Advertiser Disclosure

The content on this website includes links to our partners and we may receive compensation when you sign up, at no cost to you. This may impact which products or services we write about and where and how they appear on the site. It does not affect the objectivity of our evaluations or reviews. Read our disclosure.

Retirement 101 eBook - 3D

Author

Gravatar for Enoch Omololu, MSc (Econ)
Enoch Omololu, MSc (Econ)

Enoch Omololu is a personal finance expert and a veterinarian. He has a master’s degree in Finance and Investment Management from the University of Aberdeen Business School (Scotland) and has completed several courses and certificates in finance, including the Canadian Securities Course. He also has an MSc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Manitoba and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Ibadan. Enoch is passionate about helping others win with their finances and has been writing about money matters for over a decade. He has been featured or quoted in Forbes, The Globe and Mail, Winnipeg Free Press, Wealthsimple, CBC News, Financial Post, Toronto Star, CTV News, Canadian Securities Exchange, Credit Canada, National Post, and many other personal finance publications. You can learn more about him on the About Page.

His top investment tools include Wealthsimple and Questrade. He earns cash back on purchases using KOHO, monitors his credit score for free using Borrowell, and earns interest on savings through EQ Bank.

17 thoughts on “Simplii vs. Tangerine 2023: How Do They Compare?”

  1. Gravatar for Pylin Chuapetcharasopon

    Thanks for the great comparison Enoch! question: are both the Tangerine and Simplii debit cards usable abroad? Tangerine I believe uses the Scotiabank’s Global ATM Alliance (so can be found in multiple countries and free in those machines), but what about Simplii’s debit card?

    I’m planning to travel to multiple countries, so the above is a consideration. Although I really plan to use my STACK Prepaid Mastercard to get cash out through the Cirrus network. The Simplii/Tangerine card would be the backup option. But because of using STACK, I have to also consider the Interact e-transfer fee (to fill up the card), because STACK no longer offers Visa Debit 🙁

    • Gravatar for Enoch Omololu

      @Pylin:

      Good question. I was unable to find any reference to potential free ATMs outside of Canada when you use the Simplii debit card. From their FAQs;

      “Can I withdraw money outside Canada?
      Yes, you can withdraw money from most ATMs outside Canada displaying the Interac® or PLUS* signs. Additional costs may apply, including any fees from the owner of the other machine.
      For foreign currency withdrawals, a converted Canadian dollar amount will be posted to your account based on the conversion rate CIBC pays on the date of conversion. The currency conversion may not happen on the date of your withdrawal. Administrative fees also apply. We can’t guarantee access to your Simplii Financial accounts through ATMs outside Canada for a few reasons:

      – Some ATMs may not recognize accounts called “Other” and “Savings”
      – Some ATMs may have withdrawal limits that prevent you from withdrawing the amount you request
      – You may exceed the daily maximum on the account because of foreign exchange rates.”

      To confirm for sure, you can probably give them a call at 1-888-236-6398.

  2. Gravatar for Anita

    I’m tired of paying $11.95/month (reduced rate) at TD and have been looking into alternatives. A few questions:
    1) How can I withdraw US$ or EURO when I travel?
    2) How long & how difficult is the process of transferring over my paycheque & bill payments to a new online account? Any tips?
    3) My mortgage and LOC is with TD (currently). Do you think there would be any issues if I closed my TD chequing account?
    4) Do you think TD would waive their fees to keep my custom?
    5) and finally… I have 3 TFSA accounts with Tangerine (savings/investments) already so I doubt I would be entitled to receive a new account bonus. Is it better in this case to choose Simplii for the $200? Or maybe suggest to Tangerine to sweeten the deal to have me switch?
    I’ve been reading you for awhile after coming across a post on Pinterest. Your website is now saved in my favourites! I learned a lot about TD e-series from you after reading about index funds in several library books. It was great advice & I changed over my MFs to eSeries (but with a lot of hassle). Thanks! 🙂

    • Gravatar for Enoch Omololu

      @Anita: A few answers:

      1) Not sure. Simplii now has a foreign cash service, however, it appears you can only order within Canada.
      2) Usually not that difficult. You may need to pay an account closure fee in some cases to your current bank.
      3) There should be no problems with your mortgage. They will require you set up another means of payment for your mortgage payments.
      4) I would say give it a shot…if you also have a mortgage with them, they may be willing to budge…just a little.
      5) I would go with Tangerine so you can at least consolidate your accounts in one place…easier to manage.

      Glad you found my posts on TD e-series useful.

      Cheers!

      • Gravatar for Dana

        Apparently Simplii does not charge for Interac e-transfers but Tangerine does. Surprised this isn’t mentioned.

        • Gravatar for tushar

          Tangerine doesnt charge Etransfer fee anymore.

          • Gravatar for Enoch Omololu

            @Tushar: Thanks for bringing my attention to this!

          • Gravatar for Rob

            Tangerine does NOT charge for etransfers so I have no idea what your talking about

  3. Gravatar for itolduandso

    Needs more comparison and info on their credit cards and perks or limitations that come with it the credit cards. E.g. Tangerine comes with the car insurance on the world car. That car insurance was previously only available on Scotiabank gold card, so it’s a pretty good perk.itol

  4. Gravatar for itolduandso

    Also, Simplii doesn’t offer any USD account. Tangerine does offer Savings USD. Not a full checking account and no longer withdrawals possible since Tangerine took down their last USD ATM machine.

  5. Gravatar for Johnny

    Simplii also offers USD saving account now. Some other thoughts:
    1. Tangerine does have a better mobile app with real-time transaction notification IMO.
    2. It’s easier to setup bank-to-bank transfer in Tangerine (Simplii asks you to send a void cheque to setup)
    3. Tangerine uses VISA debit so it can be used anywhere VISA is accepted. Simplii is restriced to interac network, and many online merchants do not accept interac payment.

  6. Gravatar for Johnny

    One advantage of Simplii is it shares same SWIFT code with CIBC so you can receive international wire transfer. Tangerine does not have SWIFT so it’s not possible at all.

    For the above reasons, I think it’s better to keep both Tangerine and Simplii 😃

    • Gravatar for Enoch Omololu

      @Johnny: Thanks for your insight…didn’t know that Tangerine does not have SWIFT.

  7. Gravatar for William

    Between Tangerine Chequing vs Simplii Chequing, which one is the best option for me and why?

    International transfers to and fro between US,UK and Canada.
    Better Savings and Investment Options
    Better foreign exchange
    Better line of Credit
    Better Credit Card
    Finally which one of them would be a better option for a future mortgage.

  8. Gravatar for William

    Between Tangerine Chequing vs Simplii Chequing and Neo financial which one is the best option and why?

    International transfers to and fro between US,UK and Canada.
    Bank Drafts
    Better Savings,TFSA ,Retirement Saving and Overall Investment Options
    Better foreign exchange
    Better line of Credit
    Better Credit Cards for Cashbacks
    Finally which one of them would be a better option for a future mortgage.

    • Gravatar for Enoch Omololu, MSc (Econ)

      @William: It will depend on which of these features you consider more important, as none of them fit the bill perfectly. Simplii is great for international money transfers and has a decent stack of investment options (GICs and mutual funds). Tangerine offers more investment products, but won’t be as useful for global money transfers. Both Simplii and Tangerine offer lines of credit with competitive rates. The Tangerine credit card is more versatile. Neo offers a higher interest rate on savings that’s non-promotional…

  9. Gravatar for J Dulyk

    I have been a Simplii customer for many years. (PC days included) I can’t say enough good things about the no fee chequing account. The savings accounts used to be good, but in recent years with the rising interest rates, I’ve found other banks are offering equivalent, and sometimes even higher rates.
    I decided to join Tangerine a couple of years ago, and have found many things are very good there as well.
    Here is my list of pros and cons for both Simplii and Tangerine:
    Simplii and Tangerine both are not offering “good” promotional interest rates for their existing customers lately.
    They are both good for no fee accounts if you are comfortable with banking online for the savings you get.
    They are both difficult to acquire “specialty items” such as bank drafts, or other things that work much better with an actual box bank/teller.
    Cons with Simplii:
    Simplii does NOT offer GICs for TFSAs for some very strange reason.
    It is very difficult dealing with any Mutual Investments with Simplii, as they must ALL be done through their parent bank, CIBC. I had an extremely hard time withdrawing mutual funds from Simplii to invest in other ways. (GICs-with other banking institutions, OR even other Simplii accounts!) I spent WAY too many hours, talking to WAY too many people and it took WAY too long to resolve the issues. (months!)
    Simplii does NOT provide maturity dates, nor interest rates for your specific GICs online ANYWHERE. (you must “manually” keep track of renewal dates, and interest info, although they have “attempted” to fix this with more timely renewal notices being sent ahead of time in the past year or so…still NOT as convenient as other banks, including Tangerine and “the Big Five”)
    Electronic transfer of funds between banks (not e-transfers through one’s chequing account, as that seems to work well, and is free) appears to take longer than with other institutions.
    Cons with Tangerine:
    Only the first 50 cheques are printed free for a chequing account. (Simplii is unlimited…so far)
    Electronic transfer of funds between banks is limited to $25,000 per business day ordinarily. (You ARE able to make arrangements for a higher amount to be transferred by phoning them ahead of time however.)
    Pros with Tangerine:
    All of the products Tangerine offers are handled by Scotiabank, so there is less hassle with mutual funds. (you can talk to the same person to handle everything.)
    Everything online is MUCH more transparent than Simplii. (eg GIC maturity dates, interest earned are ALL available information)

    I appreciate the ability to bank online. I’ve had MORE than my fair share of grief, dealing face to face with tellers at the big box banks, although in fairness, there are also many capable employees at these banks.
    I have not always found “competent” agents when dealing with online banks if something cannot be resolved without speaking to a “live person” either. The wait time for the online banks can sometimes be horrendous.
    All in all, I will maintain accounts with “box banks” for things they can provide much easier than online.
    I will also continue taking advantage of the lower/nil fees offered by online banks and invest in the products they offer that are to my benefit. That’s what it’s all about!

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Earn 5.50% interest on a 1-Year GIC!
  • Start with as little as $100.
  • Open online within minutes.
For GIC terms equal to one year, simple interest is calculated on a per annum basis and paid at maturity.
  • Earn 5.50% interest on a 1-Year GIC!
  • Start with as little as $100.
  • Open online within minutes.
For GIC terms equal to one year, simple interest is calculated on a per annum basis and paid at maturity.