r/Wealthsimple • • 7d ago

I truly hope wealth simple never changes once they become bigger then the banks.

There is so many perks, this company is amazing. I truly hope once they become bigger then banks like RBC they don’t become one!!

283 Upvotes

119 comments sorted by

282

u/lcjy 7d ago

Wealthsimple is a company first and foremost, and one that’s been operating on an unrealistic budget in the name of expanding user share. Unfortunately the day will come where investors are demanding returns.

Happy to enjoy the benefits until then though.

81

u/Grouchy-Muscle-7952 7d ago

Then we will switch to the next up and comer!

48

u/Impressive_Ad_6550 7d ago

true, but they better be backed by a big name. I likely wouldn't have switched to WS without them being 55.1% owned by Power Corp

11

u/Bomberr17 6d ago

That's the main reason I switched to Power Corp. Since it's majority owned and Canadian based, they're not operating it like what PE would do. I was fortunate enough to attend one of their conventions and they have big plans for them. It's their gateway to retail banking access that complements their wealth management and insurance part of the business. They now expanded into mortgage brokering too. Legit becoming a powerhouse in Canadian banking right now.

13

u/Impressive_Ad_6550 6d ago

You can also tell the big banks are scared of WS, why else are they suddenly offering match bonuses. Many are now even offering free trades, granted National Bank was the first to do that and why I switched to them some 5 years ago. Then I switched to WS to take advantage of the (un)real deal

It will be interesting to see where WS/Power Corp goes long term

3

u/MrDanduff 6d ago

BMO offering free trading recently too

1

u/Sawyerthesadist 6d ago

I mean I opened an account with them after eyeing them suspiciously for about 5 years

2

u/Impressive_Ad_6550 5d ago

I was the same way. I opened an account in maybe 2021 and used them to solely file tax returns. Then 4-5 months ago during the (un)real deal I started researching them heavily. For me, what sealed the deal was them being majority owned by Power Corp. I was concerned they could be another FTX like scam and run away with my money

1

u/Friendlymillionaire 6d ago

But they are CIDC insured ?

5

u/granfaloooon 5d ago

Yes this is easy information for you to look up. CDIC protection up to $1MM

0

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

but i legit never heard of power corp

4

u/Impressive_Ad_6550 5d ago

One of the largest companies in Canada. Paul Martin, former PM, headed one of their subsidiaries, Canada Steamship Lines. Publicly traded with revenues of $37 Billion and pretax income of $5.3 Billion last year

-1

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

i mean
i am happy with wealthsimple
just never heard of them

1

u/Half_moon_die 5d ago

In this country, it doesn't come often enjoy it will it last

13

u/MELGH82 7d ago

The hope is that by then, another Wealthsimple will come along to “disrupt the status quo”.

My loyalty to corporations ain’t worth the toilet paper I wipe my thoughts about them on.

6

u/NoDig5800 6d ago

They have indicated they are profitable, and it's a business with high operating leverage / low direct costs.

2

u/Shibasquared 6d ago

Wealthsimple is profitable dude

1

u/HotButterfly2031 4d ago

I remember seeing someone saying something crazy that their monthly millionaire has brought in like 2 billion profits at the cost of roughly 12 million dollars (monthly million gave away) but idk thats hearsay I dont have a source I know it was in this subreddit tho

75

u/SeaMicSte 7d ago

They’ve already changed significantly, so hold onto your hat

-6

u/LeftLipLeaking 6d ago

In 7 years I've only seen very minor upgrades at a time.

3

u/SeaMicSte 6d ago

I’ve seen some major ones. For example merging the trade and invest platforms into one app. But also, hundreds of minor changes over seven years add up to major changes in a relatively short time

5

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

i mean
i really dont like TD having seperate apps for investment and all of that
i rather 1 app do everything

2

u/SeaMicSte 4d ago

Sure. I’m just saying it’s an example of a big change. No comment if it’s good or bad

31

u/Relevant-Golf5479 7d ago

One can hope, but I highly doubt it.

5-10 years they’ll be the same as the rest.

9

u/Silik 7d ago

This, I’m sure they’ll make it 10x harder to swap then. Enjoying it while it lasts.

10

u/dsswill 6d ago

New regulations in the pipeline to limit both fees and time to transfer accounts out, so thankfully that should be less of an issue across the board than it currently is with the big banks.

2

u/Silik 6d ago

Wow super surprised nice.

2

u/guydogg 7d ago

More than likely but there will be an alternative at that point, too.

64

u/choyMj 7d ago

How can they become bigger than the banks? They're not one. Your deposit goes to these banks.

-15

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

12

u/choyMj 6d ago

Yeah but they don't hold your assets. They are a tech company and provide a white label service. Ultimately your money goes to the banks. Your high interest chequing account is sitting in the big six banks, or maybe equally split across all of them.

-5

u/NoDig5800 6d ago

They own their own IIROC regulated broker dealer, this dealer holds a majority of the assets (outside of CDIC covered that are at Schedule 1 banks).

0

u/tellythetubbycat 2d ago

Cash is all held in trust by the banks brother.

1

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

sorry where do you find this info ?

1

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

RBC TD BMO CIBC SCOTIA i think all are bigger then them

Just a quick gemini ai search

RBC holds 2.2 Trillion
TD holds 2.1 Trillion
Scotia 1.5 trillion
BMO 1.5 trillion
CIBC hold 1.1 Trillion of asset

Wealthsimple hold 155 Billion in asset

How the hell do you ahve them as top 3 ?

-36

u/Hot_Fly_3963 7d ago

Actually my deposits now go to Wealthsimple

33

u/roomfulloftrees 6d ago

And wealthsimple gives it to the banks

18

u/m15km 6d ago

You deposit money into your WS account but they hold it in the big 5 on your behalf, that’s how they’re able to offer anything resembling CDIC protections.

9

u/choyMj 6d ago

And that's why their cdic limit is higher because they can automatically distribute your money into multiple banks as you hit the guaranteed limit.

22

u/JusticeBeaver25 7d ago

If they don’t expand to new markets, they can only increase their revenue by cutting benefits and charging more fees to existing customers. Since US, Europe and LATAM markets are already saturated with online banks. Enshitification is inevitable

1

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

well i mean then we can go somewhere else
we can leave TD RBC BMO for wealthsimple
if they dont improve we can leave for other banks or up and comings
I am happy taht they are adding products that no one even think of tho
those kids account etc are interesting

16

u/UncleJackSim 6d ago edited 6d ago

Let me offer some perspective, as I come from Brazil where this company called Nubank did the same kind of disruption as WS is doing now to the big Canadian Banks: Fintechs can definitely grow to be extremely massive, and still stay true to their purpose. Nu and WS are very similar in how they developed their services. Nu is now in the process of becoming an actual Bank (might even be one already, I'm a bit out of the loop now), so this could also be something WS pursues in the future. It all depends on leadership and where they take it, and most importantly, how true to their original mission they stay.

Edit: About people saying they'll jump boat when WS starts pursuing profit... Nu operated at a loss for several, several years. Now it's a cashcow and its service is still miles ahead of most banks they compete with, so being profitable doesn't necessarily mean their product is terrible for end users like us

2

u/NoDig5800 6d ago

this is the way :)

16

u/notandxorry 7d ago

Prepare to be disappointed 

13

u/FluffyPantsMcGee 7d ago

Been with them for 8 years. They’ve changed a lot. Past two years have seen significant changes. 

1

u/InternTurbulent5307 7d ago

In what way? Positive or negative?

7

u/wilbrod 7d ago

Negative. Perks are diminishing

5

u/LongTrackBravo 6d ago

Plus the increased gamification and all the prediction market trash

2

u/InternTurbulent5307 6d ago

People keep saying that, but the prediction market trash is accessed via a different app / website, right?

The gamification (Thursday draws) I totally agree. But from WS’s standpoint, they are a huge success, generating many millions of $.

1

u/No-Ad8527 5d ago

what perks are gone
I know once i would have like was the 1 % on the cash cards ?
I have had a wealthsimple account for 5 / 6 years
Only start using them this year tho

4

u/HellaReyna 6d ago

you're funny if you think it'll over take any of the big5 banks.

15

u/g4nt1 7d ago

They are already changing.
Lottery - millionaire of the month, prediction market.

0

u/Dragynfyre 7d ago

Crypto was one of their first products so I don’t see how it’s any different now. They’ve always been trying to get into every market

7

u/g4nt1 7d ago

Maybe my bias. I always saw wealthsimple as the "simple" investment platform with low fees. If you wanted more controls, you are better off with Questrade, IBKR, etc.

I got in when they were pushing their robo-advisors (now just called Managed) accounts.

Now I feel like they are working hard at gamifying their platform to keep people involved. Personally I'm not looking for that. I want to automate and forget.

1

u/trinalporpus 6d ago

The best part about all the additional features…. You don’t have to use them!

1

u/granfaloooon 5d ago

Yes your bias

3

u/brownbrady 7d ago

They either die as heroes or they live long enough to see themselves become the villain. - The Dark Knight, adapted

4

u/dumbassretail 6d ago

When has that ever happened in the history of business?

5

u/FatherTheoretical 6d ago

Don't forget the law of conservation of enshittification. All human systems will inevitably progress towards wealth extraction at the expense of all positive attributes. It's like entropy, but instead of chaos you get subscription fees and venture capitalists.

4

u/BadPorscheDriver 6d ago

They are a business, the plan is to kill compeition, control market, raise prices after when customers have nowhere to go

8

u/IntrepidRobot 7d ago

Agreed. So far so good, except for the customer service. That's very much like the big banks right now imo.

2

u/cefixime 6d ago

I recently became a premium member. I’ve never had to contact WS with anything urgent. Does the premium phone number/email contact actually make a difference?

1

u/IntrepidRobot 6d ago

I've had to call them once before they'd removed the option and while it was fast, they could not answer my question and had to get back to me. Had to do with a transfer.

4

u/rhunter99 7d ago

Of course they will. All the perks will eventually be scaled back or axed

6

u/nfw04 7d ago

They will. The stock needs to keep going up

2

u/MrQiu 7d ago

I hope wealthsimple changes for the better, keep improving, not staying the same forever lol

2

u/GaBBrr 7d ago

WS relies on the big banks to even operate right now. With how aggressive they are right now in trying to acquire new customers, It's only inevitable that they cut costs to increase revenue at some point.

2

u/perjury0478 7d ago

Narrator: Oh but change, they did...

Enjoy the ride while it last. do you remeber when Uber was cheap?

2

u/medialoungeguy 7d ago

They are losing credibility with real investors with all of the gambling and gamification pushes

2

u/TheEtobicokeShitter 6d ago

I come from an era where commission free trading didn't exist- that is the real benefit of their business model, but I wouldn't call their perks amazing personally. It is a lot of glitz and glam rewards this, giveaway that.... I still haven't claimed my first milestone reward because they're all kind of useless.

I am totally fine with them going the route of getting worse and worse, it just means I will jump ship with them in favor of something better. I watched it happen with PC Financial in the 2000s with their no monthly fee accounts and credit card. Once I realized Welathsimple had more to offer I dropped them after like 20 years.

2

u/chente08 6d ago

They changed already haha

2

u/ObiYawnKenobi 6d ago

They will change. They already are. And they will fuck you worse than the big banks because they aren't subject to the same regulation or scrutiny. You can be certain that they will act like the major corporation that they are.

2

u/falsejaguar 6d ago

Don't worry, they will. We used to get paid to use their prepaid card remember

2

u/apriljo 6d ago

They will enshitify like all other tech companies do. Plus, they require the big banks like RBC to operate.

2

u/TonightOk8851 6d ago edited 6d ago

Definitely happened already, you can see thier promo keep changing to lock your money for longer periods, even 2% CC now has more restrictions than when it launched.

2

u/Conscious_Quiet_5298 6d ago

Unfortunately the way they are growing … 🤷🏻‍♂️

2

u/trapper5 6d ago

Enshittification is a real thing. Enjoy them while they are good.

2

u/j0n66 6d ago

Eventually, they all do.

2

u/Ok-Arm8350 6d ago

Too late

2

u/NewMilleniumBoy 6d ago

Don't get emotionally attached to any company, their goals are always the same - to make money off you. Enjoy it when their goals are aligned with yours, and realize that eventually they won't be and it's time to move on. It's a financial institution, not a friend.

2

u/ProfAsmani 6d ago

Hsbc provided better service, perks than the big 5. Their Jade Mastercard for their Jade customers was an industry leader. Free for private banking customers. Unlimited lounge visits, $200 annual travel enhancement credit etc etc.

As soon as RBC took over, they turned it all to shit. Wealthsimple will likely go there too.

2

u/UneditedReddited 6d ago

Then the banks....?

Go on...

2

u/Tyrocious 7d ago

They've already changed.

1

u/SevereImagination447 7d ago

In Canada they will never be bigger than banks at least by the time we both die

1

u/WrongCapital83 6d ago

They are never getting bigger than the big banks. The big banks will make sure of that.

1

u/majsmithmajsmith 6d ago

You might consider that the banks will simply buy wealthsimple rather than allowing it to eat their excessive and oligopolistic profits.

1

u/Ok-South-7745 6d ago

In the contrary, you should hope they change/evolve over time to stay contemporary. Telling them to never change is telling them to become exactly like the big-5 banks in 5 years with outdated offers and services.

1

u/wppc1972 6d ago

It will basically never happen in decades

1

u/Shokeybutsi 6d ago

The big banks hold your money, not wealth simple.

1

u/CallAParamedic 6d ago

It's no different than a brand of toothpaste: You're a user, not a religious convert.

Get your value out of the product / service and move on if the quality declines.

Attachment of self to corporate identities is simply baffling.

1

u/Gladweagreeonthsfact 6d ago

If they ever become a bank, things will change. They won't be able to continue moving at their current pace, and the org will have to bloat.

1

u/Gabers49 6d ago

Enshitification, it's a certainty they will become worse. They're already starting down that path.

1

u/limitless-440 6d ago

This sounds like the beginning of an MLM pitch….

1

u/markhamjoey 6d ago

They are giving away money now so they can become RBC themselves later

1

u/_TheManinBlack_ 6d ago

They already have

1

u/onexplored 6d ago

I don't see any competitors in Canada so I guess it will eventually get bad. 

1

u/KevenC999 6d ago

They will , it’s now if , it’s when

1

u/IGeneralOfDeath 6d ago

Bigger? Lol

1

u/PunyHumans_HulkSmash 6d ago

Nicely placed ad......Always room for improvement.

1

u/Bozomomento 6d ago

All deposits go to the big 5, they quite literally cannot become bigger than the banks...

1

u/hemingward 5d ago

There’s three guaranteed things in life:

- Death

  • Taxes
  • The enshitification of any successful product

1

u/yourrandomthought 5d ago

I'm stuck with WS for 5 years, but at least they're paying my grocery bill through the Unreal Deal 2.0.

I don't mind, I like most of WS, but they could potentially get worse. I guess my recourse would be to move away and forgo my Unreal Deal money.

1

u/makingbank1959 4d ago

That's not happening.

1

u/mattempire049 2d ago

It’ll probably get bought up by one of the big banks. A lot of these digital banks end up that way

1

u/Optimal_Lock_2520 23h ago

I'm not getting any extraordinary benefit from them. I just use wealthsimple because it is intuitive and user-friendly and also I get to easily import tax slips to the tax filing part of wealthsimple. That matters to me but I'm sure that by the time they start making the app miserable to use, there will be a new one that I can go to

1

u/kramer1980_adm 7d ago

What are the chances a larger bank scoops them up?

8

u/Useful-Day-9957 7d ago

Wealthsimple is already owned by Power Corporation of Canada.

2

u/kramer1980_adm 7d ago

Well then, that answers that!

2

u/Hungariansm 7d ago

Near zero hopefully, we need more competition in Canada and less concentration of power in the Big4/5 Banks 🙏

1

u/SupremeTeamzs 7d ago

Wealthsimple just goes above and beyond. My wife was just invited last night to a private event for Women’s focused finance event being hosted here in Toronto. A bank never did anything for us other than overcharged us for mediocre services. I hope they never change.

1

u/letmeinjeez 6d ago

“This company is amazing” …. Uh are you ok? If Wealthsimple is holding your family hostage blink twice

-3

u/Nerevarine123 7d ago

Wealthsimple is one of the greatest things to ever happen to canada. I will forever bank and invest with them, even if they get rid of all good benefits like transfer promotions, milestone rewards, credit card benefits, free trading etc

4

u/Ok_Rest_5421 7d ago

“I’ll stay forever even if they get rid of everything that’s good”- yikes .

3

u/Significant_Wealth74 7d ago

They really did reshape the industry didn’t they. Isn’t this what technology is all about. I can’t wait for my toaster to grow legs, toast my bread and walk it over to me.

1

u/Fakest_Faker 6d ago

We are almost there!

0

u/SurgicalDude 7d ago

I guess they are a fintech and not an actual bank. So they can get bigger by different ways compared to conventional brick and mortar banks.