The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that a battle for Canadians' retirement savings accounts has erupted, with on-line brokerages paying lavish transfer bonuses to convince do-it-yourself investors to move their nest eggs. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that since January, a host of non-bank digital brokerages such as Questrade, Qtrade and Wealthsimple have been offering sizable bonuses to new clients. These bounties tend to vary by the dollar amounts transferred, but the best bonuses fall between 3 and 5 per cent of assets under $10,000, and between 1.5 and 2 per cent of assets above that level. The market has turned so competitive that some Big Six banks are even getting in on the action. Bank of Nova Scotia's iTrade platform is now paying 1-per-cent bonuses, as is TD Bank's Direct Investing portal. Transfer bonuses for banking and investment accounts have been around for years, and they have been paid in cash and in products such as new iPads or iPhones. This year, though, the bounties on offer are particularly enticing, often maxing out at $10,000 a transfer. In the case of Wealthsimple, they run as high as $100,000. To curb deal-shopping, brokers pay the bonuses over an extended time frame.