Saving Money is Like Eating Fiber. So We Added a Monthly $1 Million Prize

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We’re launching something new. And it’s sort of bonkers, and sort of thrilling. Every month for the foreseeable future, we’re giving one Wealthsimple client $1 million. And every week leading up to the big draw, we’re giving other clients smaller (but still hefty!) prizes, from $25,000, to $50,000, to $100,000. The best part? To be in the running, you just need to do something responsible — save money. 

We’re calling it the Wealthsimple Monthly Millionaire 

How it works is that every dollar you transfer or deposit into a Wealthsimple account is a single entry that ups your odds of winning a chunk of cash. The more money you deposit or transfer into your Wealthsimple accounts, the more tiny tickets you have — and the greater your chances of winning. A nice little perk is that, generally speaking, only withdrawals or transfers to outside, non-Wealthsimple accounts will reduce your entry count; we generally won’t dock you for paying essential bills and whatnot. 

The first $1 million drawing is coming up fast — on June 25. But before we explain further…

We’re sort of cribbing this idea from the Brits 

We wish we could say we’re the first people to try something like this, but the UK government runs a very similar savings program called Premium Bonds. How it works is that Brits buy a £1 bond knowing their money is safe and accessible, but, instead of earning interest, the interest is pooled into a monthly drawing, with tax-free cash up to £1 million. (We think our contest is better, though, since you can earn interest.)

What Monthly Millionaire is not is a lottery. In fact, Monthly Millionaire is almost the opposite of a lottery. We say that because lotteries are negative-sum games, meaning that, while a few folks win a fortune, all the players collectively lose money. Canadians spend around $10 billion a year on lottery tickets, and something like $6.5 billion comes back in prizes, so the house — the system, the man, whatever you want to call it — keeps $3.5 billion. The game is designed to produce more losers than winners (in order to help fund social services, etc.). And what are the odds of your being one of the rare winners of, say, Lotto 6/49? About 1 in 14 million. 

Monthly Millionaire is different in that it’s not negative-sum. No one pays to play, and no one loses a single dollar to participate — ever. Your money stays your money. And your deposits will earn interest and compound over time. So, even if you don’t win a stack of crisp loonies from this contest, you’re still accumulating wealth.

We hope it’ll turn saving money from something sensible but not exhilarating — on par with going to the dentist or eating fiber — into a fun (dare we say thrilling?) habit.

Now, you might be wondering: why are we doing this?

Monthly Millionaire is a jazzy way for us to encourage you to move more money to Wealthsimple, which helps grow our business. But you also benefit from saving money, and we think it’s smart for us to give away millions to encourage you to do it, since we’re certain that Canadians will stick with companies that do more for them. You and us both win in that way. 

But we know a contest, even one as fun as Monthly Millionaire, can carry us only so far. To keep you as a long-term client, we have to treat you so ridiculously well that once you start using our products, you never want to leave. One way we aim to do that is with low fees. We generally charge a fraction of what traditional financial institutions do, and we also have a hunch you’ll love our app, high-interest chequing accounts, and other products. 

Anyway, here’s how to enter Monthly Millionaire — and rack up extra entries

You’ll get an invite to register in the Wealthsimple app or in your web account. If you’re not already a client, you can register here. Just by opting in to the contest, you’ll automatically get 500 entries every month (provided you have a chequing account with us). If you refer a friend, you’ll get 5,000 bonus entries. And if you set up a direct deposit, we’ll double your total entries. Last, in the spirit of fairness, we’re capping the maximum number of entries any one person can receive at 100,000 per month. That way, the richest folks don’t have an obscene advantage, but you still get a nice reward, entries-wise, from transferring your FHSA or TFSA or work paycheque. Registration has officially opened, and the drawings start soon:

Thursday, June 4: First weekly draw for the $25,000 prize.  

Thursday, June 11: Second weekly draw for the $50,000 prize.  

Thursday, June 18: Third weekly draw for the $100,000 prize.  

Wednesday, June 24 (11:59 pm ET): Giveaway closes. All qualifying transfers, deposits, and referrals must be completed by this date to count toward entries.  

Thursday, June 25: Final weekly draw for the $1,000,000 grand prize.  

Alright! That’s the gist! You can read the full terms and conditions. Good luck! 

Register here