glossary

print
Account Agreement
An agreement you sign and which lists your rights and responsibilities and the financial institution's rights and responsibilities for the savings account.
Additional account owner
Anyone other than the primary owner on a joint account.
Ally's Ten-Day Best Rate Guarantee
Ally's Ten-Day Best Rate Guarantee lets you take advantage of some of the most competitive rates you'll find. So you can be sure that if you open a High Rate GIC or a No Penalty GIC today and you fund it within the next 10 days, you'll get the highest rate we post during that time. If you fund your GIC after 10 days, you'll get the high rate we post on the day we receive your money.
Annual Rate
A percentage rate reflecting the total amount of interest paid on an account, based on the interest rate and the frequency of compounding for a 365-day period.
Automatic transfer
Allows you to move funds from one account to another automatically on a pre-arranged schedule — for example, every payday or once a month.
Average daily balance
The sum of the daily balances during an accounting period, usually a month, divided by the number of days in the period. See also Minimum daily balance.
Balance
The amount of money in your account.
Bank of Canada
The country's central bank, which formulates and implements monetary policy. As the federal government's fiscal agent, it also helps carry out the government's borrowing program, provides banking services for the government and other clients and ensures that the need for bank notes across the country is met.
Bank of Canada Benchmark Rate
The interest rate paid by major financial institutions if they borrow from the Bank of Canada. The Bank Rate influences the rates of interest major financial institutions charge and pay their customers.
Basis point (BP)
One-hundredth of one percent (0.01%). Basis points measure the changes in yield.
Bookmark
A way of marking and remembering a specific Web page for easy access. For example, bookmarking the Ally home page gives you a quick shortcut to that page. Your Web browser provides this feature, which can be used by selecting Bookmarks in the menu bar.
Browser
A program that enables you to view Internet locations. Examples of browsers are Mozilla Firefox® and Microsoft Internet Explorer®.
Business day
Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays are considered part of the next business day.
Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC)
A crown corporation that provides deposit insurance against the loss of deposits made with member financial institutions.

Ally operates on Eastern Time.
Capital Gain or Loss
The difference between the price you paid for an investment and the price at which you sell (in other words, the profit or loss you make). Investments that earn capital gains or losses include equity and growth funds.
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Federal agency that administers tax laws for the government of Canada and most of the provinces and territories.  It also administers various social and economic benefit and incentive programs delivered through Canada’s tax system.
CANNEX
CANNEX gathers and compiles interest rates and calculation values for financial products and services offered by financial institutions in Canada.
Cash out early
You can withdraw money from your High Rate GIC, No Penalty GIC, or Raise your Rate GIC before it matures and not be charged a fee. You must, however, remove the full amount. The amount of earned interest you keep will be based on your GIC term.
Collected balance
The balance in an account, not including deposited items that haven’t been paid or collected. The balance is used to calculate interest payments.
Compound interest
Interest that is calculated not only on the initial principal but also previously accumulated interest. Interest can be compounded quarterly, yearly, or – as we do it at Ally – daily. The more often your interest is compounded, the more it grows.

For example, if you earn a 10% rate, compounded annually, on $100, you will receive $110 at the end of the first year and $121 at the end of the second year. That extra $1, which was earned on the $10 interest from the first year, is the compound interest.
Contribution room
Also known as Tax Free Allowance, contribution room is the total amount you can contribute to your TFSA accounts in any given year.  The maximum contribution will be set and adjusted yearly by the CRA. To each year’s new TFSA Limit, you can also contribute any amount under the maximum contribution that you did not meet the previous year, as well as the sum total of the previous year’s withdrawals.
Cookie
A cookie is a small piece of code sent from our site and stored on your computer. A persistent cookie is associated with our site so that when you return, our site recognizes that you have visited before. We use this information to help us improve your experience as well as to measure site activity. You may use your browser settings to erase or to refuse the placement of a cookie — however, if you do refuse cookies, some of our site features, including account management features, will not be available to you.
Credit
In the case of a deposit account, this is an amount added to the account, such as a deposit.
Daily compounded interest
Instead of just paying you interest on your initial deposit, we also pay you interest on the interest you earn — a practice called compounding interest. Interest can be compounded monthly, yearly, or — as we do it — daily. The more often your interest is compounded, the more it grows. See interest rate disclosure in Privacy and Legal for more information.
Debit
In the case of a deposit account, this is an amount deducted from the account, such as an online transfer.
Deposit Insurance
The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation insures depositors' funds to a maximum of $100,000 per depositor, per institution, with some exceptions, in the event of the failure of a federal financial institution. Deposits in some provincial financial institutions are also covered.
Direct deposit
When wages or benefits, such as pension or Social Insurance, are deposited electronically into your savings account.
Earned interest
The amount earned on a High Rate Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC), No Penalty Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC), Raise your Rate Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) or High Interest Savings account since the initial investment or deposit was made.  See interest rate disclosure in Privacy and Legal for more information.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
A process that transfers funds through electronic messages instead of by traditional means, such as cash or cheques.
Encryption
A standard of technology that protects data by scrambling it before it is sent through the Internet. When you send or receive information from us, we use this process. Please refer to our Privacy & Legal section for more information.
Firewall
Software or hardware that limits certain kinds of access to a computer from a network or other outside source.
Fixed rate
A rate of growth shown as a percent that is guaranteed to stay the same for a fixed period of time (term).  See interest rate disclosure in Privacy and Legal for more information.
Full early withdrawal
When you withdraw money from a GIC before its maturity date. You must, however, remove the full amount, and — depending on the term of your GIC — you will also lose a portion or all of your earned interest. See our GIC early withdrawal page for details.
Future value
The value of a present sum at a future date found by applying compound interest over a specific period of time.
Grace period
Refers to a deadline that indicates the date when a GIC customer must provide notice of intent to close the GIC.  The ally grace period for GICs is 10 days.
Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC)
A deposit account that grows money at a fixed rate, usually higher than other types of deposit accounts.  Ally offers both High Rate GICs and No Penalty GICs.
Index
A statistical indicator providing a representation of the value of the securities which constitute it. Indices often serve as barometers for a given market or industry and benchmarks against which financial or economic performance is measured.  Banks use indices to establish rates and compare investment returns.  Popular indices include the London Interbank Exchange (LIBOR) and Bank of Canada Benchmark Interest Rate.
Inflation
The rise in the prices of goods and services, caused when goods and services are scarcer than money. Moderate inflation is considered by most economists to be the normal result of economic growth.
Inflation rate
A key measure of the rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.  The Bank of Canada measures price changes through an index called the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Interest rate
The rate paid by an interest-bearing account, such as a High Rate Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC), No Penalty Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) and High Interest Savings account.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
A company that provides access to the Internet in addition to its own proprietary content and services.
Investment Income
This is income earned on investments you make. Investment income includes interest, dividends and capital gains.
Joint account with right of survivorship
An account owned by two or more individuals. Each joint owner has full access to all funds on deposit and can close the account.
Maturity
The end date of an investment, such as a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC), when both your initial deposit and earned interest can be withdrawn or reinvested in another GIC.
Minimum daily balance
The minimum amount that may be required to be kept in an account each day to earn interest or qualify for special services. See also Average daily balance.
Money Laundering
Popular term used to describe the process whereby criminals conceal illicitly acquired funds by converting them into seemingly legitimate income. While the term refers to the proceeds of organized crime generally, it is now most often associated with financial activities of drug dealers who seek to launder the large amounts of cash generated from the sale of narcotics.
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)
Independent agency of the government of Canada.  It is the primary regulator of federally regulated banks, insurance companies, and pension plans.
Online Banking
Lets you get account information and manage certain transactions through your computer.
Present value
The current dollar value of a future sum. In other words, the amount that would have to be invested today at a given interest rate over a specified period in order to equal the future sum.
Principal
In the case of an interest-bearing account, this is the amount deposited to that account on which interest is paid.
Raise your rate
If you see that our 2-year GIC rate has gone up during your term, just give us a call and request the higher rate. You have the opportunity to increase your rate once during the term of your GIC—at no cost to you and with no strings attached.
Rate
We compound interest daily, which is calculated based on each day’s closing balance plus accrued interest. We then credit your daily compounded interest to your account each month. See further interest rate disclosure in Privacy and Legal for more information.
Residents of Quebec
We regret that Ally is not in Quebec, but we are working to bring our products to you. Please check back again.
ResMor Trust Company
ResMor Trust Company is a federally regulated trust company that offers deposit products through independent brokers, as well as Ally online savings products and services.  ResMor is also focused on providing auto financing products for consumers.  ResMor Trust Company is a member of CDIC.
Return
The change in value of an asset plus any cash distribution, expressed as a percentage of the beginning investment value. For example, an investment of $100 that is worth $112 at the end of one year has a return of 12% ($112 – $100) ÷ $100 = 0.12 or 12%.
Simple interest rate
The percentage rate at which interest accrues.
Social Insurance Number (SIN)
Every person who has an income or pays taxes must apply for this number, which is assigned by the Government of Canada. You must, by law, provide this number to financial institutions with which you have an interest-bearing deposit account.
Tax Free GIC
Earn interest without tax on a fixed rate from 3 months to 5 years. Deposit up to $5,500 and get the flexibility to cash out early without a fee like with our traditional GIC. Available for individuals only — no joint accounts.
Tax Free High Interest Savings
Earn interest without tax on a variable rate. Deposit up to $5,500 each year. Make as many tax free withdrawals as you like. Sorry, individual accounts only — no joint accounts.
Term
The period of time between when a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) is opened and when it matures.
Term Deposit
An investment product in which you deposit a fixed sum of money for a set period of time and are paid interest.
TFSA
Commonly used to refer to the Tax Free Savings Account, which includes both a Tax Free GIC and Tax Free High Interest Savings Account for individuals only — no joint accounts.
TFSA allowance
Also known as Contribution room, this is the total amount you can contribute to your TFSA accounts in any given year.  The maximum contribution will be set and adjusted yearly by the CRA. To each year’s new TFSA Limit, you can also contribute any amount under the maximum contribution that you did not meet the previous year, as well as the sum total of the previous year’s withdrawals.
Total annual yield
The total amount of interest paid on an account expressed in dollars, based on the interest rate and the frequency of compounding for a 365-day period.
Total interest earned
The total amount of interest earned expressed in dollars on an account based on the interest rate, frequency of compounding for a 365-day period not including deposited amounts.
Uncollected funds
Deposited cheques that have not been paid by the bank on which they were drawn.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator is the address of a file or Web page accessible on the Internet — for example: http://www.ally.ca.
Variable rate
A rate of growth that changes based on market fluctuations. See interest rate disclosure in Privacy and Legal for more information.
Yield
The annual rate of return earned on an investment or an interest-bearing deposit account.

The accuracy or completeness of this information is not guaranteed nor are any warranties given with regard to the results obtained from its use. The giving of the information shall not be deemed an offer or solicitation on the part of Ally with respect to the sale or purchase of any securities, nor shall it be considered investment or other advice. Please consult your financial or tax advisor with regard to your individual situation.