Wealthsimple Cash offers Canadians access to a free peer-to-peer payment platform that makes sending money to friends and family easier than ever.
It also has other interesting features like no FX fees on foreign purchases, cash back on all purchases, Apple/Google Pay compatibility, and more.
This Wealthsimple Cash review covers what you need to know.
How Does Wealthsimple Cash Work?
Wealthsimple Cash is a P2P payment platform you can use to send money to anyone on your contact list within seconds.
With the Wealthsimple Cash app, all you need to do is simply connect your contacts, and you can send them money instantly. Your contacts can send you money, too.
Other accounts offered by Wealthsimple include Wealthsimple Invest, Wealthsimple Trade, and Wealthsimple Save (formerly Wealthsimple Smart Savings).
Benefits of Wealthsimple Cash
A Wealthsimple Cash account is not your typical money transfer app. It will also offer features and perks that are non-standard for a savings or spending account.
The benefits of the account currently include:
1. No monthly account fees: Save on account maintenance fees, which can run up to a couple of hundred dollars when you match it up against a comparable chequing account at a traditional bank. Wealthsimple Cash has no minimum deposit amount.
2. Easy P2P Payments: Sending money to friends on your contacts list has never been easier. You can sync your contacts to see who is already using Cash and check your history to see payments you have made or received.
3. A top-of-the-line cash card. It works like a prepaid or debit card and earns 1% cash back on all purchases. Read my Cash Card review.
4. Save on FX transaction fees: Apart from the currency conversion fee charged by Visa, Wealthsimple does not charge extra fees.
5. Apple Pay and Google Pay, so you can make payments on the go using the Cash Card.
6. ATM withdrawals: You can use your Cash Card to make withdrawals at ATMs. While Wealthsimple doesn’t charge a fee for this transaction, a standard ATM withdrawal fee may be charged by the ATM owner.
7. Direct deposit: You can set up your account to directly deposit your paycheque.
8. E-Transfers: You will be able to make free bill payments and e-Transfers.
9. Earn interest: You earn up to 4% interest on your balance.
Benefits of the account that include features planned for the future as per Wealthsimple include:
10. ATM reimbursements: Wealthsimple will reimburse any ATM charges you pay up to a limit.
Wealthsimple Cash Card
Prepaid Mastercard
1% cash back on purchases
Free money transfer app
Access to virtual and physical card
How To Open a Wealthsimple Cash Account
The great thing about a Wealthsimple account is that you can manage various accounts using the same login and account details.
The accounts are also available via dedicated apps that make it easy to perform transactions using your smartphone (Android and iPhone).
To open a Wealthsimple Cash account, sign up here. The online account opening process takes only a few minutes.
Is Wealthsimple Cash Safe?
Wealthsimple Cash account deposits are held at banks that are members of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).
What this means is that CDIC protects your funds up to a limit should the banks become insolvent.
Wealthsimple Cash vs. Wealthsimple Save
Wealthsimple Smart Savings was Wealthsimple’s first savings product. It was later rebranded as Wealthsimple Save.
Some of the differences between Wealthsimple Cash and Wealthsimple Save are:
Interest Rate: Deposits in the Save account earn a 1.50% interest rate. This interest is calculated daily and paid monthly. Funds in your Cash account earn a higher rate.
Free Transfers and Withdrawals: While both accounts offer free transfers to and withdrawals from your linked bank accounts, peer-to-peer payments are only available through the Wealthsimple Cash app.
Wealthsimple Cash vs KOHO Prepaid Card
The KOHO Mastercard prepaid card is another free prepaid card you can use to earn cash back. It also comes with a free budgeting app that supports unlimited free Interac e-Transfers.
KOHO Prepaid Mastercard
Rewards: Earn 1% cash back on groceries and transportation, up to 5% unlimited cash back at partner stores in Canada. Get 5% interest on your entire balance. Users also get access to a free budgeting app, 0% APR cash advances and free credit score checks.
Welcome offer: $20 sign up bonus after first purchase (use CASHBACK promo code during sign-up)
Interest rate fee: N/A
Annual fee: $0*
Best Savings Account Rates in Canada
If you are looking for a competitive savings rate in today’s low-rate environment, you can use Wealthsimple Save or Cash.
You can also look at online banks like EQ Bank. It has no monthly account fees and offers RSP, TFSA, and joint savings accounts.
EQ Bank Personal Account
Up to 4.00%* interest rate
Unlimited debits and bill payments
Unlimited Interac e-Transfers
No monthly account fees
Learn more about the best savings rates in Canada.
Wealthsimple Cash App FAQs
Wealthsimple Cash is offered by Canada’s most popular online wealth manager. Millions of Canadians use Wealthsimple products, including its robo-advisor service, tax filing software, and stock trading app.
Your cash deposits are held at CDIC-insured banks, which means you are covered up to $100,000 should the banks declare bankruptcy.
When you open a new Cash account using the referral link or code above, you may get a cash bonus.
The best Wealthsimple Cash app promo code for getting a sign-up bonus is E0U3RG. When you open a Trade account and deposit $150, you receive a $25 bonus.
No. Your deposits are kept at a partner bank, and you can pay friends directly from the account. However, you can’t write a cheque, and ATM withdrawals are not yet available.
The maximum daily spending limit for the Wealthsimple Cash Card is $5,000, and $1,000 for ATM withdrawals.
Wealthsimple Cash Review
Overall
Summary
Wealthsimple Cash is a free peer-to-peer payment platform for sending money in Canada and earning one of the best high-interest savings rates. This Wealthsimple Cash review covers how it works and pending features including free bill payments, no FX fees, and how to earn cash back.
Pros
- Free p2p money transfers
- No monthly fees
- Access to a prepaid Mastercard
- Access to a savings account
Cons
- Does not replace your chequing account
- Does not support Interac e-Transfers
Hi Enoch
Great job you are doing on your blog benefiting us with so much information. My question is related to the quote from your piece below-
“Note that your funds in Wealthsimple Cash are deposited with Canada’s largest banks. This account created for you at one of the Big-Six banks is not covered by CDIC.”
How does our funds being covered by CIPF differ from CIDC as it relates to risk tolerance.
Thanks
@Iyke:
Good question. Based on the information provided by Wealthsimple, this is how I believe it works:
If Wealthsimple should go bankrupt, your assets are protected up to $1 million through CIPF. If the bank that they keep your savings with should become insolvent, you may not be protected because the account created at the bank on your behalf is not covered by CDIC. This is probably the case due to the third-party arrangement in play here.
That being said, Wealthsimple has clearly stated that funds are kept with Schedule I banks i.e. the largest banks in Canada (e.g. RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO). The risk of these banks going under is very very small.
Hi Enoch,
I’ve been a reader of your blog for just over a year. I also read many other financial blogs for Canadians, and I must say, it seems like every time I read your articles they are always a little more detailed but still summarized well. You are a great Blogger and I aspire to start my own blog one day because of you. Keep up the good work!
@Chris: I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks!
Hi, When will their visa be available?
Hi,
Wealthsimple Cash sounds so fantastic. There seems to be a few aspects that keep saying “coming soon” like access to ATM’s and the No Foreign Transaction Fee. Is there a time line? I would like to open an account but I need to be able to get some cash every now and then.
@Karrie: It appears that the economic challenges caused by the pandemic have delayed the rollout of the new features.
I’m brand new to your blog and newish to wealthsimple, where certain answers I can’t find. Will my “cash account” function as a go between for my invest and trade accounts or must transfers go through an external bank. Hope that makes sense, Keith
@Keith: Good question. I logged into my account to check and you can only fund your Invest and Trade accounts through an external bank account. You can transfer directly from Wealthsimple Cash.
Hello, I really appreciate this indepth review of wealth simple. It was informative and straight to the point. What I would like to know is if this account is open to international students. I am currently waiting in my country of origin to start my semester in the fall at NAIT so I am currently shopping around for banking institutions with the best interest rate over the long term to help pay back my loan in my home country. Is this account available for someone like me and if not what would you recommend in terms of a savings account with a high interest over the long term.
Thanks again😊
@Summer: I believe you will need to have landed in Canada with your stamped student visa before you can open a Wealthsimple Cash account. A few other options with some of the best savings rates in Canada are EQ Bank and Motive. That said, I think the same residency/visa rules apply to them as well. Some banks allow you to an account prior to landing (e.g. HSBC), however, the application process can be cumbersome and the savings rates are much lower as of this writing. Hope this answers your question?
Is this a « forward-looking » review ? Because following your review, I created a Wealthsimple Cash account. The only thing it can do is send/receive funds to/from others that also have an account and there are precious few of them. Did you actually review the (seemingly inexistant) features you describe ?
I signed up a while ago under the expectation set by them that they would have a “debit” card and I could use the account much like any other chequing/savings account. To date, none of that exists and they have slowed down their marketing on these features. I have moved most of my money back out – which takes a couple of days – and will likely close the account shortly. It’s really only for holding funds for their investment side.
Can a wealthsimple account be denominated in USD?
@Saverio: Not at this time.
Hi, thanks for this article, nevertheless, I’ve been customer with Wealthsimple cash for a month now, and the ONLY thing I can do with the account is peer-to-peer transfert, and that’s it ! (Actually I can’t really do it since the recipient as to be Wealthsimple customer too)
Everything else : card, e-transfert, pay a bill, apple-pay is NOT THERE AT ALL !!!
Sadly as much as Wealthsimple seems to have a nice project, in the end it looks like a pyramid scheme : they want us to refer friends to build the peer-to-peer community, the saving rate being the carrot.
Enoch,
I am wondering if you know how the new WS cash app settles transfers so quickly with P2P transactions? When I send $5 it takes less than 5 seconds to show up in my friends “wallet”.
Is it misleading us by just showing the amount in the app? Or are they using a blockchain companies asset to settle/transfer so quickly? Hard question I know lol sorry.
@Chris: I’m not sure how they process the transfer, other than that it pretty much occurs instantly!
Pretty much none of these features are available, been waiting for this for almost 2 years and … nothing.