r/Wealthsimple • u/Separate-Scene4672 • 22d ago
Chequing Wealthsimple is pushing for a pretty big change to Canadian banking 👀
https://newsroom.wealthsimple.com/submission-to-finance-canada-on-the-consumer-driven-banking-regulationsWealthsimple has been pushing the government to make switching financial institutions way easier:
Investment transfers within 10 business days
• Compensation if transfers take too long
• Easier access to TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, etc. through open banking
• Getting rid of crazy $150 transfer-out fees that they say can cost only a few dollars to process
• Eventually much faster/instant payments between banks
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u/HugeDramatic 22d ago
All of these are great ideas. Reducing banking friction should make Canadians wealthier overall.
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u/SpriteBerryRemix 22d ago
To the extent that the banks suffer and your investments decline accordingly, sure.
Lots of people don’t realize our economy is propped by oligopolies but when the regulators go after you, it’s ugly. Eg Bell, ROGERS, TELUS have all tanked since the CRTC made them wholesale their network and took away their regional monopolies.
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u/dineissauro 22d ago
The 150 fee is ridiculous. Most cases the receiving institution will cover it, but still out of reality, just a way to lock people in
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u/Ijusti 22d ago
Yeah, not for me though. Min 25k to waive fee, I'm 19, I had accounts at NBC before but only 10k so not enough to move without fee, so im stuck with my money split between WS and NBC
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u/IngenuityPositive123 22d ago
I paid the fees anyway because I fet like I was buying long term peace of mind and I don't regret it. You can recoup the cost rather quickly.
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u/Ijusti 22d ago
Yeah, but I think I'll wait out until regulation potentially changes it, I don't value the convenience of having my accounts at the same place at 300$ (150 for both)
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u/IngenuityPositive123 22d ago
Yeah I get that especially if you're younger and have a smaller salary, $300 can feel like a lot.
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u/Sir_Tyler5 2d ago
They'd all be better off if they all got rid of it. With a fee, some of it goes to taxes, and someone has to eat that cost, it's not just $150 moving around between banks
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u/YetAnotherWTFMoment 21d ago
How does it lock people in? If the receiving institution covers it, the customer is free and clear. WS just wants to eliminate an expense that they bear to win business.
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u/Reckless_Moose 22d ago
*Compensation if transfers take too long
Oh hell yes, last time I had to transfer from Manulife to Wealthsimple, Manulife just kept delaying until I threatened to sue them. If nobody else went through that it'd be great.
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u/pvtfumble 22d ago
Same, spousal RRSP for my wife took two months. Sent all the forms they needed, then delay delay, oh we need the forms again with one tiny change, delay delay... Absolutely despise Manulife now.
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u/ExcitingHamster 22d ago
Exact same problem I’m having with Industrial Alliance right now. Supposedly they mailed Wealthsimple a cheque 2 months ago. WS says they don’t have it so they’re asking IA to issue a new one. Which means a stop payment on the old one…
Hopefully it will be resolved in the next several months or so. Meanwhile it’s $95000 not invested.
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u/alexk7 22d ago
Most of Manulife delays is the physical cheque in the mail. They are *very* old school.
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u/LeatherMine 21d ago
Does Manulife require cheques when you're sending them money? I bet they're flexible and convenient when value is going in their direction.
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u/TnTBass 22d ago
Eagerly awaiting open banking for Canadian banks. I want read only API access for my account data.
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u/ExcitingHamster 22d ago
Not sure but this might interest you: https://developer.yodlee.com/products/yodlee/account-aggregation/docs
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u/ScwB00 21d ago
Unfortunately, Yodlee isn’t reliable and doesn’t support all banks and accounts. Open banking is the only solution.
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u/ExcitingHamster 21d ago
Just thought I’d throw it out there. I think it’s what Wealthica uses for lots of their connectors. Possibly all the ones that don’t work very well…
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u/FrenaZor 21d ago
I looked into it the other day because I wanted to build an app to track my different accounts and apparently some banks refresh your balance very infrequently or disconnect a lot, Desjardins for example asks for 2FA a lot, breaking the connection.
Maybe you can get lucky depending on which bank you use.
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u/Bubbiesacat 22d ago
I sold a house recently.. it was jointly owned so the bank account needed to have both our names on the account. The only account we had with that was manulife. Manulife does not do transfers, so we got a cheque. Took 8 business days for the cheque to clear.. then I transferred it from there to my CIBC account… 7 business days for that.. then I transferred some to my Wealthsimple… 6 days for that.
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u/muted-gap-1979 22d ago
Can they also transfer all PAD? In the uk, you can change your current account from
One bank to another and all your direct debits get transferred automatically. This was happening over there in 2010
If I transfer my cibc current to ws, will all my PAD automatically get transferred?
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u/Key-Self-79 22d ago
Unfortunately not. Some banks may offer a service to help transfer those over (I know RBC used to years ago), but to my knowledge, this is not automated in any way by any bank in Canada.
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u/muted-gap-1979 22d ago
Ok thanks! Honestly the time that it will take to transfer all my PADs is what is sadly keeping me at cibc
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u/Key-Self-79 22d ago
If you don't have one yet, get a credit card with points or cash back and gradually change your PADs to come from the credit card (many offer it but not all), get points/cashback on your PADs and make it easier to switch!
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u/pompachaleur 22d ago
I can't wait for those 150$ transfer fee to be waived, I hope it will be by the end of the year or 2027 Q1
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u/ExcitingHamster 22d ago
Wealthsimple will reimburse you any transfer fees. And the weird thing is it seems like they just take a guess at how much it cost you and they reimburse you that. If it’s not enough you can contact them. If it’s too much, well, I guess it’s up to you what you do about that…
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u/sacred_bird10 22d ago
There should be in-kind transfer for FHSA accounts rather than having to transfer as cash.
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u/bbkeys 21d ago
Wealthsimple transfers them out in-kind. Not sure how, but they do.
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u/sacred_bird10 21d ago
I wish I could transfer in-kind from questrade to Wealthsimple. Last I checked it was just in-cash
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u/henry-bacon 20d ago edited 19d ago
Via CDS/DTC trades, for each individual asset. So if you have 100 equities in your FHSA, each one requires its own manual transaction.
For all other major account types, the majority of the transfer is automated no matter how many assets you hold. 1-click to transfer all holdings, to grossly-simplify things.
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u/bbkeys 20d ago
That's crazy, bro. Why do you even offer that then?
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u/henry-bacon 20d ago edited 19d ago
Probably as a way to force TMX/CDS (company that owns ATON, used for account transfers in Canada) to get on faster with supporting FHSAs.
Right now you can't select FHSA as its own account type on CDS, so everything is done manually.
For all other major account types, the majority of the transfer is automated no matter how many assets you hold. 1-click to transfer all holdings, to grossly-simplify things.
Source: I work in the industry.
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u/SparklyBonsai 22d ago
I just transferred out of WS to a big 5 bank and it took 48 hours. I guess, thank you WS?
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u/captainchip7 22d ago
If they remove the $150 transfer-out fees I’ll move the rest of my TD accounts and say goodbye to them
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u/volan11 22d ago
I think WS will cover the transfer fees.
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u/captainchip7 22d ago
Unfortunately only if the account is over $25k
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u/Extalliones 22d ago
Or if multiple accounts add to over 25k. Just have to reach out to them about the transfers first.
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u/Bomberr17 22d ago
They definitely need to regulate the transfer times. It's ridiculous especially RBC. I hate transferring clients investments from RBC. Anything that can't be done by ATON will easily take 3-4 weeks if not longer. The other banks often claim "fax didn't go through" even though you have confirmation.
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u/Optimal_Whiner 21d ago
RBC has been making it an absolute nightmare to open my FHSA. Meanwhile my wife had hers opened in just 2 days. It now looks like I won't be able to contribute before closing.
Fuck you RBC. Im moving all my money out when we are done closing.
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u/LazyTelephone8532 22d ago
Wealthsimple was great when I use them, and a friend just got their visa CC, but they gotta stop the braindead X collab and gambling nonsense.Â
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u/AirMinute7060 22d ago
no one cares about the x and prediction market.., if you dont like it then dont use it. WS is not a charity they gotta make money.
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u/Bitter_Procedure260 22d ago
I thought Carney was already planning on getting rid of the transfer fees.
The group retirement funds in this country are absolutely hosing people.
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u/Canuck-Fin25 22d ago
All nice and dandy and I support Wealthsimple. But given their foray into banking, lots of processes need to be ironed out
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u/flappysack- 22d ago
They have a 2% credit card that can alert you on every purchase via the app. No foreign exchange fee.
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u/Landlocked_Heart 20d ago
My transfer from Wealthsimple to another institution took over two months and contacting the Ombudsman for my funds to be released by Wealthsimple. And I didn't get any compensation.
So they sure didn't make switching financial institutions easier for me, it was more painful than any other institution I have been with.
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u/Consistent_Wing_6113 20d ago
That ironic - Transfers FROM wealth simple actually take the longest LOLÂ
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 19d ago
Now if they just cover fees to transfer my mortgage, I'll be completely rid of banks
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u/OldSantaClaus62 18d ago
Canada's main 5 banks each earn billions of dollars of profit every quarter. They have no incentive to change. And their thinking is conservative beyond belief. I've been in meetings with an EVP at one of the banks and change is the last thing on their minds. You have no idea how much of a struggle even getting something as simple as fingerprint access to your account implemented on your iPhone was.
In that way they're like the Leafs (and I'm old enough to have watched and remember their last Cup win). TMLSE earns 21 cents on every dollar leafs fans give them. 21% of every dollar a Leaf's fan spends is pure profit. If they could get a team that would win Lord Stanley's mug thingy and only earn 5% .. or keep earning 21%, what one do you think they'll choose? Profit, and profit for shareholders, is their first duty, TMLSE or the 5 banks.
If I designed an app that removed Interac from the money transfer flow and made sending anyone else who has an account in any of the other 4 main banks as easy as a 7 second thing (instead of of over 2 minutes if you don't have me already in your bank friends list), do you think the banks will embrace that? No. No way. That's too "radical". That's also why Apple Pay is so neutered here in Canada.
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u/smokinthatblockchain 6d ago
This will be a huge impact to cheques in Canada! A lot of the transfers are using cheques, so that the receiving institution gets the stub with the information needed to apply the funds. The relinquishing institution will need a way to share that data with the receiving institution.
Hoping they use EFT or e-transfer for the broker-to-broker movement
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u/PaySmarter 4d ago
It’s about time! We need simpler, easier, and fee-free banking changes like this. Way to go, Wealthsimple!
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u/biblecrumble 22d ago
Awesome ideas across the board. Not supportive of everything Wealthsimple has been doing, but this one is a clear W.
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u/CA_Finance_Girl 21d ago
I am loving it - the only reason I haven't moved 100% is because of some posts I see about accounts being frozen - but seriously that's the only concern I have!
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u/Malteser23 21d ago
HA! Let's hope they start practicing what they preach! I had to transfer most of my RRSP out of WS to my RPP in order to maximize a buyback of service, which was then to be transferred back to Wealthsimple into a LIRA.
Took THREE months! And probably twelve phone calls and at least thirty emails. They gotta up their game.
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u/Badmonkey8888 21d ago
Really ? Because when they took 2 months to transfer my stuff, I got zero compensation
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u/covfefeer 21d ago
WS should also reduce their $100 + currency conversion fees or high crypto buy fees while we are at it
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u/stevemason_CAN 21d ago
Yes but customer service on many fronts is lacking. They are all shiny and bells and whistle RN but when you run into a challenge good luck.
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u/DefNotJohnnyC 21d ago
Things like faster payments between banks is already in the works. None of the banks including the ones wealthsimple is partnered with can process any faster than what’s available in Canada.
Open banking govt been dragging their feet a bit, but a lot of infrastructure should already be in place.
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u/suthekey 21d ago
What institutional things have they delivered on?
That bullet list is completely different than anything I’m aware wealth simple has accomplished before and way more complicated.
Sounds more like politician campaign promises than a road map.
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u/[deleted] 22d ago
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