Announcing Canada’s First 🔥 Way to Pay Your Friends Instantly

Canada, it’s time to admit that our inability to instantly pay 1/8th of a bill for Thai takeout (while also using the fire emoji) is a national tragedy. And today we can announce that this particular tragedy is over. We’re in the midst of re-inventing Wealthsimple Cash (trust us, this is only the beginning). And phase one is here.

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How it works

This part’s easy:

• You download the app and open your account.

• Pick your unique handle — we call them Dollar $igns. (Sorry, “$Drake” is already taken)

• Find your friends, family, and annoying landlords instantly by their phone numbers or Dollar $igns

• Then send those friends, family, and annoying landlords money. Instantly.

• Pay zero dollars and zero cents for the privilege of doing so.

Why you’ll like it

We think this is a pretty big moment. So let’s review what’s better, funner (yes that is a word), and simpler about Wealthsimple Cash:

It’s instant. E-transfers can take anywhere from 5 minutes to three hours (depending on your bank). The money you send or receive with Wealthsimple Cash, on the other hand, gets there in seconds.

It’s free. Hard to believe, but there are financial institutions out there that make you pay to transfer cash, or put a limit on how many free transfers you get per month. Wealthsimple Cash is completely free no matter how many times you send or receive money. Think of it as your wallet. (Would it be cool if your wallet charged you to use it? No.)

There are also no monthly account fees and no minimum balance requirements.

It’s private. Look, just because you want to buy someone’s lightly used mid-century modern sofa doesn’t mean you want to give the guy all your personal information. With Wealthsimple Cash, you’re able to remain anonymous. All you do is provide your unique Dollar $ign (and only your unique Dollar $ign) to send or accept a payment.

It’s secure. (And we won’t ask you your mother’s maiden name) Tired of trying to figure out a guessable-but-also-not-too-obvious question? So are we. We secure your account with biometrics and fingerprint ID. And (as is standard for bank accounts in Canada) your hard-earned funds are eligible for protection from the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).

You can send more cash. A lot of banks impose some pretty stingy limits on how much cash you can send — most cap it at $3,000 per day. Wealthsimple Cash lets you send up to $5,000 daily, and $20,000 monthly.

It’s simple! (That’s kind of our thing) All you have to do is download the app, connect your contacts (you can just import them from your phone, no typing required!) and start sending or requesting funds.

Dare we say it’s fun? Look, chequebooks don’t let you sign your name $QueenOfShade. Very uncool.

How do I sign up?

This probably won’t surprise you, but it’s really, really simple. All you’ve got to do is download the Wealthsimple Cash app (available on Apple or Android), add funds to your wallet, and start sending and receiving cash.

And every time you send money to a friend who isn’t using the app yet, you’ll both get $5.

Oh! And what comes next?

Our plan is to make Wealthsimple Cash more and more useful, easy, and fun. The next phase? Operation “pay-for-everything” so you’ll be able to use Wealthsimple Cash to buy your groceries, or your sneakers, or anything else you want from just about any merchant. And after that, look for features like bill payments and direct deposit. It’s all just beginning. Stay tuned.

Written By

Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple uses technology and smart, friendly humans to help you grow and manage your money. Invest, save, trade, and even do your taxes in a better, simpler way.