The shift from big bank apps to smaller fintech ones for daily banking

I used to just stick with my RBC app for everything from transfers to bill payments. But about 6 months ago I opened a Wealthsimple Cash account after a friend kept raving about how simple it was. Now I do most of my daily spending and saving through their app because the interface is way cleaner and I get instant notifications. Has anyone else found themselves ditching the big bank apps for these newer Canadian fintech options?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_miller845d agoTop Commenter

@the_faith nailed it, those delayed notifications make budgeting feel like guessing.

jamesroberts7d ago

I used to just stick with my RBC app" - yeah, that was me too until I realized I was basically a grandpa using a flip phone in a smartphone world... I actually opened a Wealthsimple Cash account last year and now I do all my daily spending through it, mostly because my big bank app kept crashing every time I tried to check my balance. Plus the instant notifications thing is huge for me, I used to get a notification from RBC three days after I bought coffee, which really helped my budgeting... not.

the_faith7d ago

And I used to get a notification from RBC three days after I bought coffee" - man that hit close to home. I had a TD app that would literally freeze up and show me a balance from last Tuesday. Now I'm using Wealthsimple Cash too and honestly the instant notifications feel like I'm living in the future compared to the big banks. My bank app would send me a "transaction alert" for a coffee I bought yesterday morning which is basically useless for tracking anything.