Equitable Bank, which heavily promoted a high-interest savings account for a price of three percent and was promptly swamped with increased customers than it could handle, has now set limits on how lots of people can sign up for the brand new account every week.
“We are reducing new account openings so that our team are designed for the amount with the great service that people want to deliver,” Andrew Moor, Equitable’s chief executive said in an email.
“We are not sure how long this method will remain in effect, but it is really going to be judged by our capability to resolve any service issues and equipment up our operations to deal with higher volumes effectively.”
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A note was posted to the company’s website over the past weekend advising applicants for the high-interest rate account to complete an online form to reserve a spot on one from the weekly lists to spread out an account.
“We underestimated the response from Canadians, and this resulted in long customer service wait times and delays in account activations,” the web site note reads.
Unlike high-interest savings accounts provided by other financial services firms, Equitable’s EQ Bank savings account was not marketed as carrying an advertising or introductory rate.
The rate, first offered in January, was greater than that which was on offer traditional banks and even high-interest competitors for example Bank of Nova Scotia-owned Tangerine (formerly ING Direct) and President’s Choice Financial, some pot venture between Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
The eye-popping rate, coupled with a marketing campaign targeted at grabbing attention for that new online bank within the competitive marketplace, resulted in a flurry of sign-up activity. This was quickly accompanied by customer complaints that they were not able to open accounts on time.
The note posted towards the company’s website around the weekend says the online bank will be bringing on more customer support staff over the next few weeks, as well as improving sign-up processes.
