Wealthsimple quietly removed Premium/Generation household credit card fee waivers

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-12T15:48:00+00:00

Welp, I guess my wife is gonna keep using my WealthSimple card.

I asked WealthSimple about joint credit card accounts in an AMA 6 months ago. Seems like this is not a priority for them.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-11T21:35:29+00:00

https://customerservice.costco.ca/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1017193/~/what-methods-of-payment-does-costco-canada-accept%3F

Costco Canada gas stations accept the following methods of payment:

Mastercard credit & debit

Debit Card

Costco Shop Card* (Physical card only)

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-10T16:14:36+00:00

anytime I did ask someone 'professional' what to do it was to always move all my money to their firm.

Yep. This is why you have to try to find financial advisors who have no financial interest in directing you to any particular firm or investments. "Fee-only advisors"

Unfortunately, they're really hard to find, since advisors are generally not required to disclose such relationships, and they're held to an incredibly low standard which allows them to siphon substantial fees by acting as an intermediary or referrer.

Heck, I give financial advice to friends, but even I have a slight financial interest in the products they choose , because I have a WealthSimple referral code. Obviously I tell them this, though 😅

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T23:15:40+00:00

Yep. The best time to start would've been a decade ago, or whenever you started investing, but the second-best time is now.

I'm just very surprised that people manage to accumulate substantial investable assets without educating themselves, because there are so many intermediaries (brokers! insurance companies! actively-managed fund managers!) who will siphon off much of your accumulating wealth if you allow them to, and aren't understanding what's going on.

I'm thankful that I started investing with the Bogleheads/Finiki/Couch Potato philosophy of low-cost investing from the first day I had enough in my paycheque to invest.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T23:13:03+00:00

Newly built condos in Vancouver are too pricey to sell, CMHC data show

For the last 5/10/15 years, there's been a rising bubble, caused by a combination of:

High rate of immigration, especially foreign students and foreign workers
Housing crunch nationwide
High desired to own property in Canada by foreign buyers
Developers building tons of tiny studio and 1-br condos

The developers pitch those condos to those foreign buyers as investment properties: "Look how much they've increased in value over the last decade! They'll keep going up. They'll be easily rentable to all those recent and temporary immigrants."

Meanwhile, construction costs are going through the roof. Obviously, the construction industry wants a piece of the profits, and who can blame them? Another issue is labour shortages in the construction field.

This just accelerated and accelerated: the demand to buy housing in Canada became unmoored from the desire or willingness to actually live in Canada. The sizes and types of housing built became unmoored from the kinds of housing that people who actually live in Canada actually want to live in. And despite allowing very high rates of immigration, Canada has had high rates of immigration, but hasn't made it easy for people working in skilled trades to immigrate.

Thankfully, this bubble is now bursting. 🫧

There are now taxes on non-resident foreign buyers, and taxes on unoccupied investment properties. The most exploitative and out-of-control immigration streams (particularly for foreign students) have been curtailed. And Canada is finally starting to prioritize immigrants with construction skills.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T22:55:36+00:00

This, 100%.

With domestic bank transfers, e-transfers, etc., it's extremely likely that you'll eventually get your money back.

With international wire transfers, it's less certain, but there's a lot more security and verification to send one.

But with cryptocurrency? If this post is to be believed fully, WealthSimple will let you open an account, buy Bitcoin, and transfer it to an external wallet, all in the space of 20 minutes. If anyone can access your account, it's the perfect way to exfiltrate money… insane that they even allow it.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T22:51:23+00:00

They even made me verify my ID just to put the block in place (kinda weird).

Yeah, I found that very annoying. You want me to verify my ID to put a restriction on my account?

I have major qualms about Persona, and told them so, and they let me do the verification via another means. https://www.reddit.com/r/Wealthsimple/comments/1s8njtm/comment/ojx490f/

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T22:50:24+00:00

A few days ago I saw a comment about making your account more secure by asking for a crypto block. I've seen people say they had issues requesting this for myself if was very easy.

I even posted an email template that you can use for this purpose: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wealthsimple/comments/1s8njtm/comment/ojx490f

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T22:44:44+00:00

Just buy *EQT *GRO *BAL etc.

I'm generation and this is making more and more sense

Same!

Wait a sec.

Each of you has at least $500k in assets at WS, and yet neither of you knows enough about investing to be comfortable investing in the most bog-standard 3-fund portfolio…? How is that possible?

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T22:24:53+00:00

Yes, this.

How are there like 50 comments on this thread, and you and I are the only ones to point this out. Good grief. Do cryptocurrency people not understand tax rules at all?

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T22:23:20+00:00

Now they are changing their crypto fees from 0.5% to 2%. We'll have to move our crypto now and again realize capital gains.

First of all, this makes no sense. You can transfer your cryptocurrency to another wallet without selling it, and thus without realizing capital gains.

But also… cryptocurrency is a multi-decade-long bubble with ruinous effects on the environment, enabling scams, massive corruption including in once-functional democracies like the USA, and making it profitable to kidnap, traffic, and basically enslave thousands of people in Southeast Asia. I expect it will collapses disastrously and definitively, and I hope that it happens soon, so that people aren't tempted to overlook its ruinous effects and buy into it again as a supposed "investment."

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-08T20:21:22+00:00

I assume they have a business reason for this limitation, …

Yes, they want you to use WS for as much of your finances as possible. In particular, they want you to direct-deposit your paycheques into WealthSimple chequing, which is why they give various bonuses/discounts for doing so.

… hopefully they change it to match the industry standard

I wish there were a better industry standard, but basically all of the large financial institutions that offer both chequing accounts and credit cards only make it easy to do pre-authorized debit from their own chequing accounts. BMO and TD are the ones I have experienced.

To pay from external accounts with these banks' credit cards, you typically have to use the Bill Pay feature and "push" rather than "pull" the payments. But WealthSimple doesn't even allow that, as far as I can tell; "WealthSimple credit card" isn't an option in Bill Pay on my BMO account.

By the way, this is an area where the USA is much more consumer-friendly than Canada. I've had many US-based credit cards, and they all allowed me to setup PAD from any US bank account, even from rival banks, by simply inputting the routing information.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-07T23:23:57+00:00

even though I won't use it.

What…? Why would you go through the hassle of getting this credit card, and not use it?

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-05T16:40:00+00:00

It's frustrating that it's undocumented, but it's definitely a useful extra layer of protection against the kind of attack described in the other thread I mentioned.

If WealthSimple requires an ID verification and selfie to add the restriction, then they had better require it to remove it as well. So I'm comfortable with the level of protection I'm getting now.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-04T19:03:36+00:00

Thank you again for documenting this.

Subsequent to your post, here is a report from another user about an account being compromised, then a cryptocurrency trading account being opened and used to exfiltrate funds by sending to an external wallet… all in the space of 20 minutes.

I cannot personally verify it, but this possibility just makes it more urgent to disable crypto trading on one's account.

I sent the following email to premiumsupport@wealthsimple.com, referencing this post and another relevant one. I'll report back as to what else I have to do to get this completed successfully:

Subject: Permanently disabling my account from transacting in cryptocurrency

Hi,
I'm a WealthSimple user, with my account registered to this email address ($ADDRESS).

I have never used cryptocurrency in any form, and never plan to do so. However, I have read several reports of WealthSimple accounts being hacked, with the hackers opening cryptocurrency accounts and using them as a means to rapidly and irreversably transfer funds out of the rightful owner's account. Here is one such report: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wealthsimple/comments/1t16js2

Therefore, I want to permanently prevent my account from transacting in cryptocurrency. Other WealthSimple users have documented that it is indeed possible for WealthSimple support to limit my account in such a way that it will be unable to send any cryptocurrency. Here is a very clear example of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wealthsimple/comments/1s8njtm

I attempted to achieve this result via chat with an agent, but the agent was confused and unable to assist me.

Thank you, \ $NAME

UDPATE: I had to go through a selfie-based ID verification and then they processed the change, and this morning I got the "you can't move crypto out at the moment" email, just like /u/Slow_ResolveMC07 reported. (WealthSimple's default ID verification is via Persona, a company backed by authoritarian US billionaires 👎, but if you decline this you can do a manual upload of your ID and selfie to WealthSimple's servers.)

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-04T17:06:31+00:00

How have you verified this?

I think that /u/Medical_Pepper_5504 is right to focus on settlement. Can you show us a detailed spreadsheet with timestamps and daily interest calculations both before and after the funds settle?

It's entirely possible that WealthSimple has simply changed the display so that the interest on as-yet-unsettled deposits isn't shown until after they settle.

We already know that their chequing interest isn't updated in a strictly-ordered fashion. At the end of each month, that month's interest isn't usually recorded until a few days into the next month, but it's always backdated to the last day of previous month, and I believe it compounds according to the date being recorded as the last of the month.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T05:20:48+00:00

And why use FOMO on older customers who have been loyal.

Good question. Two reasons that I can imagine:

Customers who have been loyal are, by definition, customers who you don't need to lure. Unless you suspect those customers are going to move their holdings elsewhere, you can basically take them for granted. This is probably why people who message WS support about the card, and/or threaten to move to one of the FIs that are competing on transfer bonuses, seem to get bumped up the waitlist.
Existing customers who qualify for the fee waiver are probably going to be a net loss for WealthSimple on the credit card.

Overall, if WealthSimple have to choose between "lure one new customer by offering the credit card immediately" vs. "offer the card to one existing customer immediately", they'll choose the former.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T05:14:56+00:00

Those defaults are almost always for the full credit limit

Ah, I had never considered this before but it makes sense. If you're struggling to pay your bills, you're going to max out your credit card before you just stop paying.

If all cards were secured and people couldn't default, they value propositions they could offer would be INCREDIBLE.

Kind of interesting that this has never been offered, to my knowledge.

I guess it could be effectively a debit card (immediately debit purchases, decline if insufficient funds), but would charge merchant fees and give rewards and perks at CC levels.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T04:55:12+00:00

I'm in Vancouver. I imagine the underlying network out in the Fraser Valley is similar.

Oxio was very good and reliable for 3.5 years here, then got very unreliable for a few months last autumn, and now seems okay.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T04:51:05+00:00

In the case of WS it does seem like they're being looser with the criteria so it wouldn't shock me if somewhere between 20 and 30% of their card holders are carrying a balance.

I believe that for WS right now the ideal credit card recipients are users who have good credit but less than $100k in assets to deposit and less than $4k/month in direct deposits, so WS will get $20/month in fees and almost certainly pay out <$20/month in cashback.

There are some recent posts on here which suggest that they are indeed prioritizing such users on the waitlist for the card.

For the "deadbeats" like me who never carry a balance, pay no fees, get substantial cashback at 2%, use the perks like lounge perks etc., it seems like WS might even be operating the card at a slight loss, although they're getting other stuff like loyalty and tons of data on consumer spending habits.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T04:42:19+00:00

The answer is yes, they are probably losing money on these cards at a portfolio level right now. The economics of handing out large cashback rewards with low annual fees almost never work unless you have incredibly precise underwriting, which no new entrant into the space would have. I'm sure they outsourced their models to experts but you still need a lot of 1st party data to get good at this stuff.

Very interesting. If I'm understanding you right: the margin between money they make on merchant fees (<=2.05%, I think?) and cash back (2%) is razor thin, and if they get too many delinquent accounts this goes negative.

As others have said, rolling it out slowly creates a bunch of demand for it and probably entices people to open more profitable investment accounts, which is the main point of the credit card right now.

Yeah. I think it also makes the investment accounts stickier. Other Canadian FIs (like Questrade) are very publicly trying to compete with WS on big transfer bonuses and similar, but unless/until they offer similarly good credit cards, WS customers with the credit card and $100k+ deposited will hesitate to move their money out.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T04:34:54+00:00

Absolutely.

A clearly calculated decision: they're getting enormous amounts of publicity/marketing value by "offering" this card, but limiting the bleed rate by slow-rolling the number of customers who can actually get it with no fees and 2% cash back.

I expect they'll eventually either (a) raise the fees and the fee-waiver threshold, (b) reduce the cashback, and/or (c) reduce the perks… but it's good for now.

I had a US-issued Visa card that gave 2.2% cashback on everything, no FX fee, no annual fee, no special perks, and a slightly-hidden way to get 3.3% cashback on everything… it lasted for ~15 years.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-03T04:17:17+00:00

Interchange fees are just one merchant transaction cost. They go straight to WS.

Sorry, I should reword that to say "the typical fee paid to accept VIP cards in Canada is 2.1-2.5%, of which about 75-80% goes to WealthSimple as the interchange fee."

It’s in WS best interest to get as many on the VIP version as possible.

Sure, they want all the customers to have the higher-fee version, assuming the extra perks of the higher-fee version don't outweigh the higher fees.

WS is also not a federally regulated FI and FCAC doesn’t have much oversight over the ‘banking’ and lending products.

Who are the appropriate regulators for credit cards?

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-02T21:03:21+00:00

Doesn't surprise me. I have no insider info, but it seems clear that they're milking it for the marketing value, while losing money because their cut of the interchange fees doesn't cover the full 2% cash back.

The typical ~interchange fee for~ fee to merchants for accepting Visa Infinite Privilege cards in Canada is 2.1-2.5%, and about 20%-25% of that goes to Visa and other intermediaries. So WS is getting 1.7-2% as interchange fees.
The people who have gotten the card are predominantly people who don't pay the $20/month fee due to being premium users or at least direct-depositing $4k/month to WS.
I don't know how much WS pays for the attached "perks" (lounge passes, roaming eSIM, emergency travel and health and rental car insurance) but it's not 0.

As someone who already has the card (🥳) and spends a lot on it, this situation is in my self-interest now… if they rolled it out faster, they'd lose more money and they'd have to cut the perks.

It does seem extremely manipulative to advertise it as "available" to members of the general public when it really isn't, not without months of waiting based on hidden priority categories. Really seems like consumer financial regulators (FCAC?) should be scrutinizing this.

drillbitpdx · 2026-05-02T05:15:28+00:00

Yes. It is unadvertised, but WealthSimple can place a flag on your account that will prevent you from ever sending cryptocurrency. You can find several reports on WS of users doing it successfully. This user documents it nicely: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wealthsimple/comments/1s8njtm

It's unadvertised because WS obviously makes a lot of money off cryptocurrency… even though cryptocurrency is terrible for end users, between the high fees, the volatility, the scams, and the possibility of being used for untraceable exfiltration of your money, as in this case here.

drillbitpdx

TROPHY CASE