Wealthsimple Cash launched yesterday (
https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/product/cash), and it seems really interesting. It's described as a hybrid spending/savings account with 2.4% interest. You receive a card that can be used to spend instantly from your account like a debit card, and they have no fees for ATM withdrawals, including reimbursing the fees from ATM withdrawals by other institutions.
I'm really intrigued. I have concerns about how well they handle fraud, as for example, Mastercard was good at reimbursing me when my card was stolen once.
Wealthsimple Cash accounts are also protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund as opposed to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corp. like most major bank accounts. I'm unsure of the implications of that, but I think any risk would be small as Wealthsimple is apparently partnered with two major banks.
I think I'll use my Wealthsimple Cash account for short term goals like vacations, etc. Earning a bit of interest toward that would be good, I'll still keep my no-fee chequing account at another institution for now.
Anyone else open an account? It sounds really unique compared to other spending/saving options.