The Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings Account has a competitive interest rate rewarded for those who are willing to save longer. The longer you save the more you are rewarded. It’s a unique banking product out there that allows you to categorize your savings goals. Here’s my Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings Account review.
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Post last updated August 2023.
In this Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings account review, I will go over what the account rates are like, what the minimum balance is, what the withdrawal process is like, and some of the benefits and drawbacks of this account.
Table of Contents
Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings Account Rates
What are the Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings Account rates like?
Right now, you can earn up to 5.45% in interest with the Scotiabank savings account for a limited time.
For the regular rate, it is calculated using the regular interest rate of 1.40% as the starting point.
Then if you hold your savings for more than 90 days, you get the Premium Period interest for 0.85%. If you hold it for longer than 180 days, you unlock the 0.90% interest, and so forth up to the maximum 360 days unlocking additional interest.
The caveat is that you have to pick your premium period ahead of time and stick with it.
If you have the Scotiabank Ultimate Account, you can get an additional 0.10% interest.
If you have the Scotiabank Preferred Account, you can get an additional 0.05% interest.
Here is a table that illustrates the Premium periods and the respective interest rates.
| Regular Interest | Premium Period | Total Interest | Preferred Account (add 0.05%) | Ultimate Account ( add 0.10%) |
| 1.40% | 90 days- 0.85% | 2.25% | 2.30% | 2.35% |
| 1.40% | 180 days- 0.90% | 2.30% | 2.35% | 2.40% |
| 1.40% | 270 days- 1.00% | 2.40% | 2.45% | 2.50% |
| 1.40% | 360 days- 1.25% | 2.65% | 2.70% | 2.75% |
Here are the most current Scotiabank interest rates.
Scotiabank Momentum Plus Minimum Balance
The great thing about this account is that there is no minimum balance.
You could have $0 in the Scotiabank Momentum Plus account you wanted to.
Scotiabank Momentum PLUS Withdrawal
What happens if you withdraw money from your Momentum Plus account?
Well, if you withdraw it from a Premium Period ‘pot’ within your account, before your Premium Period end date, you will forfeit the Premium Period interest.
You will still get the regular interest rate though.
Therefore, if you think you will need the money any time before 360 days (even though this has the highest rate), you should pick a Premium Period much shorter than 360 days since there is a higher chance you will withdraw money from your savings account.
How the Scotiabank Savings Account Works
How do the Premium Periods work? It might seem confusing at first, but it’s actually pretty straight forward.
First you pick a Premium Period of:
- 90 days (approximately 3 months)
- 180 days (approximately 6 months)
- 270 days (approximately 9 months)
- 360 days (about 12 months)
Then you choose a savings goal:
- Home
- Education
- Major purchase
- Taxes
- Other
- Emergency Savings
- Retirement
- Wedding
- Car
- Vacation
Next, you fund the account (or you can choose to fund it later since you don’t need a minimum balance).
This is what the Premium Periods look like, the interest rates vary depending on what is available at the time when you “locked in” your Premium Period.
Pros of the Scotiabank Savings Account
There are some amazing aspects of the Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings Account.
No monthly fees. There are no monthly fees for this savings account which is great.
No minimum balance. There is no minimum balance that you need to maintain in order to keep this account in good standing.
All your savings goals in one account. You can label your savings goals within your Momentum Plus account (retirement, vacation, education, emergency savings.. you name it!).
Automatic savings plan. There’s an option to set up an automatic savings plan. Automation is key to saving and building wealth, in my opinion. Set it and forget it.
Great mobile and online banking platform. The Scotiabank online banking platform is great and easy to use. It’s easy on the eyes and you can see all your Momentum Plus savings accounts from the Scotiabank app.
Your money is not locked in. Unlike something like a GIC, your money is not locked in. You can withdraw it at any time from your Premium Period savings goal, you just won’t earn that premium period interest but will still earn the regular interest rate.
Great to pair with the Ultimate account. If you have a minimum of $30,000 between the Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings account and your Ultimate account, you can waive the $30.95 Scotiabank Ultimate monthly fee. That way you don’t have to keep $5000 in your Ultimate chequing account earning minimal interest, you could have more of it earning interest instead.
Some people balk at keeping such a large sum of money uninvested or “just sitting there” but we like to have cash on hand and like the perk of the premium bank account.
However, the Ultimate Package has a TON of perks, including:
- Ongoing no annual fee on a premium credit card like the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite or the Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite card
- Free safety deposit box
- 100 free personalized cheques annually
- 10 free equity trades in the first year and 5 free equity trades in Scotia iTrade annually
- Often there is a Canadian new bank account promotion for opening up a new ultimate account
Personally I think it’s a great way to access no fee banking in Canada, but it’s not for everyone as some people don’t like cash sitting in their bank accounts.
Cons of the Scotiabank Savings Account
There are some downsides to the Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings Account.
Premium Periods. The Premium Periods can be finicky. If you make one debit transaction within the Premium period, you reset that premium period back to zero. Even if you take $1 out on $10,000 savings on day 89, you will not get the 0.85% on day 90, and it instead resets it back to 1.35%. Essentially it kind of acts like a GIC. So if you don’t think you can make it to 360 days without withdrawing some money from that specific savings pot, you shouldn’t pick 360 days because you don’t get the 90 days or 180 days of interest even if you withdraw money right at 359 days.
Free transfers to Scotiabank accounts only. There are unlimited self-serve transfers with Scotiabank accounts, but if you don’t have a Scotiabank chequing account it will be difficult to use this account.
It is not a hybrid account. This savings account is not a hybrid account. You cannot access money from your savings account via the bank machine, Point of Sale access, direct billing. Some other savings accounts act as hybrid accounts where you can send bill payments, but this is not one of them.
Can’t personalize the savings goals. it would be nice if you could personalize the savings goals, for example, with the Education Savings goals, it would be nice if you could label it with your children’s names. It can just be labelled as “Education”.
Genymoney.ca’s Verdict
I think the Scotiabank Momentum Plus Savings account is great for our needs. I like that we have different “pots” for our savings within the savings account. In fact, we use this account as our children’s savings account for their gift money.
However, if you don’t already bank with Scotiabank or you don’t plan on saving that money for the long term you might find it easier to go with another bank for your savings account needs.
This is because in order to unlock the higher, competitive interest rates, you have to hold that money for over 360 days without making any withdrawals from the account. You also have to choose that Premium Period option in the first place and stick with it to get that premium interest. This might be easier said than done for some.
You may also be interested in:
- Best high interest savings accounts in Canada
- Best high interest savings joint bank accounts in Canada
- Scotiabank Ultimate Package review
- Scotiabank Preferred Package review
- Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite $200 Cash Back
What is your Scotiabank Momentum PLUS Savings Account review?
GYM is a 30 something millennial interested in achieving financial freedom through disciplined saving, dividend and ETF investing, and living a minimalist lifestyle. Before you go, check out my recommendations page of financial tools I use to save and invest money. Don’t forget to subscribe for blog updates, a free dividend yield spreadsheet, and the free Young Money Bootcamp eCourse.