Most mortgages are simple: you pay the bank every month, most of it goes to interest at first, and you slowly chip away at the balance.

Manulife One works differently. It combines your mortgage, line of credit, and bank account into one. That means:

• Your income deposits into the Manulife One account instantly reduce your mortgage balance (and the interest that is charged).
• When it’s time to pay bills, you just take the money back out from the Manulife One account.
• While every dollar deposited is sitting in the account, even for a few weeks, lowers the interest you owe, because the interest is compounded daily with Manulife One.

Think of it this way: instead of your paycheque sitting in a chequing account earning nothing, it goes straight to work cutting down your interest until you need to spend it. This set-up could save some borrowers hundreds of thousands.

Who It’s Good For

The Manulife One product is great for people who:

• Have steady income or keep extra cash in their account.
• Want flexibility (no penalties for paying extra or pulling money back if needed).
• Carry other debts (credit cards, car loans) they’d like to roll in at a lower rate.
• Earn commissions or have irregular income (since deposits and withdrawals are flexible).

If you’re living paycheque to paycheque with no surplus, a regular fixed mortgage may be simpler. But if you can keep money in the account even short term, you’ll save interest automatically.

Example: Traditional vs Manulife One

Let’s compare a $300,000 mortgage over 30 years:

• Traditional 3-year fixed @ 3.89%
  • Monthly payment: ~$1,413
  • After 3 years: you still owe about $283,000
• Manulife One @ Prime + 0.50% (≈5.45%) with $5,000 monthly income / $4,000 expenses
  • Each month, your full $5,000 paycheque lowers your mortgage balance immediately.
  • You take out $4,000 for bills later, but that $4,000 still saved you interest for a few weeks.
  • The extra $1,000 left over keeps chipping away at the balance.
  • After 3 years: you could owe closer to $177,000

Even with a higher rate, the balance falls much faster because your income is constantly reducing interest until you spend it.

In this example, with a $300,000 mortgage, if you deposit your $10,000 paycheque into the account on the first of the month, you only accrue interest of $290,000 for the rest of the month until it’s time to use the money for expenses(say on the 30th of the month). This means that between the 1st and the 30th, you only paid interest on $290,000, as opposed to $300,000. This compounds month over month, so long as your income/savings is greater than your debts.

Is It Right for You?

The key with Manulife One is discipline. If you’re good at keeping extra cash in the account, it can save you serious money and time. If not, it might just be an expensive line of credit. Either way, this is one of my favourite mortgage products due to the flexibility and savings it provides.

Want to see your own numbers? Try the Manulife One calculator on their website and find out if this product is a fit for you, or feel free to reach out if you would like to see whether you could benefit from it on your renewal/purchase.