Oaken Savings Account Review November 2025

Name: Oaken Savings Account
Brand: Oaken Financial
Rating: 1 (1 reviews)

Written and Edited By

moneyGenius Team

Last updated: Sep 8, 2023

Verified for accuracy

Expert Reviewed By

Melanie Pitman

The Oaken Savings Account is a high interest savings account from Oaken Financial. Its main draw is its top-notch rate of 2.8%. There’s also no minimum balance needed or monthly fees to save your money in this account.

You’ll get unlimited transactions through bank and electronic fund transfers. But, there’s no debit card or Interac e-Transfers available, making withdrawing a bit of a pain. Here’s our review of the Oaken Savings Account and what it has to offer.

Oaken Savings Account features

Here's a look at what you can get with this high interest savings account.

Why You Want It

Earn up to 2.8% interest on your savings + No fees or minimum balance.

Special Features

Choose 1 of 2 issuers for CDIC insurance
Competitive interest rate

Eligibility

Resident of Canada

Provinces

ALL

Interest Rates

Any balance

2.8%

Features

# Of Free Transactions

# Of Free Interac E-Transfers

Max Promotion Rate

N/A

Welcome Bonus Value

N/A

Promo End Date

N/A

Compare Banking Products

Oaken Savings Account product rating: 3.9 stars

The Oaken Savings Account has a competitive interest rate, especially when compared to what the big banks generally offer. You also don't have to worry about much when it comes to tiers, minimum balances, and fees – since everything you can do, you can do for free.

But seeing a bit more flexibility in terms of accessing your money would help this account stand out more from the online bank crowd.

Rating methodology

To calculate our Genius Ratings, we compare the features of the account or product in question with other similar products in Canada. We give each feature a score out of 5 based on that comparison. Once we’ve rated all the features, we run them through our proprietary algorithm to produce a final rating out of 5.

Learn more about our rating methodology.

The pros of the Oaken Savings Account

The Oaken Savings Account provides a nice (and free) home base for some extra cash you'd like to put aside.

Pros

Competitive 2.8% interest rate

Though a 2.8% interest rate isn't currently the absolute highest you can get, it's around the same ballpark – making it pretty competitive. And it's especially impressive if you consider big bank accounts, which often struggle to break 0.1% interest rates.

No minimum balance or monthly fees

You don't have to worry about keeping a certain amount of money tied up in this account in order to earn interest or avoid fees. Plus the interest rate isn't tiered either, so not only does every $1 count – but every $1 counts an equal amount.

Available transactions are free

All electronic funds transfers made to this account, whether it's outgoing or incoming, are free and unlimited. This will make it easy to move money between your accounts, whether they're at Oaken Financial or another bank entirely.

2 options for insuring your deposit under CDIC

Not only are your deposits insured by CDIC in this account, but you actually have 2 different options for insuring your money. When opening your account, you can choose either Home Bank or Home Trust Company as the issuer, both of which are separate members of CDIC. This can be helpful, since the CDIC only insures a maximum of $100,000 per account type, per issuer. If you have this maxed already, you can open another account with a different issuer to get some more room. There aren't a lot of people who this could help, but it's a rare opportunity so we think it's worth noting.

Compare Banking Products

The cons of the Oaken Savings Account

But there are a few things to keep in mind with this savings account.

Cons

No debit card access

You won't get a debit card issued to you when you open this account, which means you won't be able to make Point Of Sale transactions. It's not rare for this to be the case for savings accounts, but it would still be nice to have for extra flexibility.

No Interac e-Transfers

An Oaken Savings Account does not have the capability to accept or send Interac e-Transfers. This further dampens the flexibility of accessing your cash, since you won't be able to pay your friend quickly with the money, or similar situations.

No promotional welcome bonus rate

This account doesn't come with a welcome bonus rate or any other promotion to entice you to choose it over another option. This isn't abnormal, though, and its regular rate is what big banks consider a promotional rate, so it could still be worth it without the initial excitement.

No chequing account available at Oaken Financial

While it’s not uncommon for online financial institutions to not offer a chequing account (see MAXA Financial or Outlook Financial), it’s a nice option to have – especially if you need to transfer money out of your savings account to access it.

Your savings calculator

Wondering how much your stack of cash would be worth after a couple months at a 2.8% interest rate?

Use our easy and instant calculator below:

Savings Info

Initial amount

Payment Frequency

Contribution

Interest rate

Time to maturity (in years)

Calculate

Oaken Savings Account alternatives

Here's how the Oaken Savings Account stacks up against other savings accounts on the market.


Account	Oaken Savings Account	Scotiabank Money Master Savings Account	Scotiabank Momentum^PLUS Savings Account	BMO Premium Rate Savings Account
Genius Rating	3.9	3.8	4.1	3.9
Why You Want It	Earn up to 2.8% interest on your savings + No fees or minimum balance.	$50 GeniusCash + Automatically save with every debit purchase through Bank The Rest.	Get up to 4.75%^* interest on your money + No monthly fees.	Earn 0.01% interest + Access your money whenever you need it .
Interest Rates	Any balance - 2.8%	Any balance - 0.01%	Base interest rate - 0.4% Money left in for 90 days - 0.6% 180 days - 0.65% 270 days - 0.7% 360 days - 0.85% Ultimate Package interest rate boost - 0.1% Preferred Package interest rate boost - 0.05%	Any balance - 0.01%
# Of Free Transactions	0	0	0	Unlimited
# Of Free Interac E-Transfers	0	0	0	Unlimited
Max Promotion Rate	N/A	N/A	4.75%	N/A
Welcome Bonus Value	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Promo End Date	N/A	N/A	See Issuer for Details	N/A
	Open an account See more Oaken Financial products Compare	I Want This Deal See more Scotiabank products Compare	Open an account See more Scotiabank products Compare	Learn More See more BMO products Compare

Sun Life Go Life Insurance
5.0

FAQ

What is Oaken Financial?

Oaken Financial is an online financial institution focused on being an alternative to big traditional banks. Oaken is backed by both Home Bank and Home Trust Company, which is one of the largest trust companies in Canada. Home Trust has been around since 1987.

Is an Oaken Savings Account safe?

Yes, an Oaken Savings Account is as safe as other financial institutions. Your deposits are automatically protected up to $100,000 by the CDIC, which means you'll get your money back in the rare event that Oaken goes under.

What's the Oaken Savings Account interest rate?

The Oaken Savings Account is currently 2.8%, which isn't the best you can get in Canada, but is still competitive. You can see alternative accounts here.

Does the Oaken Savings Account have a debit card?

No, the Oaken Savings Account doesn't come with a debit card, and it also doesn't support Interac e-Transfers. The only way to get money in and out of the account is through bank transfers or electronic funds transfers.

What is the Oaken Savings Account minimum balance?

There is no minimum balance requirement with an Oaken Savings Account. Some high interest accounts require a minimum balance to earn the maximum interest rates, but with the Oaken Savings account, you earn the same interest rate at any amount.

Compare Banking Products

Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone, and is not endorsed or sponsored by a bank, credit card issuer, rewards program or other entity. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website.

Hot Money Deals This Month

Browse Offers
Get even more cash back with exclusive offers only available on the GeniusCash app
- Explore bigger GeniusCash offers that you won't find anywhere else.
- Connect your credit cards and unlock bonus cash.
- Explore customized recommendations to level up your rewards.
- Refer your friends and family to earn bonus levels and extra cash back.
Browse Offers
GC: $100

I Want This Deal
Take control of your money with a full-featured chequing account + $100 GeniusCash
- Get up to $500 in cash when you open a new account, complete specified actions, and open 2 registered investment accounts.
- Unlimited free transactions – including debit and Interac e-Transfers^®.
- Earn Scene+ points on every debit transaction.
- $100 GeniusCash on approval – ends Dec 31, 2025.^*.
I Want This Deal
GC: $125

I Want This Deal
Unlimited transactions + Free identity theft protection + $125 GeniusCash
- Unlimited transactions and Interac e-Transfers.
- Free identity theft protection and access to Coursera online learning.
- $125 GeniusCash on approval – ends Dec 31, 2025.^*.
I Want This Deal
GC: $80

I Want This Deal
A low cost online broker with a $2,000 bonus + $80 GeniusCash
- Get $150 when you open and fund your new accounts with at least $1,000.
- No minimum investment requirement.
- Plenty of trade-free ETFs to choose from.
- $80 GeniusCash on approval – ends Dec 31, 2025.^*.
I Want This Deal
Bonus: Get one of the lowest brokerage rates from an online broker from a Big 5 Bank →

Ratings & Reviews

3.9

Genius Rating

1.0

1 total review(s)

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

100%

Leave Review

P L | January 16, 2023

Horrible TFSA process and even worse customer servjce - AVOID

5 members of my family tried to purchase TFSA GIC's. Here's some of the useless delays that were introduced by Oaken: 1. After PAD form provided (in lieu of a void cheque), several days later asked for a void cheque from an applicant who they already knew had no cheques. 2. Days after PAD form submitted AGAIN, was asked for a copy of bank e-statement to confirm account number on PAD form already signed and confirmed by applicant. 3. Days after bank e-statement submitted, was asked for confirmation of birth date submitted with application ... weeks earlier. 4. After submitting all requested information in responses to multiple e-mails was asked for a signed letter of direction for the bank account withdrawal (even though signed Pre-Authorized Debit form is all that is needed and was the first document provided). 5. After 4 applicants had already submitted ALL of their account specific personal information via e-mail as instructed by Oaken, the 5th applicant was told "WE CANNOT ASSIST WITH ACCOUNT SPECIFIC INQUIRIES VIA EMAIL". Seriously, W T F? 6. Two applicants had to call customer service to find out the status of their applications 2 weeks after applying. Only then were they told Oaken was awaiting additional information. Total of 3 weeks between TFSA application and funds withdrawn from bank account. 7. The 5th applicant waited 8 days for a reply on application status and heard nothing back. They cancelled their full application and requested all application and banking information to be deleted from Oaken's systems. Unfortunately, we now have money locked up with them for a year in GICs, but will never deal with Oaken again. Their delays in setting up a GIC more than offset the slightly higher interest rate they're offering.