There are many options for banking in Canada but one of my favorites is Simplii Financial. It was formerly called PC Financial, but in 2017 it became known as Simplii Financial and is one of the best online banks in Canada (not available in Quebec). They offer their customers no fee banking accounts, competitive interest rates, mobile banking and an excellent, no annual fee cash back credit card.
So, look no further if you want a comprehensive review of the many features and highlights of Simplii Financial.
Plus, I’ll show you how to earn FREE money by signing up for one of their chequing accounts and/or savings account.
- No Fee Chequing Account
- High Interest Savings Accounts
- How to open a Simplii Financial account (and earn a $50 sign up bonus!)
- $350 bonus when you apply for a No Fee Chequing Account
- Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card
- $50 bonus when you apply for the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa
- 10% cash back bonus on restaurants, bars & take-out
- Other accounts
- Global Money Transfer & Foreign Cash services
- Free Interac e-transfers
- Simplii mobile app
- Pros & Cons of Simplii Financial
- Conclusion
No Fee Chequing Account
What’s fantastic about Simplii’s basic no fee chequing account is that there is no monthly fee!!! This is a welcome relief compared to the big 5 Canadian banks who charge between $4 and $31 in monthly fees for a chequing account!
Highlights of their no fee chequing account include:
- No fees on everyday banking. Unlimited debit purchases, bill payments and transfers between accounts all for no monthly fee.
- FREE to use over 3,400 CIBC ATMs. Deposits and withdrawals at any CIBC ATM are FREE (fee of $1.50 to use other Canadian ATMs).
- Interac e-transfers are FREE. Send money directly to friends and family by email and pay no fee!!
- Interest rate of 0.05%. Simplii offers an interest rate of 0.05% for their chequing account no matter your balance.
- FREE cheques. With Simplii, you can order cheques for free.
- Mobile cheque deposit. Use the Simplii Financial smartphone app to deposit Canadian cheques just by taking a picture of it.
- Connect to mobile wallets. Easily connect your Simplii debit card with Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay to pay with your smartphone while on the go.
Also, Simplii offers overdraft protection, pre-authorized bill payments and email alerts. Plus, your deposits with Simplii are insured up to $100,000 with the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).
High Interest Savings Accounts
Simplii Financial offers multiple different types of savings accounts. Their normal savings account and tax-free savings account (TFSA) are pretty much similar. The main difference is that the TFSA is a registered account and you pay no tax on the interest you earn up to your contribution limit.
Some features of their savings account include:
- No fees or minimum balance required. With Simplii, there’s no monthly fee and you earn interest no matter your balance!
- Competitive interest rate of 0.40%*. With Simplii, you can save more money as their interest rate is higher than most of the big banks. *Rate subject to change
BONUS interest rate of 2.20% until April 30, 2022. When you open a new savings account with Simplii, you’ll earn a bonus interest rate of 2.2% until April 30, 2022.- Easily transfer between your chequing and savings accounts. It’s fast and easy to transfer between your different Simplii accounts. Plus, you can set up automatic transfers on a specific date or on a weekly, monthly or other recurring schedule.
How to open a Simplii Financial account (and earn a $50 sign up bonus!)
It’s quite simple and fast to open a Simplii Financial account online and if you use my referral link, we’ll both earn $50!! Sadly, Simplii is not available for residents of Quebec.
To start, you’ll need the following info:
- Personal information including address, phone number & email address
- Social insurance number (SIN)
- Employment information
- Smartphone to download the Simplii app (optional)
- Cheque from your current bank account (optional)
Click on my referral link and you should see the special “Refer a Friend” page. Click on Apply now to start the process.
- Choose which account(s) you want to open (Chequing, Savings, Credit Card or Line of Credit).
- Confirm you’re a resident of Canada and the intended use for the account.
- Next, enter your personal information (name, SIN, address, phone, email, etc).
- Afterwards, you should receive an email from Simplii with details about how to verify your identity.
Confirm your identity
Next, Simplii has to confirm your identity via 2 options:
A) Write yourself a cheque from your current bank account. You can also use a joint cheque to verify yourself as long as your name appears on the cheque and you sign it.
Confirming your identity by cheque is great because you already start to fund your account and you also link your current bank account with your new Simplii account. Also, consider funding your account with $100 to earn the bonus $50 if you used my referral link.
B) Present yourself in person at a Canada Post outlet with valid ID and reference number.
Lastly, it takes about 5-7 business days to verify your identity and receive your Simplii debit card in the mail.
You’re now ready to start saving money using your new Simplii account!
$50 bonus conditions
The conditions to earning the $50 bonus referral are as follows:
- Enroll using my referral link.
- Successfully open your first Simplii Financial no fee chequing account or high interest savings account.
- Make an initial deposit of at least $100 within 6 months of becoming a client.
- Maintain a minimum account balance of $100 or more in the account for at least 30 days. Note: the minimum balance doesn’t need to be kept for 30 straight days.
- Alternatively, use or spend $100 on your Simplii Cash Back Visa Card or Personal Line of Credit within six months after opening the account
- Payment of the $50 bonus will be made within 15 business days of completing all necessary conditions of the offer.
$350 bonus when you apply for a No Fee Chequing Account
Currently, Simplii has a great offer if you open a new No Fee Chequing Account. To be eligible for this $350 bonus, you must meet the following conditions:
- Open a new Simplii No Fee Chequing Account before October 31, 2022.
- Setup a direct deposit of at least $100 per month within 120 days of opening the new account.
- Eligible direct deposits examples include payroll, pension direct deposits, old age security, disability payments, and governmental deposits, such as employment insurance
- Maintain this recurring direct deposit for at least 3 consecutive months.
- Payment of the $350 bonus will be made in 6th month following when the account was opened (E.g. Open in February 2022 with payment in July 2022) and all offer conditions were met.
Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card
The Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa card is one of the best no annual fee cash back credit cards in Canada. It’s highly regarded by many for the following reasons:
- No annual fee. You don’t pay anything to hold this credit card and is an excellent choice for first-time credit card holders.
- 4% cash back on restaurants, bars and coffee shops. You can earn 4% cash back on purchases at eligible restaurants, bars, coffee shops & take-out up to a maximum of $5,000 per year. This means you could earn up to $200 cash back per year!
- 1.5% cash back on groceries, gas and pharmacy. You can earn 1.5% cash back on purchases at eligible groceries, gas stations and pharmacies up to a maximum of $15,000 per year. This means you could earn up to $225 cash back per year!
- 0.5% cash back for everything else. For all other purchases, you’ll earn 0.5% cash back. This includes the other categories once you go over the maximum amount per year.
With the Simplii Cash Back Visa, your cash back accumulates yearly and is posted as credit on your December statement.
Some other useful features with this card include:
- Send money abroad. You can earn cash back with your card when you send a Simplii Global Money Transfer to family or friends around the world. Plus, there are no transaction fees for this service.
- Connect to mobile wallets. Connect your Simplii credit card with Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay to pay with your smartphone while on the go.
- Free additional authorized users
- Purchase assurance (covers loss, theft or damage in the first 90 days)
- Extended warranty (doubled up to 1 year)
$50 bonus when you apply for the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa
Plus, apply for the Simplii Cash back Visa card via my referral link, and you can earn $50 after spending $100 in the first 6 months of opening your card.
To apply for this card, you first need to be a current Simplii client (with a chequing or savings account). Also, you’ll need a minimum annual income of $15,000 to apply.
**Important notice** applying for this credit card will result in hard inquiry by Simplii Financial on your credit report.
10% cash back bonus on restaurants, bars & take-out
Also, if you apply for the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa card, you can earn 10% bonus cash back on eligible restaurant, bar, coffee shop & take-out purchases for the first 4 months.
The way it works it that you’re earning a bonus 6% cash back in addition to the regular 4% cash back up to $500 spend. Thus, if you max out the welcome promotion, you would earn $30 cash back at 6% plus $20 cash back at the regular 4% earn rate.
Also, learn how to earn additional cash back with food delivery apps when you link your Simplii credit card to cash back apps like Ampli.
Other accounts
Simplii also offers many other types of accounts including:
- RRSP Savings account
- Various types of Guaranteed Investment Certificates – GICs
- Line of credit and mortgage
- Investment funds
You can easily link these other accounts with your existing Simplii chequing or savings account.
Global Money Transfer & Foreign Cash services
With Simplii you can send money abroad to family & friends with their Global Money Transfer service. There are no transfer fees to easily send money to over 60 countries within 1-3 business days.
To start, you’ll need your recipient’s name & address and their bank account information (name, address, number & bank code). Note that you can only send up to $30,000 every 24 hours.
Plus, you can earn a $50 bonus on your first Global Money Transfer when you enter the code GMT50! See terms & conditions on the Simplii website.
Also, Simplii makes it easy to order foreign cash for your next international trip. Simplii’s foreign cash service allows you to buy cash in 65 different currencies up to $2,500 CAD a day.
Plus, they will deliver it within 1-3 business days straight to your home or you can pick it up at a Canada Post office location. Note that you can only order foreign cash from a Simplii chequing account or line of credit.
Also, use my referral link and you can earn a $25 bonus on your first foreign cash order! To be eligible for the bonus, it must be your first order and you’ll need to buy more than $100 CAD in another foreign currency. Please allow up to 15 business days to receive the bonus.
Free Interac e-transfers
Simplii also offers FREE Interac e-Transfers® to transfer or receive money by email with Canadian recipients.
To start, you’ll need to add your recipient’s name and email address. Choose how much to send them and also create a security question for them to answer (optional). If the recipient has registered for auto-deposit, you won’t have to create a security question as the money will be automatically deposited into their bank account.
Next, your recipient opens the email, logs into their bank account, answers the security question (if applicable) and voila, the money is deposited!
This option is quick (usually takes less than an hour) and there are no fees for each transfer you send. Note that to send an Interac e-Transfer, there’s a daily limit of $3,000, a weekly limit of $10,000 and a monthly limit of $20,000.
Simplii mobile app
Simplii offers a mobile app for iOS and Android. It’s straightforward to use, has a clear interface and allows you to do almost all your transactions from your phone. For example, you can check your account balance, transfer money between accounts, pay bills and send Interac e-Transfers® to contacts.
Deposit cheques with the mobile app
One of the great features of the Simplii Financial app (which you can’t do online) is the ability to quickly and easily deposit a cheque. Simply snap a picture of the front and back of the cheque, enter a few details and the money is deposited straight away into your account.
Keep in mind that this only applies to cheques in Canadian funds and cheques that are post-dated or missing the signature won’t be accepted. I haven’t personally used this feature so I can’t attest to its reliability.
Pros & Cons of Simplii Financial
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Conclusion
When it comes to online banks in Canada, Simplii Financial is certainly one of the best options (Tangerine Bank is another one). They offer no monthly fees for their accounts, free withdrawals at CIBC ATMs, competitive interest rates for savings accounts and allows you to deposit cheques via their smartphone app.
Plus, they have a highly rated, no annual fee cash back credit card that lets you earn between 0.5%-4% cash back depending on the category.
Plus apply for a new Simplii No Fee Chequing Account via my referral link and you could earn a $350 bonus!!! But hurry, offer is only valid until October 31, 2022.
I’ve personally used Simplii bank for over 17 years now and I’m quite happy with them. I’m able to save on monthly fees, withdraw cash from CIBC ATMs and grow my savings in their high interest savings account. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to others who do all their banking online and don’t need to visit a bank branch for their day to day transactions.
Do you use Simplii Financial? Let me know in the comments below.
Interested in a new Simplii chequing or savings account? Open a Simplii account online with my referral link, to earn a bonus $50.*
*Terms and conditions apply
Affiliate disclaimer: This review is based on my own personal experience with Simplii and is not sponsored by them. My blog contains referral or affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continued support.
Simplii is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, please visit the Simplii Financial website.