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I have $12 000 in student loan debt at 6.5% interest. Currently my payments are in the ballpark of $150 per month.

I have an automatic transfer to a high interest savings account with Tangerine set at $150 every two weeks as my paycheck comes in.

Is it a better idea to funnel all that money to the loan payment and save a bit of interest, or build my liquid savings and be able to kill the loan in one shot once I have enough saved? What factors play into this?

Minimizing the interest you pay is ideal, but funneling all money to debt repayment isn't wise unless you have some savings to act as a cushion in case of an emergency.

How much money you should reserve in case of emergency is debatable but 6-8 months worth of essential expenses is a common goal. Do some research on emergency funds and evaluate your situation to come up with a number you feel comfortable with, save that, and then go to town on paying off that student loan as fast as possible via extra payments each month.

Saving up and then paying off in a lump sum instead of paying extra every month will cost you the difference between the annual 6.5% and your saving account interest rate between now and the payoff date.

Is it a better idea to funnel all that money to the loan payment and save a bit of interest,

Yes.

or build my liquid savings and be able to kill the loan in one shot once I have enough saved? What factors play into this?

Letting the money sit in savings to earn less interest than your loan is accruing is not a good idea.

Ideally, you'd go with a mix of these strategies. Once you have savings sufficient to absorb an emergency, you should start funneling as much as you can toward that debt. The canned advice is generally $1,000 of emergency fund, but if you may need to move apartments and pay a security deposit or some such you may want to adjust that higher; but once you have your emergency fund established you prioritize the loan. AND emergency funds go in stable, liquid vehicles; savings account or maybe a CD. This money does not get put at risk to try to eek out a better return.

You should try to build up some savings so you can cope with emergencies. Your car breaks down, a medical bill, etc.

I often hear that you should have 6 months pay in savings for emergencies. So if you're making an average American salary of $50,000 or so, you should have $25,000 in savings? I think that's way excessive. On the other hand, many Americans have essentially zero savings. In my humble opinion, for most people you should have several thousand for unexpected expenses and if possible 2 or 3 months pay to tide you over if you lose your job.

After that, pay off debts as quickly as possibly. There is no advantage to keeping money in a savings account paying 1/2 % to save up for a lump sum payoff, while you are paying 6 or 8 or 30% on a loan. You're losing money every day that that money sits in your savings account.