Equitable Bank

Equitable Bank is a Canadian bank which primarily provides residential and commercial real estate lending services, as well as personal banking through its direct banking brand EQ Bank. The bank was founded in 1970 as The Equitable Trust Company and became a Schedule I Bank offering savings products in 2013.[4] As of 2022, it is Canada’s seventh largest bank,[5] with more than $35 billion in assets under management in 2020.[2] As of September 2020, the bank had over $16 billion in deposits.[6] Equitable Bank is a member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Not to be confused with Equitable PCI Bank.

Equitable Bank
FormerlyThe Equitable Trust Company
TypePublic
TSX: EQB
IndustryBanking
Founded1970
Headquarters
Toronto
,
Canada
Area served
Canada
Key people
Andrew Moor (CEO)[1]
Total assets$35 billion [2] (2020)
Number of employees
800 [3] (2020)
Websiteequitablebank.ca

Equitable Bank provides mortgages, commercial lending services and deposit services. It is headquartered in Toronto with offices in Calgary, Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver. Equitable Bank is one of nine Schedule I banks listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange; it is listed through its parent company EQB (TSX: EQB).

History
EQ Bank
Product typeDirect bank
OwnerEquitable Bank
CountryCanada
IntroducedJanuary 14, 2016 (2016-01-14)
Websiteeqbank.ca

Equitable Bank launched a direct banking operation branded as EQ Bank on January 14, 2016.[7] As a completely online banking service, EQ Bank has no branch locations and also does not provide debit cards or cheques to its consumers.[8]

EQ Bank moved its core banking system onto Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure in November 2019. EQ Bank is the first bank in Canada to be hosted in the cloud.[9] In July 2022, Equitable Bank announced it would also migrate its banking systems onto Azure infrastructure, aiming to completely transition by 2026.[10]

On January 1, 2019, Equitable Bank completed its acquisition of Bennington Financial Services Corp, a growing privately owned company serving the brokered equipment leasing market in Canada.[11]

As of September 2020, the EQ branch had increased their deposits to $4 billion, just three months after reaching the $3 billion mark.[12] At that time, it had grown its customer base to over 149,000 customers.[3] On September 8, 2020, EQ Bank announced that it had surpassed $4B in deposits. [13]

EQ Bank announced it had reached $5 billion in deposits in February 2021. This follows the milestones of $3 billion and $4 billion of deposits, both achieved in 2020.[14]

In April 2021, EQ Bank was named the #1 Bank in Canada on the Forbes list of World’s Best Banks 2021. The World's Best Banks were selected based on over 43,000 consumer surveys representing 28 different countries.[15]

On June 6, 2022, Equitable Group, the holding company for Equitable Bank, changed its legal name to EQB, aligning itself with its subsidiaries.[16]

In November 2022, EQB closed its acquisition of Concentra Bank (majority then owned by SaskCentral in a deal worth $495 million, which, according to Equitable Bank, made it Canada's seventh largest bank. Concentra operated under the Wyth Financial brand, which will be replaced by the EQ Bank brand.[5]

Products and services

Savings Plus Account

The primary product offered by EQ Bank is the Savings Plus Account, a high-interest and no-fee savings account. At launch the bank attracted customers with an interest rate of 3.0%.[17] The rate was lowered on April 18, just 96 days later, to 2.25%.[7] The rate was lowered again to 2.0% on August 25, 2016.[18] In May 2017 the rate was raised to 2.3%.[19] From January to March 2020, the rate peaked at 2.45% before being reduced to 2.0% in response to reductions of the Bank of Canada interest rates due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[20] In August 2020, the interest rate was reduced further to 1.7%, with reasoning continuing to be COVID-19's impact on the industry. In July 2021, the Savings Plus Account had a reduced interest rate of 1.25%.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs)

EQ Bank began offering guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) in May 2018,[21] and launched an international money transfer service in partnership with TransferWise in 2019.[22] All of EQ Bank's products require a Savings Plus Account.

In March 2022, EQ Bank launched new rates on its suite of GIC products. The bank offers GICs from 3 month to 10-year terms.[23]

Joint Savings Plus Account

In July 2020, EQ Bank announced the launch of the EQ Bank Joint Savings Plus Account, which allows customers to invite up to three other people, for a total of four account co-holders.[24]

TFSA & RSP

The EQ Bank Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and the EQ Bank Retirement Savings Plan (RSP) were introduced in December 2020. Both products have no fees and can be opened online.[25]

EQ Bank Card

In January 2023, EQ Bank announced the launch of the EQ Bank Card, a prepaid reloadable Mastercard. The card features no foreign exchange fee, and free ATM withdrawals within Canada; fees are refunded within 10 business days. At launch, the EQ Bank Card offered a 0.5% cashback rate, with the card balance earning interest at the same rate as the Savings Plus Account.[26]

Mortgage Marketplace

In May 2021, EQ Bank announced the launch of its Mortgage Marketplace, a digital service that will allow customers to shop over 2,000 mortgage products offered by various Canadian lenders. In partnership with nesto, a digital mortgage brokerage, users have the ability to be pre-qualified for a mortgage online and receive regular digital updates on the status of their application.[27]

US Dollar Account

EQ Bank launched the EQ Bank US Dollar Account in June 2021. The no-fee account gives EQ Bank customers the ability to send US dollars internationally.[28]

International Money Transfers

On February 6, 2020, announced the addition of 15 new currencies to its International Money Transfer service, powered by Wise.[29] The International Money Transfer service offers transfers in 40+ currencies.[30]

References
  1. Bouw, Brenda. "How Equitable Bank's CEO invests his own money". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  2. "About | Equitable Bank". www.equitablebank.ca. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  3. "Equitable Bank Investor Relations - Investor Relations - Overview". Equitable Bank Investor Relations. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  4. "New bank status may boost shares of mortgage lender Equitable". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  5. Bickis, Ian (November 1, 2022). "EQ Bank closes $495 million takeover of Concentra Bank". thestar.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  6. Inc, Equitable Group. "Equitable Group Reports Record Quarterly Earnings, Diluted EPS $4.30, ROE of 19.8%". www.newswire.ca. Cision. Retrieved November 27, 2020. Deposits at September 30, 2020 were $16.4 billion, up 10% from $14.9 billion a year ago {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  7. Mayers, Adam (May 11, 2016). "EQ Bank's 3% rate gone in 96 days". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  8. Alexander, Doug (January 14, 2016). "Equitable Adds Online Bank to Lure Deposits From Canadian Rivals". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  9. "EQ Bank moves core banking system to the cloud". Equitable Bank Investor Relations. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  10. "Equitable Bank will be first cloud-only bank with Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud vendor". Equitable Bank Investor Relations. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  11. "News Details". EQ Bank. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  12. Bank, Equitable. "EQ Bank reaches $4B in deposits following continued growth and surge in demand for a new way to bank". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  13. "EQ Bank reaches $4B in deposits following continued growth and surge in demand for a new way to bank". Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  14. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  15. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  16. "Equitable Group Inc. is now EQB Inc". Equitable Bank Investor Relations. June 6, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  17. Carrick, Rob (January 21, 2016). "EQ Bank pitches attractive (but temporary) 3% return on savings". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  18. Shecter, Barbara (August 18, 2016). "EQ Bank set to lower high-interest savings account rate again, though it's still top of the market: CEO". Financial Post. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  19. "Savings Plus Account Features & Rates | EQ Bank Canada". www.eqbank.ca. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  20. Alini, Eric (March 12, 2020). "Say goodbye to high interest rates on savings accounts as lenders cut rates". Global News. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  21. "Canadians' big money dreams not backed up by effective saving habits: EQ Bank poll". Cision.
  22. "EQ Bank partners with TransferWise on international money transfers". Cision.
  23. "Best EQ Bank High-Interest GICs 2022 – Updated Rates". Savvy New Canadians. October 21, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  24. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  25. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  26. "New EQ Bank Card gives customers the ability to save, earn, and spend their money". Equitable Bank Investor Relations. January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  27. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  28. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  29. "News Details". EQ Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  30. "EQ Bank and Wise (formerly Transferwise): International Money Transfers Made Cheap". Savvy New Canadians. December 19, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
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