iVB2016 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account); $5,000 (Commission Free Trading Account) 5i Research Offer March 31, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Feb. 17, 2017 21:15 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – January 20, 2017

Trump, or more formally, President Trump is known for many things – among them, the art of the deal. The new US president isn’t the only deal maker around, however, as Canadian brokerages are also looking to start giving some ‘bigly’ deals to DIY investors.

This week’s roundup puts a spotlight on the latest deals action that occurred this week – a signal that competition amongst Canadian discount brokerages is reaching a new high. From there we’ll take a look at what DIY investors had to say to Canada’s online brokerages on Twitter and what was on the minds of investors in the financial forums.

Deals Reach Feverish Levels

This week there were three new offers that were added to the long list of promotions being offered by Canada’s discount brokerages to entice potential clients (as well as a few existing clients) to bring in assets.  Joining the fray this week were offers from Qtrade Investor, Credential Direct and RBC Direct Investing. Both Qtrade Investor and Credential Direct launched cash back promotional offers while RBC Direct Investing launched a points based promotion linked for RBC credit card holders.

With the addition of these new offers, the total number of advertised offers now stands at 32, of which 7 were added to the list in January – a sign that competition amongst Canadian brokerages has increased significantly. Interestingly, the only major Canadian online brokerages not offering a cash back or commission-free trading deal (at least at the time of publication) for new accounts are RBC Direct Investing and Interactive Brokers.

Whether it is the specter of Robo-advisors, the changes forecast with the CRM2 fee disclosures, the rally in the markets, or some combination of these, Canadian discount brokerages are definitely trying to perfect the art of the deal in order to attract new clients (or more precisely, new assets).

Heading into RRSP season, it’s clear that innovation and new features have taken a back seat to cold hard cash. In particular, there’s been a noticeable increase in cash back offers as a proportion of the total deals being offered which speaks to the growing recognition of the preference for these offers with DIY investors over commission-free trades.

With all of the offers now in play navigating them can be somewhat of a challenge. As such, we’ve done a little bit of the homework for readers looking to compare cash back offers between discount brokerages below.

Canadian discount brokerage cash back deals comparison

In terms of cash back offers, there two main types to consider, those that are available without a referral and those that are part of a referral offer. A quick comparison of the two show that for someone opening a new account (or in some cases bringing new assets) with a non-referral offer, the cash back bonus ranges from 0.1% to 0.5% of assets deposited. For the referral-based cash back offers, the range is wider going from 0.1% to 2.5%.

In the case of referral-based cash back offers, these generally are better deals for deposits of between $1,000 and $10,000 simply because there are no non-referral cash back offers for deposits under $15,000. In fact, for deposits under $25,000 referral bonuses offer the best selection and rates for a cash back bonus. Nonetheless, Credential Direct’s offer of $75 cash back for a minimum $15,000 and Questrade’s referral-based offer of $75 cash back for a minimum deposit of $25,000 are the offers that provide clients with the largest bonus in the sub-$25,000 deposit range.

Perhaps the most crowded segment of the deals market is at the $50,000 deposit mark, where there are 7 different offers ranging from a low of $50 (from BMO InvestorLine and Qtrade Investor) to a high of $200 (from CIBC Investor’s Edge). In this segment, CIBC Investor’s Edge’s offer is more than 1.5x that of its nearest competitor, Credential Direct (who’s offering $125 cash back). In addition, at that deposit level, brokerages are also willing to cover transfer out fees meaning that even greater total value can be obtained.

Interestingly, at the $100,000 deposit mark, the field thins out, with four offers specifically targeting minimum deposits at this level. The range for cash back bonuses goes from a low of $100 (Qtrade Investor) to a high of $400 (CIBC Investor’s Edge).

Finally, for deposit tiers higher than $150,000 (up to the $1M+ range), cash back bonuses range between 0.1% and 0.25% with maximum bonuses of $1,000 cash back being offered by Credential Direct and Qtrade Investor at the highest deposit tiers.

The big picture for DIY investors is that there are 27 different deposit tiers that they can qualify for between the referral and non-referral cash back offers – an extraordinary level of choice. Paradoxically, on a percentage basis, at most brokerages the higher the amount of assets an individual brings in, the lower the reward. So, for example, an individual who deposits $50,000 at Credential Direct receives $125 but if they were to deposit $500,000 they would not receive $1250, but only $500 instead.

Arguably, the cash back incentives are not going to be the primary reason an individual chooses a particular brokerage. With the dollar amounts being given out, there simply isn’t enough financial incentive for most people to go through the process of moving investments around just to get a cash bonus. That said, with services, features and pricing at most online brokerages being very close to one another, the tie-breaker will almost certainly come down to who’s more willing to give to get. And, when it comes to getting a new client, money definitely talks loudest.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

January might be the middle of winter but some of this week’s tweet seemed extra cold. Mentioned this week were CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE and TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

Stating the Facts

With CRM2 rolling out at Canadian discount brokerages, this post from Canadian Money Forum offers a very interesting look across the board at how investors are reacting to the new statements.

Deal or no deal?

With the launch of their cash back (plus free trade) offer, CIBC Investor’s Edge not only has an ultra-competitive commission cost but now one of the most competitive deals out there for those who qualify. This thread from the investing sub-forum of RedFlagDeals.com gauges the reaction of the bargain hunting community on whether the offer from CIBC Investor’s Edge measures up.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on one of the most historic weeks in the new year. Within just a few hours of taking office there’s already lots for traders and investors to digest with Trump now at the helm of the US. At this point, there’s little doubt that things are going to continue to get interesting for investors. For those who are just a little too Trumped out, thankfully there’s some good football ahead. Stay warm!

Thanks Obama