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Wealthsimple vs. Tangerine Review 2023

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Canadians have several financial institutions they can use for both banking and investing. Many of them are well-known banks, such as BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust. However, other financial companies offer a number of the same services that aren’t as well known and cost less than the larger, more popular financial institutions.

In this showdown, we compare Wealthsimple vs. Tangerine, two of Canada’s favorite alternative financial products.

Wealthsimple Overview

Wealthsimple is a financial services company that focuses primarily on investments.

It originally launched as a robo-advisor (Wealthsimple Invest), but now offers high-interest savings accounts (Wealthsimple Cash), online tax filing (Wealthsimple Tax), and stock and cryptocurrency trading (Wealthsimple Trade).

Wealthsimple Pros & Cons

Pros: The Good Stuff

  • Easy-to-use: Wealthsimple’s best feature is its easy-of-use and user accessibility.

  • Free trades: This is a game-changer in the investing world. While most online brokerages charge a commission of between $5 and $10 a trade, Wealthsimple Trade has no trading fees.

  • No minimum investment: Wealthsimple Trade has a $0 minimum investment requirement

  • Free tax filing: Wealthsimple Tax is free and it’s easy to use.

Cons: The Not So Good Stuff

  • Lack of features: Wealthsimple Cash is good, but you can’t use it to pay bills or for spending. Also, you can only send money to friends who have a Wealthsimple Cash account. Interac e-Transfers aren’t available.

  • Fewer account/investment options: Wealthsimple Trade would be better if it offered more than just three types of accounts. It would also be better if there were more investments to choose from, such as Canadian bonds (or any other type of bond) and options.

  • No credit card: Wealthsimple only offers a prepaid debit card (Wealthsimple Cash card)

Tangerine Overview

Tangerine was launched in 1997 as ING Direct by the Netherlands-based ING Group. The first product was a high-interest savings account with no fees.

It has begun offering a number of products since then, including mutual funds, mortgages, chequing accounts, and credit cards. The company was renamed Tangerine shortly after it was acquired by Scotiabank in 2012.

Tangerine Pros & Cons

Pros: The Good Stuff

  • No-fee chequing: No minimum balance, an unlimited number of transactions, and you can earn interest on a balance. This is rarely offered at other banks.

  • Low-cost mutual funds: Tangerine’s investment funds are actually well priced compared to other funds. The new global ETF portfolios are inexpensive and also give you international equity exposure.

Cons: The Not So Good Stuff

  • Low interest rates: Tangerine was a disruptor when it launched its no-fee savings account with a rate higher than the big banks. Now the rate on its savings accounts and GICs looks tiny compared to smaller banks. While Tangerine does occasionally offer promotional rates, they’re not permanent.

  • No free additional cheques: While the first book of 50 cheques is free, having to pay $50 for any additional chequebook is a rip-off, especially when other online banks provide them for free.

Wealthsimple vs Tangerine: Investing

Wealthsimple Investing Overview:

Let’s take a look at what Wealthsimple’s investment products have to offer Canadians new to investing.

Wealth Simple Invest

The most well-known product is Wealthsimple Invest, which was one of the first Canadian robo-advisors. Robo-advisors offer users a passive investing strategy. They invest automatically in a variety of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on your risk tolerance.

Unlike active mutual funds, robo-advisors try to replicate market returns instead of trying to beat the market. While this strategy isn’t for everyone, it’s better than trying to beat the market and failing to do so over the long term.

The appeal of robo-advisors is the cost. While an active mutual fund usually charges a fee of around 2% or more a year, a robo-advisor passes on the cost of the ETF fees as an annual management fee.

In Wealthsimple Invest’s case, the management fee is 0.5%—or one-fourth the cost of the fee that a mutual fund charges. For those with $100,000 or more in assets, the management fee is 0.4%.

Wealthsimple Invest offers a variety of accounts, including registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), registered education savings plans (RESPs), registered retirement income funds (RRIFs), locked-in retirement accounts (LIRAs), personal, joint, and business accounts.

Wealthsimple Trade

If you’d rather take charge of your financial future, you can use Wealthsimple Trade. It doesn’t charge a management fee and there aren’t any trading commissions on stocks or ETFs. This allows you to build your own investment portfolio at a much lower cost. There also isn’t a minimum investment or minimum balance required to start trading.

Wealthsimple Trade currently only allows stocks, ETFs and certain crypocurrencies trading on Canadian and American exchanges. And you can only open a TFSA, RRSP, or personal trading account.

Wealthsimple Trade only charges fees for trades made on US exchanges and cryptocurrency purchases.

Wealthsimple prides itself on being an accessible, easy-to-use wealth management platform.

Wealthsimple Invest uses a computer-driven algorithm to make investment decisions on behalf of the investor. That means Wealthsimple Invest clients are not required to make trading decisions or monitor their investments. It charges a Management Expense Ratio (MER) in exchange for managing these accounts.

Upon sign-up, new investors must fill out a questionnaire that details their age, savings goals, and risk capacity. Portfolios are built automatically on their behalf.

Wealthsimple Trade and Wealthsimple Crypto requires more active trading and requires a little more experience. Investors must make decisions on which stocks or ETFs to purchase.

Tangerine Investing Overview:

Tangerine has a few investing options if you want to invest in the stock market. It has five core portfolio mutual funds: balanced income, balanced, balanced growth, dividend, and equity growth. Each fund has an annual fee of around 1.05%.

The company also recently launched global ETF portfolios: balanced, balanced growth, and equity growth. These new mutual funds charge an annual fee of about 0.65%, which makes them comparable in cost to many robo-advisors.

Wealthsimple vs Tangerine: Banking

Wealthsimple Banking Features:

Wealthsimple, unlike Tangerine, does not offer a full suite of banking products. They do, however, have a high interest savings account and a spending account.

Wealthsimple Cash

Wealthsimple Cash was initially launched as something similar to a high-interest savings account (the rate is currently 0.75%), but has now evolved into a payments service. There are no fees and no limits on how many withdrawals you can make each month. Wealthsimple recently introduced the Wealthsimple Cash Card, compatible with Apple Pay, and Google Pay, which you can use to make everyday purchases. It works like a prepaid debit card and offers 1% cashback on certain purchases. They also have the Cash app (iOS and Android) with which you can instantly pay or receive funds for free from contacts who also use the app. Funds are withdrawn from your bank account or Cash Wallet.

Wealthsimple Cash Card

Wealthsimple Cash Card

Rated 3.6/5 stars.

Our Review

  • Welcome Offer N/A
  • Annual Fee $0
  • Interest Rates 4% to 5%
  • Recommended Credit 300+

Wealthsimple Save

Wealthsimple Save is a high interest savings account which offers 0.5% interest. However, it is a non-registered account and so you will have to pay tax on the interest accrued. There are no fees for this account.

Tangerine Banking Features:

Savings and Chequing Accounts

Tangerine offers a variety of products. We’ll start with savings and chequing accounts.

The Tangerine Savings Account has no monthly fee and no minimum balance. You can also make an unlimited number of withdrawals without having to pay any fees. Currently, the interest rate is just 0.1%.

There’s also a U.S. dollar savings account as well as registered versions (TFSAs, RRSPs, and RRIFs).

The Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing Account has no minimum balance and no transaction fees. That means you can make an unlimited number of debit purchases, bill payments, pre-authorized payments, and Interac e-Transfers. The account even pays interest, but it’s minimal:

Balance Interest rate
$0 to $49,999.99 0.01%
$50,000 to $99,999.99 0.05%
$100,000 or more 0.1%

Credit cards

Tangerine also offers a couple of credit cards. The Money-Back Credit Card has no fee and lets you earn 2% cashback in two spending categories (or three if you have the cash deposited into a savings account). You also earn 0.5% on everything else. To apply for this card, you need an annual income of $12,000.

The Tangerine World Mastercard also has no fee and provides the same amount of cashback, but also comes with some great features that are available on rewards cards with an annual fee. These features include mobile device insurance, rental car collision/loss damage insurance, and free membership to Mastercard Airport Experiences.

The minimum annual income requirement to apply for this card is $60,000 or an annual household income of $100,000.

Wealthsimple vs Tangerine: Additional Features

Wealthsimple Additional Features:

Apart from investing and banking features, Wealthsimple offers crypto and tax services. Let’s have a look at what they are:

  • Wealthsimple Crypto: If you want to trade cryptocurrencies, Wealthsimple Crypto allows you to do just that. The two most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are currently available to trade, along with 32 other cryptocurrencies. Trades can be made in the Wealthsimple Trade app.
  • Wealthsimple Tax: Formerly known as SimpleTax, Wealthsimple Tax is an online tool to file your tax return. Best of all, it’s free to use. The product is certified by both the Canada Revenue Agency and Revenu Québec.

Tangerine Additonal Features:

Here’s a rundown of what else Tangerine offers:

  • Mortgages—Want to buy a home? Tangerine offers mortgages.
  • Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs)—You can unlock the equity in your home for renovations or other projects.
  • Guaranteed investment certificates (GICs)—Terms of 90 days to five years are available. Rates range from 0.2.% to 1.1%.
  • RRSP loans—Use this to max out your RRSP contribution limit.

Wealthsimple vs Tangerine Comparison

Wealthsimple Tangerine
Investment options Stocks, ETFs Mutual Funds, ETFs
Minimum investment $0 $25
SRI and Halal Investing Yes No
Banking Features Wealthsimple Cash; Wealthsimple Save Chequing Account, Savings Account, Debit card, Credit card
Account types TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, Non-registered TFSA, RRSP, Spousal RRSP, RESP, LIF, LIRA, Non-registered
Additional Features Wealthsimple Crypto; Wealthsimple Tax Mortages; Lines of Credit; GICs
Mobile App Yes Yes

Wealthsimple vs Tangerine:Final Thoughts

In this Tangerine vs. Wealthsimple showdown, the choice between the two will vary based upon your banking and investing needs. If you want a mortgage or a spending account, Tangerine has you covered. If you want to trade stocks for free or let a robo-advisor do the work for you, Wealthsimple is your best option.

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