Simplii Financial and Tangerine are both digital banks. They’re also both owned by Big Five banks—Simplii by CIBC and Tangerine by Scotiabank. The similarities don’t end there, with the two banks offering many of the same financial products and services to Canadians.
So, which bank is better—Simplii or Tangerine? Keep reading to compare Simplii vs. Tangerine head-to-head and decide which one is right for you.
| Simplii Financial | Tangerine | |
|---|---|---|
| Owned by | CIBC | Scotiabank |
| Chequing account monthly fee | $0 | $0 |
| Savings interest rate | Promo rate: 4.5% for the first 5 months Ongoing rate:
| Promo rate: 4.5% for the first 5 months Ongoing rate: 0.3% |
| Apple App Store rating | 4.2/5 based on 13K reviews | 4.7/5 based on 76K reviews |
| Google Play rating | 4.3/5 based on 48.8K reviews | |
| CDIC insured? | Yes | Yes |
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| Notable differences |
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| Get started | Simplii No Fee Chequing Account: | Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing Account: |
Tangerine and Simplii Financial are two of Canada’s most popular digital banks. Tangerine is the older of the two, having been founded in 1997 as ING Bank of Canada. It was acquired by Scotiabank in 2012 and soon adopted its current name. Simplii Financial was founded in 2017 and is a division of CIBC.
These online-only providers don’t have any physical branches, but both offer user-friendly online and mobile banking platforms to make it easy to manage your money. Thanks to their Big Five parent banks, both provide fee-free access to large nationwide ATM networks.
Simplii and Tangerine also offer quite a similar range of products and services. Both have no-fee chequing accounts, savings accounts with high promo interest rates, at least one cash back credit card, GICs, mortgages and registered accounts.
But there are a few key differences to consider when deciding between Simplii or Tangerine, so let’s break down how they compare across a host of key categories.
| Simplii Financial No Fee Chequing Account | Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing Account | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly transactions | unlimited | unlimited |
| Monthly fee | $0 | $0 |
| Minimum balance | $0 | $0 |
| Interac e-Transfers | Free | Free |
| Overdraft protection | $4.97 per month when used. Interest rate of 19% on overdraft balances. Up to $5,000 protection available. | $5 per use. Interest rate of 19% on overdraft balances. Up to $5,000 protection available. |
| ATM access | Over 3,400 CIBC ATMs | Over 3,500 Scotiabank ABMs |
| Mobile cheque deposit | Yes | Yes |
| Get started | Simplii No Fee Chequing Account: | Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing Account: |
The Simplii Financial No Fee Chequing Account and the Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing Account are almost impossible to split. Both support unlimited monthly transactions and have no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement. Both also offer overdraft protection, user-friendly mobile banking apps and handy features like mobile cheque deposits.
Ultimately, choosing between these accounts might come down to something as simple as which provider has more ATMs near you or which mobile banking app you find easier to use.
Who’s the winner?It’s a tie. Both Simplii and Tangerine offer equally good chequing account options.
| Simplii Financial High Interest Savings Account | Tangerine Savings Account | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard interest rate |
| 0.3% |
| Promo rate | 4.5% for the first 5 months | 4.5% for the first 5 months |
| Monthly fee | $0 | $0 |
| Get started | Simplii High Interest Savings Account: | Tangerine Savings Account: |
It’s once again quite difficult to split Simplii vs. Tangerine, this time in terms of savings accounts. But the Simplii High Interest Savings Account offers a slightly higher ongoing interest rate compared to the standard Tangerine savings rate.
And with a tiered rate structure that allows you to earn higher rates on larger balances, Simplii takes a narrow win here.
Simplii Financial. Although it and Tangerine offer competitive promo rates, Simplii’s tiered interest rate structure wins out in the end.
| Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa | Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card | Tangerine World Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Purchase interest rate | 21.99% | 20.95% | 20.95% |
| Rewards | Promo for the first 3 months: 20% cash back on eligible restaurants, food delivery and bar purchases (up to $500 spend) Standard earn rate:
| Promo for the first 2 months: Bonus 10% cash back up to $100 Standard earn rate:
| Promo for the first 2 months: Bonus $120, up to $100 Standard earn rate:
Other rewards:
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Tangerine has two credit cards, while Simplii Financial only offers one. The cards have virtually identical purchase interest rates and no annual fees, and all offer cash back rewards.
The Simplii Cash Back Visa offers a higher cash back rate of 20% on restaurant, bar and coffee shop purchases, so it’s well worth a look if you like to dine out regularly. But cash back limits do apply.
Over at Tangerine, the maximum cash back rate on your selected spending categories is lower at 2%, but it’s unlimited. And with the freedom to choose between a Money-Back Credit Card and the Tangerine World Mastercard, Tangerine narrowly comes out on top.
Tangerine—but there’s plenty to like about the Simplii Cash Back Visa.
Tangerine and Simplii offer similar investment options for Canadians, with GICs, mutual funds, tax-free savings accounts and retirement savings plans available from both providers.
But Tangerine also offers a Retirement Income Fund to help you manage your money in retirement and a Non-Registered Investment Fund Account that provides access to passively managed portfolios of stocks, bonds and ETFs.
In terms of savings, Simplii’s RRSP and TFSA provide a slightly higher interest rate (0.4%) than Tangerine’s offerings (0.3%). But if you want to hold a registered GIC in your retirement savings plan, Tangerine offers a higher 1-year rate than Simplii.
If you want to invest some money in a GIC, Tangerine offers more choices than Simplii. While both providers offer 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year terms, Tangerine also offers 90-day, 180-day, 270-day and 1.5-year options. Tangerine offers US dollar GICs too, and we found its rates to be slightly higher than those offered by Simplii, at the time of writing.
With a wider range of investment products to choose from and higher GIC rates, Tangerine comes out on top.
Tangerine wins in the investments category mostly because it offers a wider range of investment options than Simplii.
| Tangerine | Simplii | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal loan | No | Yes |
| Line of credit | Yes | Yes |
| HELOC | Yes | Yes |
| RSP loan | Yes | No |
Tangerine and Simplii both offer unsecured lines of credit, but neither displays interest rates online. Both providers also let you borrow against the equity in your home with a HELOC, but only Tangerine lists its interest rate online.
Beyond that, Tangerine’s and Simplii’s loan offerings differ.
Tangerine offers an RSP loan with terms of 1-5 years, allowing you to borrow to contribute more to an RSP. Simplii provides a personal loan with a choice of a fixed or variable rate plus the freedom to pay back your loan early without penalty. It’s this inclusion of a personal loan among its borrowing options that narrowly makes Simplii the winner.
Simplii because it offers personal loans and Tangerine doesn’t.
Simplii and Tangerine both offer free mobile banking apps for Android and iOS devices. Both apps are user-friendly and allow you to perform day-today banking tasks like:
In terms of user ratings, both apps have picked up thousands of positive scores from users across Android and iOS devices. However, Tangerine’s higher average rating on the Apple App Store sees it take the win in this category.
| Simplii Financial | Tangerine | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple App Store |
4.2 –
★★★★★ 13K reviews |
4.7 –
★★★★★ 76K reviews |
| Google Play |
3.9 –
★★★★★ 18.3K reviews |
4.3 –
★★★★★ 48.8K reviews |
Tangerine’s mobile app has a higher user rating based on many more downloads.
There are a few other features worth taking into consideration when comparing Simplii vs. Tangerine.
One of the perks of opening an account with Simplii is its Global Money Transfer service. This lets you send up to $75,000 to over 130 countries around the world, and your recipient will get the funds in 1-3 business days. There are no transfer fees, but an exchange rate markup applies.
While Simplii offers personal banking services only, Tangerine offers a small selection of business banking products. The main attraction is a Business Savings Account that has no monthly fee and pays 1.95%–2.55% interest, depending on your balance. Additionally, there’s a Business US Dollar Savings Account that pays 0.9% interest.
Tangerine’s business products don’t end there. It also offers business GICs for terms ranging from 90 days to 5 years. If your business regularly deals in US dollars, you might also want to invest in a Tangerine US Dollar Business GIC.
If you head to Reddit for other people’s views on the Tangerine vs. Simplii debate, your decision is unlikely to be any clearer. While there are scattered complaints and negative reviews about both of these digital banks, feedback from most users is generally positive.
On the r/PersonalFinanceCanada subreddit, multiple users comment that they’ve used either Tangerine or Simplii for years without any problems.
Often, the choice between the two banks seems to come down to personal preference. For example, while one user may prefer Simplii to Tangerine because it supports free chequebooks and wire transfers, another may prefer Tangerine because they prefer its user interface.
Promos like welcome bonuses and introductory savings account rates are also commonly mentioned as a key factor, so it’s worth comparing the latest offers from Simplii and Tangerine before deciding where to open an account.
There’s no easy answer to the question of “Which bank is better, Simplii or Tangerine?” The right digital bank for you will depend on what you’re looking for. For example, Simplii comes out on top if you want a higher interest rate from a savings account or if you’re looking for a personal loan, while Tangerine offers lower mortgage rates and higher GIC rates. Based on our analysis comparing Simplii vs. Tangerine:
For day-to-day banking, the winner is Simplii Financial.
For long-term financial products, the winner is Tangerine.
Once you know exactly what you want from a digital bank, compare the latest offers from Simplii vs. Tangerine side-by-side before making your decision.
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