Can Santander take on Canada’s Big Six? Why the global bank may face hurdles + MORE Dec 18th

In fact, Canadian savers have an abundance of good choices right now for places to earn rates of interest that will keep their money growing ahead of inflation. So, where should you put your money: in bonds, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) or a high-interest savings account (HISA)? You may be surprised at how similar these are for interest rates. But there’s more to the story.

Is it time for Canadians to invest in bonds again? 

The talk of bonds coming back only makes sense if you understand where they went. For most of the past decade, bonds have been a terrible investment as interest rates fell to historic lows, meaning they paid almost no interest. Then inflation took off as the global economy lurched out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and central banks were forced to raise interest rates—fast…

But Spain’s Banco Santander—which has already shown an ability to attract customers, with more than 168 million of them worldwide—is poised to be among the few that have tried as it nears the all-clear to expand in Canada.

A fresh international challenger has the potential to add competition to the country’s banking oligopoly, though experts warn it won’t be easy to shake up the status quo. 

“You’d think the Canadian banking market should be ripe for disruption, and yet that never seems to happen,” said Andrew Spence, author of the recently published book, Fleeced: Canadians versus their banks.

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