Best online banks and credit unions in Canada for 2025

To come up with the ranking, MoneySense partnered with Surviscor, a leading Canadian research and consulting firm specializing in financial service customer experiences. Surviscor analyzed hundreds of data points on firms across the Canadian digital banking space, including traditional banks, credit unions, co-operatives and neo/branchless banks.

Best online banking firms for 2025

Here are the best online banking firms in Canada in 2025, based on Surviscor’s analysis. The results are based on the four pillars of the digital banking experience: desktop experience, mobile experience, rates and fees, and service availability and responsiveness. To find out more about how we ranked firms, read our methodology.

Note: The National Bank of Canada takeover of Canadian Western Bank is complete, so we left Motive Financial, the latter’s online-only subsidiary, out of this review. Motive Financial customers are being moved over to National Bank of Canada, but they also have the opportunity to search for another firm.

Digital and online banking in Canada

Did you know Canadians have an abundance of choice outside of the popular, and traditional, big banks? Hopefully you do. But if not, this analysis will open your mind to other options, including regionally based credit unions and co-operatives, and neo or branchless virtual banks.

Let’s face it, the majority of Canadians love and trust banks—sometimes blindly. It’s unclear if this loyalty stems from familiarity, tradition or a general lack of trust in financial institutions. But many Canadians stick with big banks, even when they know they will most likely find lower costs and fees elsewhere. The reality is that there are many exceptional digital banking firms across Canada.

Before we dig into the results, let’s address the elephant in the room: the term digital banking. It’s important not to confuse digital banking with digital bank. Digital banking refers to our use of phones, tablets, laptops and desktops for banking.

Every firm in this review offers digital banking. Most of the neo/branchless banks are discount subsidiaries of larger bricks-and-mortar firms; they do not have branches for you to visit or use, and they offer either full or partial traditional banking services. The analysis also includes credit unions and Desjardins—a co-operative that is hugely popular in Quebec and stands in a category of its own.

The review has 10 categories of focus: four that speak to a customer’s larger overall experiences, and six that look more closely at the user experience within two digital platforms (mobile and desktop). In each case, we’ve used Surviscor’s existing research and ensured the four pillars of experience—desktop, mobile, rates and fees, and service—are incorporated into the four larger categories. Desktop and mobile data are used to narrow in on the best firms within the six more targeted experiences.

Check the chart to see which banking firms in Canada scored the most points for all categories, then read more about the top three online banking firms and the best ones depending on your digital banking needs, styles and long-term goals.

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Top 3 online banking firms in Canada

Here’s a closer look at the top three overall winners. 

Gold — Best online bank: TD Canada Trust

TD Canada Trust is once again MoneySense’s pick for the best online banking firm in Canada in 2025, again scoring 72 out of a possible 100 points. It ranks in the top spot in three of the 10 categories and is the runner-up in another two categories.

TD Canada Trust is the banking arm of Toronto Dominion Bank and was Canada’s second-largest bank by asset size in 2024, according to Statista. TD Canada Trust offers two well-designed and comprehensive digital platforms for consumers that include easy application processes for both prospective and current customers, comprehensive account information and transactional capabilities, and strong digital-based education.

TD’s most glaring drawback is the structure of its rates and fees, for which it ranks 19 among the 23 banking firms under review. Another issue is that prospective customers can only receive non-branch, non-automated support by phone or through social media. However, this is a common issue among big banks, despite decent service availability overall, with only the odd firm offering some level of human-based chat in key areas.

Pros

• Navigational design on both desktop and mobile that is easy to use and understand
• Educational resources available pre-login on desktop
• Stock market information (including quotes) available pre-login on mobile
• Depth of account information and analysis available on both platforms
• Top-tier money movement and bill payment capabilities on both platforms

Cons

• Non-competitive rates and fees
• Social media and phone are the only e-based methods of communication for new customers
• Lack of customization features on both platforms
• Low level of account notifications on both platforms
• Few educational resources on mobile

Interested in better understanding the good, the bad and the ugly about digital banking with TD Canada Trust? Read the complete Surviscor review.

Silver — Best online bank: CIBC

CIBC is the next best firm overall, scoring 71 out of a possible 100 points. It ranks in the top spot in two of the 10 categories and is the runner-up in three others.

CIBC was the smallest of the traditional Big Five banks in terms of asset size in 2024, according to Statista. But it sure does pack a punch, and has for years, when it comes to digital banking experiences. CIBC’s mobile platform has long been considered the industry leader and innovator. CIBC was the first big bank to have launched a mobile app, and it has finally launched a new desktop design that remains easy to use, improving an already good overall banking experience for users. The bank’s strengths lie in the account opening process and its commitment to promoting financial literacy across digital platforms.

Consistent with its big bank peers, however, CIBC’s biggest drawback is that it lacks competitiveness on its rates and fees. In this area, it fell to the bottom of the 2025 ranking, placing last among the 23 banking firms under review.

Pros

• A digital experience that is balanced and consistently good across mobile and desktop
• Industry-leading mobile platform, which set the industry standard for excellence
• Top-tier account opening process on both platforms for both new and existing customers
• Strong account alerting and notifications capabilities on both platforms
• Good amount of digital-based account services

Cons

• Non-competitive rates and fees
• New customers can only communicate with the bank by phone and through social media
• Average account information and analytics available on both desktop and mobile
• Few tools and calculators on both platforms
• Below-average customization features on both platforms

Are you interested in better understanding the good, the bad and the ugly about digital banking with CIBC? Read the complete Surviscor review.

Bronze — Best online bank: RBC Royal Bank

RBC Royal Bank rounds out the top three again in 2025, scoring 66 out of a possible 100 points. It ranks in the top spot in two of the 10 categories and within the top three in four of the remaining categories.

RBC Royal Bank was Canada’s largest bank by asset size in 2024, according to Statista, and it has been Surviscor’s top choice for desktop-based online banking for many years. It set the recent standards for overall experience with its best-of-breed depth of account information and transactional capabilities. Its mobile platform is no slouch, either—it also ranks as a top-tier platform.

We are sounding like a broken record, but the most obvious drawback with RBC is rates and fees that aren’t competitive. In this area, it ranks a whopping 21 among the 23 banking firms. And despite finishing strong in the mobile platform category, RBC’s mobile platform does not offer the same complete experience that the desktop platform does.

Pros

• Industry-dominant desktop platform with the majority of bells and whistles
• Top-tier account management, information and analytics
• Good mobile platform for transactions
• Top-tier educational resources on desktop
• Account spending tool NOMI, which helps clients better understand how they’re using their money

Cons

• Non-competitive rates and fees
• New customers can only communicate with the bank by phone and through social media
• Disjointed functionality and product availability between desktop and mobile
• Poor account alerting and notifications capabilities on both platforms
• Lack of educational resources in both the pre-login and secure areas on mobile

Are you interested in better understanding the good, the bad and the ugly about digital banking with RBC? Read the complete Surviscor review.

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Best online banking firms by category

When reviewing any financial services firm or industry, Surviscor’s main message is always “buyer beware.” Why, you ask? Let’s blame it on marketing and the fact that each firm attempts to get a leg up on its peers with minor points of differentiation. Meanwhile, firms purposely leave out key details on their websites and promotional materials; many use dozens of small-print disclosures—100-plus such notices, in the case of BMO Bank of Montreal—to clarify the real facts. As is the case in our review of the best online brokers, our overall best online banks ranking will not appeal to everybody. We know that some aspects of online banking are more important to you than others. To help you find what you’re looking for, we’ve selected the best online banking firms across 10 categories and divided them into three groups: platform experiences, relationship experiences and functional digital experiences.

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Best online banking firms for desktop users

Are you still a little old-school and love using a desktop or laptop for your digital banking? Or do you prefer using your iPad or tablet? In each case, you are using what the industry defines as a desktop platform.

Desktop-based consumer banking was introduced shortly after the advent of the World Wide Web and remains the core platform for Canadians’ digital banking needs.

For this category, we looked at the five main categories of consumer banking: 

1. the pre-login and pre-customer experience; 
2. the general experience of using the platform; 
3. the experience of using, managing and analyzing account information; 
4. the experience of establishing and performing money transfers and payments; 
5. and the availability of supporting account and educational resources.

It’s no surprise that the big banks dominate the desktop-based online banking experience, because they were early adopters and, outside of a few outlying independent banking firms, they continue to drive the development of new features and functionality.

Surviscor’s key advice—because we love giving our opinion—is that every banking firm should have a desktop-based platform. You should steer clear of those that don’t, regardless of your affinity for using your phone for all day-to-day activities. The bottom line is that desktop offers more features and functionality than mobile at almost every firm, and and you never know what you’ll need until you do need it.

Gold—Best for desktop: RBC Royal Bank

Royal Bank is once again our undisputed choice for best desktop-based online platform for 2025, scoring 162 out of a possible 220 points—26 points better than the next-best TD Canada Trust. RBC Royal Bank excels at providing different levels of account information and desktop-based account services that make managing an account easier, as well as top-tier transactional experiences and an informative and interactive public website.

There are no significant drawbacks to mention. We would need to go into the weeds to start picking on them. As mentioned earlier, RBC Royal Bank has been Surviscor’s top choice for desktop-based online banking for many years due to its unmatched number of user features that support each banking process offered.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about RBC 

Best online banking firms for mobile users

Let’s look at the other main platform: the phone-based application, or mobile platform. As noted earlier, mobile features and functionalities tend to differ from those on desktop—sadly, in many cases, customers can expect fewer of them.

For this category, we measure the same five criteria used for desktop-based platforms. Surviscor’s opinion after years of research is that the two platforms should provide the same depth of functionality and number of features. Your decision to use one platform shouldn’t be based on what the other is missing.

But that often isn’t the case. Many firms offer fewer features and functionalities on handheld devices than on desktop. Why? Our answer is simply that they choose to. Firms have decided what you want to do on a handheld device, and they market having fewer features and less functionality as being better for you.

Here’s another word of advice when it comes to comparing mobile apps: don’t treat Apple Store and Google Play ratings as gospel. These review ratings can be manipulated, and they often emphasize superficial usability factors rather than the comprehensive features and functionality of the app.

Gold—Best for mobile: TD Canada Trust

TD Canada Trust is our top choice for mobile-based platform in 2025, scoring 142 out of a possible 230 points—only four points ahead of the next-best CIBC. TD Canada Trust excels with a mobile platform that is easy to use and understand. It provides different levels of account information and account services that make managing an account easier. It offers straightforward transactions and plenty of pre-login features.

The main drawback of TD Canada Trust’s mobile app is that it doesn’t offer many supporting resources.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about TD Canada Trust 

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Best online banking firms for service

Before Canada adopted digital banking, customer service was measured by evaluating email, face-to-face and phone interactions between a customer and a service provider. Today, the measurement extends beyond those three types and includes form-based interactions, live chat, virtual assistants and social media interactions, as well as the ability to book in-person or virtual meetings using digital platforms. It appears that as one method becomes too expensive or poorly serviced, another so-called innovative, marketing-hyped method is introduced with no improvements to the overall service experience.

Surviscor analyzes three aspects of customer interaction, including pre-login and logged-in interactions, the methods of interaction offered through desktop and mobile, and the overall service responsiveness of each firm. Our proprietary mystery shopping program has accumulated over 115,000 interactions over the past 16 years, covering a total of 45 banking and brokerage firms.

In Surviscor’s opinion, customer service now finds itself on a slippery slope. We feel that digital banking firms are prioritizing servicing customers where it is convenient for themselves—not their customers. For example, virtual assistants are marketed as leading-edge but are really just a kind of interactive FAQ. Overall, despite the increased methods of interacting, our data shows that Canadians are not receiving better service levels than they did a decade ago. For example, in 2024, the consumer banking industry responded to our mystery shopping inquiries in 39 hours on average, the same amount of time as in 2015. A deeper dive into the average of the top 15 firms indicates a slight 20% decrease in response times over the same 10-year period, which is promising.

That said, Simplii Financial stands out for offering superior service through digital platforms. Both Simplii and Winnipeg-based Assiniboine Credit Union answer in less than two hours on average—and neither is a Big Five bank.

Gold—Best for service: Simplii Financial

Simplii Financial, CIBC’s discount banking arm, is our top choice for overall service experience in 2025, scoring 45 out of a possible 80 points. Simplii Financial has the strongest results in our mystery shopping program. Among 142 interactions recorded in 2024, it averaged a less-than-one-hour turnaround on anonymous service inquiries.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about Simplii Financial

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Best online banking firms for rates and fees

It’s not easy to find the best rates and fees on your banking products, considering all the options available today. Consumers tend to focus on the costs of borrowing through mortgages, lines of credit and even car loans. Money is no longer almost free to borrow as it was a few years ago, so these rates have a large impact on the cost of living, especially for younger consumers. But there’s more than the cost of borrowing to consider.

For this category, Surviscor measures the rates and fees offered on five types of products: chequing accounts, non-investment savings accounts, registered savings accounts (namely, registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs)), guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) and term deposits, and mortgages. Note that we use posted rates and ignore promotional and/or account bundling deals, as the number of permutations and combinations is enough to make anyone abandon their research.

The gloomy reality: if you think your big bank provides overall competitive rates and fees, you are very mistaken. The smaller firms offer aggressively low rates and fees to gain traction with Canadians. Larger firms market the whole experience of being a customer and entice you with add-ons, mostly to distract from their less competitive rates.

Gold—Best for rates and fees (tie): Tangerine and EQ Bank

We had trouble deciding which was better between Tangerine and EQ Bank, so we crowned both for having the best overall rates and fees in 2025, scoring 92 out of a possible 150 points. 

Tangerine boasts some of the best mortgage rates and offers competitive rates and fees on chequing accounts, non-investment savings accounts and GIC/term deposits. The interest rates offered on registered savings accounts, however, could be better.

EQ Bank boasts industry-leading investment interest and non-investment savings account interest and fees along with very competitive GIC/term deposit interest rates. Good luck trying to find their mortgage rates without being an actual customer, though. 

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about Tangerine 

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about EQ Bank

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Best online banking firms for onboarding experience

For this category, we evaluate the features and functionality related to becoming a new customer or expanding on a current relationship with the firm, and the service interaction methods that support the process. Our review applies to both pre-login and secure customer areas of both the desktop and mobile platforms. 

To measure the onboarding experience at each firm, Surviscor looks at the types of accounts offered, the features and resources that support the onboarding process, the number of accounts available in one session, and the various service interaction methods offered when opening an account digitally. A customer must be able to open the account using an electronic signature process to be given credit.

The big banks tend to excel over other firms in this category, mainly due to the breadth of accounts and products they offer. But the good news is that most firms have incorporated some level of digital-based functionality.

Gold—Best for onboarding experience: CIBC

CIBC is our undisputed choice for overall onboarding experience in 2025, scoring 68 out of a possible 120 points. It offers both prospective and current customers a well-designed and easy-to-use digital account opening process on both platforms. With CIBC, you can easily open a wide array of accounts and receive support when you need it.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about CIBC 

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Best online banking firms for digital user experience

This category focuses on an individual’s experience using either of the digital platforms. We measure the usability of desktop and mobile platforms, both inside and outside of their secure areas. We analyze the features and functionality that impact investor choice, convenience and control of the overall experience (through the analysis of user protection features, navigational design, product availability and a user’s ability to customize their experience).

Even though most of the big banks outperform, our broader look at the usability of digital banking platforms allows all firms to compete.

Gold—Best for digital user experience: TD Canada Trust

TD Canada Trust is our undisputed choice for overall platform experience in 2025, scoring 58 out of a possible 100 points—16 points ahead of the next-best RBC Royal Bank. TD Canada Trust excels on both platforms thanks to its user-friendly navigational designs (both before and after logging in), and the level of products and services offered.

Its main drawback is that the designs do not allow users a lot of customized features to enhance the overall experience.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about TD Canada Trust

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Best online banking firms for account information and management

The account information and management experience constitutes a large portion of the main activities performed on desktop and mobile, including reviewing your balances, past transactions and account details. The key measurements include how much account information you can see on your own, how well you can sift through the information, how well you can manage your personal details, and generally speaking, how easily you can get a snapshot of your overall account standing on each digital visit.

The big banks tend to excel over the other firms in this category, but all firms struggle to offer the same features and functionality and level of excellence on both of their digital platforms.

Gold—Best for account information and management: CIBC and TD Canada Trust

We had trouble deciding which was better between CIBC and TD Canada Trust, so we crowned both for having the best account management experience in 2025. Each scored 64 out of a possible 120 points.

These results tell us the industry as a whole is not cutting it: the top firms only score a little more than 50% of the maximum points available. Despite the overall tie, CIBC offers more consistency across both platforms, something TD Canada Trust struggles with. If you are a TD Canada Trust customer, you will have, in some cases, a totally different experience in some facets of account management depending on your platform of choice.

CIBC excels at subsequent account opening experiences and digital-based account services, and it offers good account notifications. Meanwhile, TD Canada Trust excels at account information and account documentation on its mobile platform but performs poorly for the same areas on its desktop platform. 

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about CIBC

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about TD Canada Trust

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Best online banking firms for completing digital transactions

The digital transactional experience accounts for a large portion of the main activities performed on desktop and mobile.

We measure the digital-based features and functionality that support the products available on both platforms, including all money movements (internal transfers, third-party transfers and Interac transactions), bill payments, cheque deposits, investment purchases, and other miscellaneous processes, such as international transfers and precious metal purchases.

The big banks tend to excel over the other firms in this category.

Gold—Best for digital transactions: RBC Royal Bank

Royal Bank is the undisputed leader for overall transactional experience in 2025, scoring 82 out of a possible 110 points. It finishes 26 points ahead of the next-best National Bank of Canada, mainly on the strength of its desktop platform, which provides an above-average experience compared to its peers.

On the mobile side, RBC Royal Bank doesn’t score as well on the availability of investments and the experience of buying those investments.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about RBC

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Best online banking firms for educational resources

Education means different things to different people, and it sometimes does at these digital banking firms as well. In its purest sense, education means learning. But this leads some firms to consider help features (specific and general, FAQs, etc.), virtual agents and even blog posts as part of education. These resources are sometimes included in areas labelled as learning centres or similar.

Surviscor disagrees with using such a broad definition of education. We measure the availability, presentation and ease of use of written education material, quizzes, courses, videos, webinars, podcasts and even decision tools based on the products offered. These should provide digital users with knowledge of banking and investment products and the impacts these can have on their financial roadmap. 

A few big banks tend to provide the best educational experiences. The industry as a whole could do a better job at providing more targeted resources and ensuring the educational experience translates to mobile platforms.

Gold — Best for educational resources: CIBC

CIBC is our undisputed leader for overall educational experience in 2025, scoring a near-perfect 59 out of a possible 60 points—far ahead of the mid-level-ranking firms. CIBC provides a balanced offering of interactive educational resources on desktop and does well, relative to its peers, on mobile.

The main drawback with CIBC is that it could have more tools and calculators on mobile.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about CIBC 

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Best online banking firms for account analysis and budgeting

The digital account analysis and budgeting experience represents eight main criteria out of hundreds we look at between the desktop and mobile platforms. This area of focus was requested by MoneySense and isn’t part of a broader account information experience within each Surviscor review.

We checked for the existence of a tool that allows you to visually see and analyze your account activity. We then drilled down into the features that enhance your analysis and differentiate firms when it comes to account budgeting and financial planning.

There are many firms in this race, but the fact is that not many of them do it very well. Only 50% of the firms examined offer some level of coverage, and only 25% of them offer what we would call a legitimate account analytics tool that has budgeting and planning features based on actual transactional data.

Gold—Best for analysis and budgeting: ATB Financial

ATB Financial, a government-owned Alberta-based firm, is our top choice for providing the best account analysis and budgeting experience in 2025, scoring 19 out of a possible 20 points. ATB’s strength is the number of different product accounts incorporated into its analytics tool. It stands out by offering the ability to customize and set up categories and sub-categories for individual revenues and expenses.

Learn more: Surviscor’s likes and dislikes about ATB Financial 

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Compare Canada’s best digital banking firms

To view all the data in the table, slide the columns right/left/up/down using your fingers or mouse. A checkmark symbol indicates the feature is available on both mobile and desktop; a checkmark followed by one of the two platforms indicates the feature is available on that platform only; and an X indicates the feature isn’t available on either platform.

(1) 142 service requests per firm between January and December 2024
(2) Industry average response time was 39 hours between January and December 2024

Methodology

Surviscor representatives completed a features and functionality questionnaire of nearly 8,000 questions for each firm in the review, covering both desktop and mobile platforms, while performing hundreds of typical investor tasks on each individual digital platform. Surviscor also analyzed the firms’ rates and fees across five products in February 2025 and reviewed 142 service interactions over a 12-month period ending on Dec. 31, 2024. Each firm was assigned a score based on its ranking within the 10 sections of our review (10 points for first place; 9 for second; 8 for third; 7 for fourth; 6 for fifth; 5 for sixth; 4 for seventh; 3 for eight; 2 for ninth and 1 for tenth), and the overall score represents the sum of the awarded sections.

More Surviscor resources

Looking for more information? Surviscor provides exclusive and curated information with the digital banking customer in mind. Here are some valuable links to consider:

• Surviscor offers unbiased analysis of Canadian online banking and online brokers based on facts, not influenced by marketing campaigns and paid reviews. At the website, you can read in-depth analysis of the four major investor/client experiences, helping consumer banking customers and self-directed investors to quickly decide on the online firms that will work best for their goals and interests. Surviscor’s reviews provide a comprehensive look at each Canadian online banking and online brokerage firm, including rankings and scores for fees, service levels and both digital platforms (desktop and mobile).
• Powered by Surviscor’s extensive research, scorChoice, the only tool of its kind in Canada, allows digital bankers to produce a personalized scorecard of the top firms that suit the desired digital banking experience criteria. The beauty of the tool is that it can be useful for Canadians and newcomers to quickly gain insight on the firms that could satisfy their initial needs. And longstanding clients can use it to not only validate current relationships, but also gain insight into firms that may provide a better solution.
• The truth often lies somewhere between the lines. Surviscor’s blog, Between the Lines, provides valuable insight into consumer banking and online brokerage customer-facing digital experiences and general insight through Surviscor’s annual reviews.

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Read more about banking:

• Video: How to find the best online bank account

• The best chequing accounts in Canada
• MoneySense’s free Excel template for your monthly budget
• It’s probably time you switched banks—4 easy steps for Canadians

About Glenn LaCoste

Glenn LaCoste, president and CEO of Surviscor Group, is a spokesperson and analyst in the online and mobile banking and brokerage industries in Canada. He has more than 30 years of experience in financial services.

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