Simplii Financial Review for 2024

Simplii Financial is a Canadian online bank established in 2017. The company is a subsidiary of CIBC, one of Canada’s largest banks, and offers various online banking services, including chequing and savings accounts, mortgages, and credit cards. 

The bank’s main draw is having no monthly fees nor minimum balance requirements, but it also has many other perks, such as 24/7 customer support and tempting welcome bonuses for new clients.

Simplii Financial Overview

Simplii Financial is one of Canada’s favourite online banks. A digital branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), it was formed in 2017 after CIBC ended its 20-year collaboration with the supermarket chain Loblaw Companies, which offered clients a similar service through the President’s Choice Financial brand.

Simplii Financial banking services inherited most of the brand’s services, including chequing and savings accounts, investments, loans and mortgages.  It also inherited around two million Canadian clients and the high expectations that come with such a large customer base.

Five years later, the company has won numerous excellence rewards and is one of Canada’s most popular online banks. Its offer still includes a variety of banking accounts, mortgages, investment opportunities, and even a credit card. If you’re looking to find a new bank or are considering switching from your existing one, check out our review to see if the company has what it takes.

Simplii Financial Banking Accounts

If you’re looking for a bank account with Simplii Financial in CA, there are three options: a no-fee chequing account, a high-interest savings account, and a USD savings account. Let’s start with one of the bank’s most popular offerings, its fee-free chequing account.

No-Fee Chequing Account

As the name implies, the main draw of this chequing account is its lack of fees. To be precise, it comes with no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements.

The account also allows you to make unlimited bill payments, debit purchases, and withdrawals and send money without any extra charges through Interac e-Transfer.

You can also get a Simplii credit card with this account and make fee-free use of over 3,400 CIBC ATMs across Canada.

Account owners also get access to direct payroll and pension deposits, pre-authorized automatic bill payments, and automated account-to-account transfers.  You can also add overdraft protection of up to $5,000 and earn an annual interest of up to 0.05% on your account balance.

Finally, all new clients are eligible for a $350 bonus if they deposit $100 or more for three straight months after opening their chequing account, and friend referrals will earn you $50 for each buddy that makes a no-fee chequing account through your referral link.

High-Interest Savings Account

If you’re familiar with savings accounts, you know their main appeal is getting good interest on your funds through higher-than-average annual percentage yields (APY). So, how does the  Simplii savings account fare? Not bad, actually, but we’re not sure we’d agree that it’s an exceptionally high-interest account.

New users that sign up before the end of October 2024 will get a very appealing 6.25% interest rate. Still, after that introductory offer expires, the interest rate will drop to a modest 0.40%. 

The account also offers many of the no-fee chequing account benefits, including no monthly or transaction fees and no minimum balance requirement. You can even set up automatic deposits, but you’ll miss out on POS and ATM transactions that you’d get with the chequing account.

USD Savings Account

Simplii Financial’s USD savings account is effectively a worse version of the high-interest savings account but with the added benefit of having easy international money transfers through Simplii Financial Global Money Transfer and excellent foreign exchange rates. 

This is great if you, for example, invest in US stocks from Canada or send or receive money from overseas relatives.

The account also comes with no monthly fees or balance requirements, but the interest rate is only a low 0.10%, though you can get an introductory offer for 1.65% on eligible deposits of up to $1 million until the end of September 2022.

Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Credit Card

Simplii Financial’s credit card offering includes only one card, but it’s a very good one. It comes with no annual fee but with many different rewards, including 4% cash back on eligible restaurant, bar and coffee shop purchases (up to $5,000 per year), 1.5% at groceries, drug stores, and gas stations (up to $15,000 per year), and 0.5% on all other purchases (no limit).

The card also comes with an introductory interest rate of 9.99% (19.99% after that) and 10% cash back at eligible bars and restaurants (when you spend up to $500) during the first four months.

You can also easily send money abroad through the company’s Global Money Transfer service without paying any interest or transaction fees as long as you pay off your balance by the due date.

Simplii Mortgages

Simplii Financial offers both fixed-rate and variable-rate mortgages, with the former having terms of two to five years and the latter offering only a five-year term. Simplii mortgage rates for fixed mortgages start with an APR of 4.74% for a two-year term, going up to 5.19% for a five-year term. The APR for the variable five-year term is 4.35%.

You can get up to $3,000 in cash back when you purchase a new home or switch mortgages, and $500 for each person you get to sign up for a mortgage with your unique Refer a Friend mortgage code.

Simplii Financial Loans

Simplii Financial offers personal loans and both personal and secured lines of credit. Our Simplii review won’t get into too much detail, but let’s quickly look at what each of them has to offer. You can call 1-888-723-8881 any time to get more information about the bank’s loan and line of credit offers.

Personal Loans

These come in two varieties: fixed-rate and variable-rate loans. The company claims competitive rates based on your credit score and the CIBC prime rate. It reviews your loan repayments each month, but you can also set up weekly or bi-weekly repayments. The best part is that there are no prepayment penalties, so you’re incentivized to pay off your loan as soon as possible.

Lines of Credit

As we’ve already mentioned, you can get a personal or secured Simplii line of credit. Both offer unlimited free bill payments, withdrawals, cheques, and Interac Debit transactions. Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll get flexible monthly repayment options and the ability to refer a friend to get a $50 bonus from the bank.

The secured line of credit comes with additional perks such as lower interest rates and no application or annual account fees. Secured line of credit customers can get rates based on the CBIC prime rate, while those with a mortgage account can expect them to be even lower.

Simplii Investment Accounts

While its no-fee chequing account and an excellent credit card are what popularized Siimpli Financial in Canada, the company also offers worthwhile investment opportunities through a variety of registered, non-registered and tax-free accounts.

These include the popular TFSA (tax-free savings account), which comes with no monthly fees, fixed terms or minimum deposits, and an RRSP (registered retirement savings plan) account with a 0.10% interest rate.

You can also get Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC) with terms of up to five years and an APY between 3.50% and 4.50%, or mutual fund accounts with one of seven different investment portfolios tailored to match your risk tolerance and investment goals.

Simplii Customer Service

If you have any questions, you can contact the people at the company through email, live chat, a 24/7 toll-free phone, or social media. 

Live chat agents are available from Monday to Friday between 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. or during the weekend or holiday season from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.