Where online accounts sit in the Canadian market
Business banking in Canada now splits into three rough groups. The Big Five banks sell digital tiers priced around $5 to $7 a month, and those packages come with unlimited electronic transactions plus a fixed number of Interac e-Transfers. Then there are the online-only providers, many with no monthly fee at all, built around e-Transfers, EFT transfers and CRA payments rather than tellers and coin. Credit unions such as Desjardins, Meridian and Vancity sit in between, with solid local service and digital tools that vary by province.
The fault line between these groups is physical cash. Almost every online-only account in Canada does not accept cash or cheques deposited at a counter. If your revenue arrives as card taps, e-Transfers and EFT payments, that limitation costs you nothing. If you run a café, a market stall or a trades business collecting cheques, it decides the whole choice for you.
The costs that hide behind the headline fee
A $6 account and a $6 account are rarely the same product. Look at what happens after the included transactions run out. Some digital packages include 10 e-Transfers, then charge $1.50 for each one after that. Others include six. A business sending 15 outgoing e-Transfers a month on a six-included plan pays for nine extras, which adds roughly $13 a month, or about $160 a year, on top of the base fee. That is not a small gap when an online account down the street charges nothing per transfer.
Teller visits, paper statements, cash deposits and NSF situations each carry their own charge at the big banks. Foreign exchange is the other silent cost. The major banks typically build a spread of around two percent into currency conversion, while several online providers advertise spreads closer to 0.45 to 0.5 percent. An importer paying a supplier USD 20,000 a month feels that difference far more than any monthly fee.
Eligibility, paperwork and the incorporation question
Not every business can open every account. Some online providers only accept incorporated companies, and a few restrict that further to corporations with a single ownership layer or a single signing officer. Others serve registered sole proprietors and partnerships but exclude Quebec residents. Terms change as providers expand, so verify the current eligibility page before you start an application rather than relying on a comparison article.
The documents are consistent across most providers: your Canada Revenue Agency business number, articles of incorporation or a sole proprietorship registration, government photo ID for each signing officer, ownership details for anyone holding a meaningful stake, and banking information for a linked account. Applications that stall usually stall on ownership structure, not on credit checks. A corporation with three shareholders and two signing officers should expect manual review and a longer timeline.
Deposit protection deserves a look too. Accounts at banks and credit unions fall under CDIC or provincial deposit insurance, generally up to $100,000 per depositor per insured category. Some fintech balances sit in trust at a CDIC member institution, which is a different arrangement than holding your money directly at a bank, and multi-currency platforms such as Wise safeguard client funds without deposit insurance. For an operating float that covers payroll and GST/HST, that distinction is worth understanding before you move everything in one place.
Comparing the options side by side
The figures below reflect what providers were posting in late 2026. Monthly fees and interest rates change without notice, so treat this as a starting map rather than a quote.
| Provider | Monthly fee | What's included | Suits | Watch for |
|---|
| Wealthsimple Business Chequing | $0 | Unlimited e-Transfers, CRA payments at no extra charge, interest tiered up to about 2.25% | Incorporated businesses parking cash | No cash deposits; eligibility rules on ownership layers |
| EQ Bank Business | $0 | Roughly 50 outgoing and 100 incoming e-Transfers monthly, then per-item charge; CRA payments at no extra charge | Sole proprietors and small corporations outside Quebec | No branch or cash handling |
| Wise Business | $0 monthly, one-time $55 setup | Local account details in multiple currencies, mid-market conversion from about 0.48% | Exporters and freelancers paid in USD or EUR | Not deposit-insured; pay-as-you-go transfer pricing |
| Venn | $0 on the entry plan, paid tiers above | CAD and USD balances, advertised 2% interest, local transfers charged individually on the base plan | Businesses holding both currencies | Free plan has limited transfer allowance |
| Loop | $0 basic, paid tiers at higher volumes | Unlimited EFT, ACH and SEPA, multi-currency cards | Cross-border operations | No interest on balances; credit facility has revenue and history requirements |
| RBC Digital Choice or TD Business Digital | $6 | Unlimited electronic transactions, 10 e-Transfers | Owners who want a branch and cash access | Overage and teller charges; conversion spread |
| Credit union (Desjardins, Meridian, Vancity) | Varies by plan | Relationship manager, cash and cheque deposit, local support | Cash-heavy and Quebec-based businesses | Digital features differ significantly by institution |
Matching the account to how your business runs
Cash on the counter changes everything. A bakery in Kitchener depositing several hundred dollars in bills each day needs a branch or credit union, even if the digital side feels dated. One workable pattern is keeping the deposit account at a credit union and running payouts through an online account with lower per-transfer costs.
Invoices in US dollars deserve separate treatment. A consultant in Vancouver billing American clients loses real money when every payment lands in a CAD account and gets converted at a retail rate. Holding a USD balance, either through a multi-currency provider or a US-dollar account at a bank, keeps pricing predictable.
Variable volume is the most common pattern among new businesses. A landscaping company might make four transfers in January and forty in June. Pay-per-use pricing at $1 to $1.25 a transaction often beats a $25 plan during slow months, while a flat-fee package wins once volume stabilizes.
Idle cash is the last consideration. Money set aside for quarterly tax instalments can sit for months. An account paying around two percent on that balance earns more than a premium chequing package with a minimum balance waiver, especially for a corporation that keeps a healthy cushion.
A setup sequence that avoids rework
- Pull three months of bank activity and count outgoing e-Transfers, bill payments and deposit items. That number, not the marketing page, predicts your real cost.
- List every deposit type you handle: card settlements, e-Transfers, EFT, cash, cheques, USD wires.
- Shortlist two providers whose deposit support matches that list, then confirm incorporation and ownership eligibility in writing.
- Assemble your business number, incorporation documents, ID and ownership details before opening the application form.
- Run both accounts in parallel for one full cycle so payroll, pre-authorized debits and CRA payments clear before you close the old account.
- Set up a separate sub-account or savings bucket for GST/HST and income tax, and fund it every time an invoice is paid.
Start with your transaction count
Before comparing interest rates or sign-up offers, write down how many outgoing transfers your business actually sends in a normal month. That single number eliminates half the options on the market and usually points to one account that fits, plus one backup for deposits your online provider cannot handle. Open the application only after you have checked the eligibility rules for your ownership structure, and keep the first month small: move a single client payment through the new account, confirm it clears, then shift the rest.
A useful next step is to request the current fee schedule and account agreement from two shortlisted providers in writing, then compare the total annual cost at your own transaction volume rather than at the advertised headline rate.
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