Wealthsimple

Disclaimer

My needs within the context of Wealthsimple's service offerings are pretty basic these days, so this is meant to be a log of my experience with what I have used as opposed to a full-on deep dive review of every feature and service offering. I feel that most people will probably have needs similar to mine so I hope this helps.

The Features and Services I Use On Wealthsimple (In no particular order)

• Stock trading

  • Automated Themed Portfolio

  • Self-Directed Investing

• Crypto trading

• Banking

  • Direct Deposit

  • Cheque Deposit

  • Bill Payments (Pre-authorized and manual)

• E-Transfers

I hope to switch my mortgage to Pine via Wealthsimple in the future as well.

Quick Summary of Good Features

Their apps are polished and easy to use. I use both the web version and mobile app (Android) on a regular basis and have had very few issues with either. Their security is quite good. Along with longer password allowances (it really bothers me when some websites enforce low length limits), they support the standard multifactor authentication options (SMS, OTP) as well as passkeys. The mobile app also supports biometric login if your device is equipped for it.

History

It was 2019 and I was just getting into stock trading. I spent quite a while looking for a Canadian stock broker that wasn't a big bank. I dislike big banks. I've had many negative experiences with them and I just don't like how they operate. All of the fees, dumb policies and ridiculous restrictions, not to mention the crummy hours just don't sit well with me. Enter Wealthsimple. All Canadian. All digital. Offering stock and ETF trading for as little as zero fees. Signup and account creation was super easy. Funding the account was a little more involved, but not hard. Mostly just required a little patience, but no more than you'd need to stand in line at a bank. Figured I'd give it a go. Haven't looked back since.

Humble Beginnings

When I started on with them, they weren't really much more than an online trading platform/stock broker. I think they had a few other service offerings, but stock trading was their main one. They were one of the first, if not the first company in Canada to offer commision-free trading. Which for me, a new trader with not a lot of money, was very attractive in a stock broker.

Another thing that drew me in about them was their themed automated portfolios. These are automated accounts that you put money into and they monitor a set of stocks in various companies based on the theme you pick. They will buy and sell shares automatically based upon your configured risk level. I was specifically drawn to the Socially Responsible theme because it focused on companies that had a high social responsibility rating. The whole concept was pretty cool and I liked that they cared enough to add something that appealed to people like me who care about people and the environment. There is a Halal-themed one for those who value Islamic investing principles, and one or two other ones that I'm aware of.

The Journey

Over the years I've watched them grow and add more service offerings. From crypto trading to partnerships and acquisitions that allow them to offer tax filing, mortgages, and new types of accounts. All the way to sort of hybrid debit/credit card, and more bank-style features. I signed up for the Wealthsimple card as soon as it was available. I still have my original card. I love the look of it. It's sleek and minimalistic. I've only used it as a debit/credit card a handful of times, but I use the account it's tied to pay most of my bills every month.

As I said, I am not a fan of big banks. I was disappointed when I first signed up for Wealthsimple because they weren't a bank. They lacked a lot of standard bank features, but I stuck with them because I enjoyed the services they did have and I believed they would only expand their repertoire. I have enjoyed watching them add more features and services that I would say are the kind that basically make a business a bank. Suffice it to say that I am quite happy now. They have chequing and savings accounts; e-transfers; mobile cheque deposit; instant transfer between Wealthsimple accounts; decent interest rates; the household; bill payments; and more. Not to mention many of these features and services are offered for zero fees, or at the very least, quite a bit less than an equivalent at a big bank would charge.

They've also started doing things like regular giveaways. As of the time of writing, they've done draws for two very nice homes valued at $1 million CAD or more. This summer they started doing weekly draws for cash prizes. They have a decent referral program too.

Their bank-style accounts aren't the only things that have greatly improved in the 7 years I've been with them. They've massively improved their trading platform too. Tons of new features from additional information on each stock to a brand new advanced trading console that can be compared to TradingView's. New portfolio offerings. Trading actual gold. New perks for paid tiers, portfolio line of credit, and more. I'll be honest, I don't trade stocks or crypto nearly as much as I used to so I can't really speak to these, but they look pretty slick on paper.

A couple of years ago Wealthsimple started doing occasional live streams. They'd do something akin to a Ted talk to discuss new and upcoming features. I guess it's actually more like a Nintendo direct because they have released features immediately following the stream on a couple of occasions. These are pretty well done and I have tuned into a few of them and enjoyed the content. Heck, I'd go so far as to say I was excited after watching on more than one occasion.

They do have a weekly newsletter that comes out every Monday: TL;DR. They talk about all things finance. Current market trends. Global financial issues. I do skim it every week and the content is usally decent. I like the tone and the layout. The content isn't always something that interests me, but I do usually find some of it quite good.

I didn't learn this until recently, but around the time I signed up, Wealthsimple aquired another company I had only recently discovered at that time: Simpletax. I enjoyed using Simpletax to file my taxes, so when I heard Wealthsimple had acquired them, I was ecstatic. I want to say the Simpletax website was still around for a few years while they worked on integrating it into their platform, but it's been part of the Wealthsimple platform for a number of years now and I'll never file anywhere else, unless someone completely automates the whole process. I don't have anything complicated to file, but it's never a big issue. Most of it's automatic nowadays. I just go through it and make sure nothing was missed, then hit submit. Never takes more than a couple of hours. I'm definitely going to age myself by saying that I remember filling out the paper booklets many years ago, but that was always something that filled me with dread. I'd always be scared that I missed something or put it in the wrong spot. Once electronic filing became a thing, I started with UFile and that reduced the dread around tax time quite a bit. Several tax years later I found Simpletax and decided to try them because I liked their "Pay what you want" service. It worked pretty much the same as UFile I stuck with it. I will say that when I switched from UFile to Simpletax, I went from spending probably 4 or 5 hours doing taxes each year to 2 or 3 because they had more automations available at the time. UFile might have similar offerings now, but since Wealthsimple acquired Simpletax, they've continued improving it and I want to say that the last time I filed taxes it was only like an hour or two. To make it even more appealing, it's still pay what you want. Yes, that includes $0. I always pay for the audit protection because I am human and I am definitely fallible. This way if I get audited, Wealthsimple will assign an expert to assist me. That gives me peace of mind. I haven't been audited yet, but for $40 for both my wife and I, it's just nice insurance.

It's Not Perfect

As I said, I have been with Wealthsimple since 2019. I've had a few issues, but they've been very minor. In my first year, I had some concerns about the changes they were making to the account offerings in terms of CDIC protection. Their support team was very responsive and answered my questions right away and eased my concerns.

A few years later I had an issue with a transaction being blocked on my Wealthsimple card. The answer I got was not really one I liked, but there wasn't much to be done about it, unfortunately. They basically told me it was blocked as a security precaution and they didn't have much more information than that.

Another issue I have semi-regularly is with e-transfers. I send them quite often so I'm not unfamiliar with the process. Usually they take a few seconds to a couple of minutes to arrive in the recipient's inbox. However, on a few occasions I have sent e-transfers that took hours to arrive. I do remember occasions where I sent an e-transfer in the early morning and the recipient hadn't received it by dinner time.

Most recently I used the mobile deposit to deposit a cheque and it took 8 days for it to process and the funds to be added to my account. It wasn't even a large amount (less than $90) so I don't know what the hold up was. That seems to me to be an absurd length of time to process a cheque when RBC will have it done within 3 to 5 business days. Usually on the lower end.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I would definitely recommend Wealthsimple. Whether you're just looking to invest, save, or buy your first home, Wealthsimple is definitely worth considering.