The no-monthly-fee chequing and savings account
Earn up to 2.75% interest on your cash — that's the highest-interest rate for a chequing account in Canada.
The chequing account that one-ups the rest
Zero fees, no catch
We think paying for a chequing account should be a thing of the past, so we don’t charge you monthly fees —or any other everyday fees, for that matter.
High interest on your cash
Earn high interest with no minimum requirements. Plus, as a Core or Premium client, get an extra 0.5% when switch your pay of $2,000+ per month to us.
One app for everything
Manage your savings, investments, crypto, mortgage, and tax filing, all in the same place as your chequing account. No more app switching.
LIMITED TIME
Move money. Get AirPods.
Just register then move $25,000+ to any account within 30 days of registering. Offer ends June 16. T&Cs apply.
When we say zero fees, we mean it
No monthly fees
And no minimum balances — your account is always free.
No FX fees
Other banks often charge up to 2.5%. We let you travel in peace.
No ATM fees
If you get charged by the ATM, we’ll pay you back up to $5 for every withdrawal.
No e-transfer fees
Make as many transactions as you like at no extra cost.
Prepaid Mastercard
The card made for smooth spending
- Earn 1% cash back on all your spending
- Withdraw from 60,000+ ATMs Canada-wide
- Link your card to any of your chequing accounts
How we measure up to the banks
Wealthsimple helps you save, grow, and keep more of what’s yours.
| Header | Wealthsimple | Digital banks | Big banks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account fees | $0 | Up to $22 | Up to $30 |
| FX fees | $0 | Up to 2.5% | Up to 2.5% |
| Interest rate | Up to 2.75% | 0.1-3.5% | 0% |
| ATM fees | Free — we'll reimburse you up to $5 | Up to $3 | Up to $5 |
| Daily e-transfer limits | Up to $25,000 for qualifying clients | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Maximum CDIC coverage | $1M | $100,000 | $100,000 |
The smart way to sort your savings
Open up to 8 individual and 8 joint accounts, then give them nicknames to categorize your spending and savings, all in one place.
Instant transfers to investing accounts
Need to take advantage of a market moment? Easily move cash from your chequing account to any Wealthsimple investing account. Or put things on auto-pilot by automatically buying stocks, ETFs or crypto anytime you get paid.
CDIC protection on up to $1 million
The funds in your account are placed in trust with up to 10 CDIC member institutions. That's10x the security (and peace of mind!) on all eligible deposits.
Deposit your pay
Switch your pay, unlock extra perks
Have your paycheque of $2,000+ every month deposited to your chequing account and get 0.5% more interest (and other benefits!) as a Core or Premium client.
Get even more when you consolidate your assets
Unlock access to benefits and rewards from one of our trusted partners, like Uber, Strava, Headspace, and more, when you have $200,000+ with us.
Ready to break up with your bank?
Open an account in minutes. You can start spending, saving, and earning right away — no branch visits required.
FAQs
That's right. Our data was collected as of April 1, 2025. Average includes all posted rates of chequing accounts from Canadian financial institutions as listed under Schedule I under the Bank Act. This excludes limited-time and promotional offers, and products that do not offer cheques.
Our interest rates have no set end date and don't end after a limited promotional period, but there’s always a chance the Bank of Canada might change its rates, and if they do, we follow suit. Your interest is an annualized rate that's calculated daily and paid out monthly, subject to change. See here for details.
First off: there are no annual fees! And unlike credit cards, the prepaid Mastercard doesn’t require a credit check or any other qualifications.
And no, you’ll never need to worry about this card impacting your credit score.
We don't charge any monthly account fees or minimum balance fees.
We also don't charge a foreign transaction (FX) fee. Usually, banks charge you around 3% to use your Canadian credit card in another country. We, on the other hand, don't do that. There is still a currency conversion rate charged by the payment network (not us!) when you make a purchase in another currency.
We don't charge ATM fees. The ATM might though, so we'll even reimburse any eligible fees of up to $5 each charged by a domestic ATM provider. You can find more about that here, and learn more about using your prepaid Mastercard here.
No, but we are a FINTRAC-registered money services business, and we work closely with banking partners to keep deposits safe. This means we can offer a lot of the same perks and conveniences of traditional chequing and savings accounts.
Your everyday chequing account comes with both a digital and physical prepaid Mastercard that you can manage right from the Wealthsimple app.
The app lets you manage your benefits and spending preferences, or lock your card if something happens to it. Your balances are all updated in real time, too — even if you’re using the physical card.
The balance in your chequing account is held in trust for you with members of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal Crown corporation. CDIC protects eligible deposits held at CDIC member institutions in case of a member institution’s failure.
Note: Wealthsimple isn’t a bank, and we are not a CDIC member. That said, we’ve partnered with a number of CDIC-member, federally regulated Canadian Financial Institutions to effectively extend CDIC deposit protection to chequing account holders for a combined amount (up to $1 million CAD) in the unlikely event the CDIC members were to fail.
Coverage is free and automatic. Learn more here.
You'll earn 1% back pretty much every time you use your prepaid Mastercard to make a purchase — except cash-like transactions such as refunds, bill payments, or adjustments. The 1% back is automatically added to your balance.
Stock rewards are a little different: your 1% back will be awarded as a cash balance into your self-directed account, and from there you can buy whichever stock you like.
And don’t worry — you can update your reward preferences any time right in the app. More details here.
You can use your card online and in-store everywhere Mastercard® is accepted.
And since Mastercard is accepted all over the world, you can use your prepaid Mastercard while traveling (with a few exceptions and fees from Mastercard).
You can also use the physical card to withdraw cash at ATMs Canada-wide. We don’t charge any fees for withdrawing cash, but you might get charged a standard ATM fee (usually about $3.00) that we'll reimburse up to $5 per eligible fee charged by a Canadian ATM provider. You can find more about that here.
Nope, any direct deposit type will count towards the $2,000/month minimum. This includes payroll, pension, social assistance, and insurance direct deposits.
All Core and Premium clients are eligible to earn an increased rate of up to 2.75% interest with direct deposits. To qualify and continue earning the 0.5% boost, you’ll need to direct deposit at least $2,000 into your Wealthsimple chequing account within a 30-day period. Generation clients won’t be eligible for an additional 0.5% boost since they're already earning our highest interest rate of 2.75%.