Simplii Financial and Tangerine are both digital banks 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: 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 | 4.1/5 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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| 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 Direct 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 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 | $0 | $0 |
| 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 2,800 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 | 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 Money Back World Mastercard | Tangerine Rewards World Elite Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $120 |
| Purchase interest rate | 21.99% | 20.95% | 20.95% | 20.95% |
| Rewards | Promo for the first 3 months: Up to 8% cash back (up to $80) when you spend up to $1,000 at restaurants, bars and coffee shops during the first 3 months Standard earn rate:
Other rewards
| Promo for the first 2 months: Bonus 10% cash back up to $100 Standard earn rate:
Other rewards:
| Promo for the first 3 months: Get $120 cash back when you spend $1,500 Standard earn rate:
Other rewards:
| Promo for the first 3 months: 50,000 bonus Scene+ points when you spend $5,000 Standard earn rate:
Other rewards
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Tangerine has three credit cards, while Simplii Financial only offers one. The Simplii Cash Back Visa and Tangerine’s two no-fee Money Back cards have similar purchase interest rates and offer cash back rewards. Tangerine also has a premium card, the Tangerine Rewards World Elite Mastercard that earns Scene+ points instead of cash back.
The Simplii Cash Back Visa offers a higher cash back rate of 4% 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 for the two no-fee credit cards is lower at 2%, but it’s unlimited, and you can choose your earning categories. If you prefer earning Scene+ points and want premium perks like complimentary airport lounge access and travel insurance, the World Elite Mastercard may be a better fit.
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, retirement savings plans and non-registered investment accounts available from both providers.
Both also offer access to diversified mutual fund portfolios, but Simplii customers can access additional self-directed investment options through CIBC Investor’s Edge, including stocks, ETFs and bonds.
In terms of savings, Simplii’s RRSP and TFSA provide a slightly higher interest rate (0.4%) than Tangerine’s offerings (0.3%).
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.
Tangerine wins in the investments category mostly because it offers a wider range of investment options than Simplii.
| Tangerine | Simplii | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal loan | Yes | Yes |
| Line of credit | Yes | Yes |
| HELOC | Yes | Yes |
| RSP loan | Yes | No |
| Mortgage | Yes | Yes, through CIBC |
Tangerine and Simplii have similar borrowing options, including personal loans, personal lines of credit and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Beyond that, their other loan products differ.
Tangerine has an RSP loan with terms of 1 to 5 years, allowing you to borrow to contribute more to an RSP. It also has fixed- and variable-rate mortgages. Simplii offers access to mortgages as well, but only through its parent bank, CIBC.
Tangerine wins thanks to its wider range of loan products.
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-to-day 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 comes out ahead on both platforms.
| Simplii Financial | Tangerine | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple App Store |
4.1 –
★★★★★ 13K reviews |
4.7 –
★★★★★ 76K reviews |
| Google Play |
3.6 –
★★★★★ 18.7K 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. Its new Business Savings Account pays 3.00% interest, while its Business Spending Account pays 1.25%. Both have no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. The accounts also include Spaces, which lets you organize money into separate savings buckets for expenses like taxes and payroll. However, as of November 2026, both accounts are still in the waitlist stage.
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.
Both Simplii and Tangerine offer USD savings accounts with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. However, Simplii pays a much higher interest rate of 2.8%, compared to Tangerine’s 0.10%.
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 international transfers, another may prefer Tangerine for 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.
Choosing between Simplii and Tangerine comes down to which banking features matter most to you. For example, Simplii comes out on top if you want a higher interest rate on a savings account, while Tangerine offers higher GIC rates and more flexible cashback on its credit cards. 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.
If Simplii Financial or Tangerine aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, here are some of the other best banks in Canada to consider:
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