Where the real costs hide for Canadian owners
Canada's business banking market has split in two. The Big Five branch accounts start around $5 to $35 a month, with RBC's Ultimate Business Account at $100 for high-volume operations. Then there is a newer layer of online-only accounts that charge nothing monthly and pay interest on balances instead. On paper the choice looks obvious. In practice it gets messy, because the cheapest account is often the one that cannot take a Saturday cash deposit from a farmers' market.
Currency conversion is the line item most owners miss. Traditional Canadian banks mark up foreign exchange somewhere between 2.5% and 3.5%, according to a comparison published by Airwallex. A Vancouver studio invoicing a US client $8,000 absorbs a few hundred dollars on that single payment. Repeat it across a dozen invoices in a year and the monthly fee argument stops mattering.
Per-item pricing on Interac e-Transfer adds up quietly. At $1.50 a transfer, a sole proprietor sending 20 payments monthly spends roughly $360 annually. That is about six times the yearly cost of a $5 monthly plan with transfers bundled in. Most owners only notice in December, when the bookkeeping catches up.
Eligibility rules shrink the shortlist fast. EQ Bank's business account is not open to Quebec residents, partnerships, or trusts. Wealthsimple's business chequing serves Canadian-controlled private corporations and registered charities. These are scope decisions rather than flaws, but they change which accounts you can actually apply for.
Cash still anchors a lot of Canadian business. Platforms such as Airwallex do not accept cash deposits at all. Trades, salons, restaurants, and market vendors need a chartered bank somewhere in the mix, even if the day-to-day account lives online.
What the main options look like side by side
| Provider | Monthly fee | Interest on balance | What is included | Best suited to | Watch-outs |
|---|
| EQ Bank Business | $0 | 2.25% | Unlimited electronic transfers, EFT, bill payments, mobile cheque deposit, 50 outgoing and 100 incoming e-Transfers monthly | Owner-operated firms paid mostly by e-Transfer | Not available to Quebec residents, partnerships, or trusts |
| Wealthsimple Business | $0 | Up to 2.25% | Unlimited transactions and e-Transfers, CRA tax payments at no extra charge | Incorporated small firms remitting corporate tax and GST/HST | Limited to Canadian-controlled private corporations and registered charities |
| Airwallex Business | $0 on the Explore plan | Not applicable | Local receiving details in 20+ countries, corporate cards, international transfers | Exporters, e-commerce sellers, agencies billing abroad | No cash deposits; it is a fintech, not a bank |
| Loop | $0 on the basic plan | Not applicable | CAD, USD, EUR and GBP local details, card with no FX markup, conversion markups from 0.1% | Businesses with global clients and vendors | Balances sit with partner banks, not a branch network |
| Venn | $0 | Up to 3.5% on USD | CAD and USD holdings, local transfers | Corporations holding cash reserves | Not offered in Quebec |
| BMO Essential Business | $5 | None | Unlimited electronic and ATM transactions, 6 e-Transfers then $1.50 each | Low-volume digital businesses near a branch | Cash deposits require a fuller plan |
| RBC Digital Choice Business | $6 | None | Unlimited electronic and ATM transactions, 10 e-Transfers then $1.50 each | Owners who want a Big Five name with online convenience | Paper items billed separately |
| TD Business Essential | $35 | None | Higher transaction volume, branch and advisory access | Cash and cheque heavy operations | Fee waived only at a $45,000 balance |
| RBC Ultimate Business | $100 | None | Unlimited electronic activity, 100 paper items, 500 outgoing e-Transfers | Medium to high volume with mixed paper and digital activity | Fee waived at a $75,000 daily balance |
Matching the account to how money actually arrives
Start with the inflow, not the fee schedule. A consultant in Kitchener billing four clients by e-Transfer each month has almost nothing to gain from a $35 branch account. An incorporated firm remitting GST/HST quarterly gets more value from a $0 account that pays CRA directly than from a brand name on the debit card.
Consider a Halifax graphic design studio that picked up two American retainer clients. Its original bank account converted every USD invoice at a spread it never questioned. Moving collection into a multi-currency account with local US details meant the funds arrived without automatic conversion, and conversion happened later, deliberately, at a published rate. The studio kept its branch account open for the occasional client cheque. Two accounts, one purpose each.
That hybrid pattern shows up repeatedly. Keep a chartered bank account for cash, coins, certified cheques, and the rare in-person errand. Run operating money through an online account that pays interest and charges nothing monthly. The extra administration is a single transfer a month, and the savings tend to exceed the effort within the first quarter.
Businesses with heavy card processing also need to check deposit limits rather than headline fees. RBC's Ultimate account includes unlimited Moneris deposits and covers cash deposits up to $25,000 before per-thousand charges apply, a detail that matters for retail. An e-commerce seller, by contrast, may never touch physical currency and can ignore that clause entirely.
A note on deposit protection
EQ Bank operates as a trade name of Equitable Bank, a CDIC member, with eligible deposits covered up to $100,000 per insured category. Sole proprietorship deposits combine with the owner's personal coverage rather than standing separately. Payment platforms regulated under the Retail Payment Activities Act hold customer funds in segregated trust accounts, which is a different safeguard and worth understanding before you park operating cash there.
Opening the account without a wasted branch trip
Documents vary by structure, and this is where most applications stall.
- Register the trade name if you operate under anything other than your legal personal name. Provincial registries handle this, and processing times differ by province.
- Get a CRA Business Number once you cross the $30,000 GST/HST registration threshold. Some institutions ask for it earlier as proof of commercial activity.
- Prepare photo identification and proof of business address for every owner or director. Lease agreements and utility bills are commonly accepted.
- For corporations, assemble the articles of incorporation, a directors' resolution authorising the account, and the shareholder register. Banks often request recent annual filings as well.
- Expect FINTRAC identity verification. Digital platforms run automated document checks; branch applications usually require an in-person visit.
Two practical snags come up often. EQ Bank allows only one individual per business to open accounts, and that person must be a majority shareholder holding more than 25%, a signing officer, and a director. Applications also need a Canadian mobile number for verification. Read those conditions before you gather paperwork for the wrong signer.
Then test the account before you commit payroll to it. Deposit a small amount, send an e-Transfer, pay one bill, and confirm the feed reaches your accounting software. A live bank feed into Xero or QuickBooks saves hours monthly; a CSV export does not, and that difference is worth more than a few dollars of monthly fee for an owner doing their own books.
The right online business bank account in Canada is rarely the one with the lowest advertised number. It is the one that matches your inflow, clears your eligibility test, and lets you move money without a conversion charge sneaking through. Pull your last three months of statements, count the e-Transfers and any foreign currency line items, and apply to the account that makes those two columns smaller.
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