Wealthsimple Cash Review

What Is It? Wealthsimple Cash is a relatively new peer to peer payment app for Canadian residents. It's like Venmo or Cash App but for Canadians! You can send and receive money in just a few taps, it's instant, there's no fees and no security questions required.

The Bottom Line: The Wealthsimple Cash app would be great if more Canadians used it. Right now, you can only send money to other users who have the app which is not many people. Until it grows and becomes more common, interac e-transfer is still the best way for Canadians to send money to their friends and family. However, the app itself works great, it's completely free and it's extremely fast.

Pros & Cons

Wealthsimple Cash Screenshots:

Features

Like most Wealtshimple products, this app is very minimal, beginner-friendly and easy to use. Right now, this app has just a few buttons where you see your balance, deposit/withdrawal and send/receive money to friends.

How Does Wealthsimple Cash Work?

On Wealthsimple Cash, you can send and receive money to other Canadians who have the app downloaded. Here is what the process looks like:

1. Sign Up For An Account

If you already have a Wealthsimple account it will take a couple minutes. If not, you will take up to 10 minutes to fill out the info.

2. Choose Your Unique "$ign"

This will be your username and all that you need for sending and receiving money. 

3. Add Funds to Your Account

Connect your bank account and then use bank transfer to add funds for free. Currently, there is instant deposits up to $250.

4. Tap the "$" to Send or Request Money

Press the "$" button on the home screen, search the $ign, name or phone number to find your friend, then enter how much money you'd like to send or request. That's it!

Wealthsimple Cash vs. Interac E-Transfer

Wealthsimple Cash beats Interac E-transfer on speed and fees. There are no security questions, the transfers show up in seconds and there are no fees to send or receive money or to have an account open. However, Interac E-transfer is still much better because every person with a Canadian bank account has it. Right now, not many people use Wealthsimple Cash so it's not very practical unless you get all of your friends to use it.

Security

Is WS Cash Safe?

Yes, Wealthsimple is a large fintech company in Canada with over 1.5 million users and has raised over $265 million so far. On the user side, there is 2 factor authentication and their website says they use state-of-the-art encryption to secure your account. Your Wealthsimple Cash Account is also CDIC insured up to $100,000.

Is WS Cash CDIC? Insured?

Yes, Wealthsimple Cash is CDIC insured up to $100,000. You can find their official statement here.

Where It Shines:

Where It Falls Short:

Wealthsimple Cash Alternatives

Interac E-Transfer

Any person with a Canadian bank account is eligible to receive Interac E-transfers through their online banking app. Right now, this is the best way for Canadains to send and receive money to each other quickly and cheaply.

PayPal

PayPal is used by over 300 million people and will let you send and receive funds to other Canadians and people worldwide. It's free to send money to friends and family and all you need is their email address or phone number. Fees can get expensive with other currencies but for CAD transfers it can be an alternative to Wealthsimple Cash or E-transfers.

The Bottom Line

Wealthsimple Cash has lots of potential to be a great app if more Canadians start using it. It lets you send very fast transfers to other Canadians and has no fees but right now, not many people are using it. Maybe one day it can be like Venmo or Cash App for Canadians but right now, it's still too early and e-transfers are much better.