Tangerine vs EQ Bank Comparison 2025

If you’re looking for the Best Online Bank in Canada in 2025, the competition really boils down to Tangerine vs. EQ Bank. 

With interest rates of 4% and beyond, each of the two digital banks offer a great place to reliably grow your money. They also both stand out for their variety of accounts/products, user-friendly platforms, and low fees. They excel not only as online banks but also when compared to the traditional Big Banks! That said – at the end of the day, there can only be one Canada online banking champion.

In this comparison, we’ll examine how Tangerine and EQ Bank compare in terms of interest rates, fees, product offerings, and more.

Tangerine vs EQ Bank Quick Comparison

Products	Chequing and savings accounts U.S. Dollar savings Credit cards GICs Mortgages RRSP TFSA RSP HELOC Business savings accounts	Hybrid Chequing/Savings accounts U.S Dollar savings Mortgage Marketplace Reloadable EQ Bank card GICs RRSP TFSA FHSA Elite currency exchange Business accounts
ATM/Interac transactions?	Yes, for free at POS and from Scotiabank ATMs.	Yes, with the reloadable EQ Bank card. Free withdrawals from any ATM in Canada, plus 0.5% cashback on every purchase.
Account transaction fees	$0	$0
Savings Account Interest Rate	0.30% base rate although promos currently exist with a short term 5 month -teaser rate of 4.50%	1.25% + 2.25% with direct deposit for a total of 3.50%
GIC 1-Year Interest Rate	3.45%	3.40%
Sign Up	Visit Tangerine	Visit EQ Bank

Tangerine vs EQ Bank Interest Rates

When most people are comparing the best online banking options in Canada, the key number is the interest rate.  What interest rate can I get in a High Interest Savings Account (HISA)?

There is simply no comparison between Tangerine and EQ Bank when it comes to the long-term interest rate.

EQ Bank = 4.00% – 1.25% +2.75% when you set up direct deposit

Tangerine – 0.30%

EQ has always prioritized their long term savings rate and made sure that it stays at the very top of the Canadian rankings or within spitting distance.  

Tangerine on the other hand used to be a market leader in this field back when they were ING Direct.  Here’s an old school ING Direct commercial that caused some serious nostalgia for me.

The claim in that commercial, “Your account pays the highest rate – always will!”

Needless to say, that has not been the case since ING was purchased by Scotiabank and became Tangerine. The interest rate has steadily edged downwards ever since that point. Now Tangerine relies on short-term teaser rates to get you in the door, and then hopes you stay. It must be a profitable strategy or they wouldn’t continue to do it.  I just don’t like the whole idea of “tricking people in the door”. 

Massive Winner: EQ Bank

GIC Rates for Tangerine and EQ Bank

It’s not just the high interest savings account, TFSA, and RRSP rates, plus the availability of a FHSA where EQ Bank beats Tangerine pretty soundly. Below is the comparison table for GICs.

Winner: EQ Bank

Tangerine vs EQ Bank Account Options

Both banks offer RRSPs and TFSAs. 

Tangerine’s interest rate is the same as its Savings Account: 0.30% for both accounts.

EQ offers a superior interest rate of 1.75% for the Tax Free Savings Account and the Retirement Savings Account.

In addition, EQ also offers a First Home Savings Account (FHSA), also with an interest rate of 1.75%. Tangerine does not yet offer a FHSA.For higher interest rates, you can lock in growth with a TFSA or RRSP GIC. They are offered by both Tangerine and EQ, but as you saw in the table above, the best rates depend on the length of the GIC.

Winner: EQ Bank

Tangerine vs EQ Bank: Fees and Account Charges

Both Tangerine and EQ Bank have built their brands on low fees. You won’t find any Big Bank account fees here. Both Tangerine and EQ have slashed the business expenses associated with branch locations, and have passed those savings on to customers.  

While the Tangerine vs EQ bank fee battle is a close one, the edge again goes to EQ, as Tangerine charges an odd inactivity fee as well as a NSF fee, neither of which will probably apply to many people – but looks like a bit of a cash grab. Both companies have zero monthly account fees, free unlimited Electronic Fund and Interac Money transfers, as well as free bill payments.

Winner: EQ Bank

Tangerine vs EQ Bank: Credit Cards and Cheques

When it comes to overall convenience provided by an online bank account, it used to be that Tangerine could not be beat. Their banking package allows clients to use debit cards, credit cards, and cheques.  However, in January 2023, EQ bank launched the EQ Bank Card, helping it catch up to Tangerine in the areas of convenience and making your money work for you.

The EQ Bank Card offers free withdrawals from any Canadian ATM, gives you 0.5% cash back on each purchase, earns customers up to 4% interest on their balance (interest rate is the same as your Personal Account interest rate), and has perks like no foreign exchange fees. These benefits are on par with Canada’s best credit cards, which is pretty impressive for an online bank.

While these are all great offerings, it is not quite as varied as Tangerine’s offerings in terms of credit cards and cheques.

Winner: Tangerine

Tangerine vs. EQ Bank Ease of Use

Being online-only banks, both Tangerine and EQ have prioritized easy-to-navigate websites and customer service.

Setting up an account and connecting external bank accounts is quick and easy on both sites. However, EQ bank allows you to connect up to 10 external accounts, while Tangerine only allows for 3.

When it comes to ATM access for Tangerine clients, you’re limited to Scotiabank’s ATM network. With EQ Bank you can use any ATM in Canada free of charge after transferring money from your EQ Bank account to an EQ bank card.

Another preferred characteristic of EQ Bank is that they do not charge an NSF fee (Non-Sufficient Funds Fee). An NSF fee is when you get penalized for not having enough money in your account when making a transfer. If this happens to you as a client on Tangerine, you’ll owe them $45!

Winner: EQ Bank

Customer service

If you need to talk to someone on the phone, you can call Tangerine 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. EQ Bank’s phone lines are open 8am to midnight EST, 7 days a week. Both banks have chatbots on their website that can provide answers to common questions.

Our personal experience with EQ Bank is that they have been responsive and prompt with emails. Tangerine has received top rankings in the J.D. Power Canada Retail Banking Satisfaction Study for over a decade, also signalling top-notch customer service.

Winner: Tie

Mobile App Review

The Tangerine bank app is visually appealing and includes a wide range of banking options, including digital signup, enabling you to complete account creation right from your mobile device.

You’ll also be able to set up your mobile wallet to make payments with ease. In addition, you’ll have access to money management tools, like their Goals tool, to help you stay on track when it comes to saving money.

The Tangerine mobile app currently has an impressive 4.8 star rating on the Apple App Store and a 4.7 star rating on Google Play.

The EQ Bank Mobile Banking app allows you to complete all of your transactions in one convenient app. Everything from transferring funds, to paying bills, to purchasing GICs can be done on the app. 

The EQ Bank mobile app rating is currently 4.8 on the Apple App Store and lower on the Google Play Store at 4.4 stars, although this is a much improved score since our 2024 update.

While EQ Bank still has improvements to make on its Android app, both banks’ mobile apps are highly rated by users.

Winner: Tangerine

International Banking With EQ Bank or Tangerine

I was quite surprised to learn that as a “full service online bank” Tangerine does not have the ability to receive payments from abroad.  Due to the fact that Tangerine does not have a SWIFT/BIC code, it is useless to people who want to transfer money.

EQ Bank, on the other hand, really shines when it comes to international banking.  As the first bank in Canada to partner with TransferWise (the leading international money transfer company in the world) EQ is able to offer its members the cheapest possible way to convert currencies.  

Most people don’t really understand how much banks charge them to convert one currency for another because it’s kind of hidden in the fine print.  The basic idea is that banks take a slice on either side of the “mid-market rate” – which is the actual exchange rate you’ll see if you look it up online. 

The size of those slices depends on the bank, and the currencies being exchanged, but the end result is that most customers end up paying more than 800% more when exchanging through their brokerage than they do with Transferwise!

Massive Winner: EQ Bank (with an assist from Transferwise)

Tangerine and EQ Bank Current Promotions and Referral Programs

When it comes to promotions, Tangerine loves to give new clients a high interest rate for a few months. This teaser rate inevitably drops off though, leaving EQ with the higher continuing interest rate. They both also offer referral programs. Here are the current offerings:

Tangerine:

• 4.50% savings rate for 5 months for new clients
• Earn up to $250 and 4.50% savings rate when you open a Chequing Account and move your pay
• Earn an extra 10% cash back (up to $100) with a Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card
• Referrals: Receive a $50 bonus for every new client that uses your orange key to sign up (maximum 3 per year). The new client will also receive $50.

EQ Bank:

• 4% interest rate when you add direct deposit to your account
• Referrals: Earn $20 per referral, up to $500 total. The new client will receive $20.

Of course, these promos come with fine print and required actions in order to claim the money or activate the rate. For more promo offers, check out our list of Canada’s Best Bank Account Promotions.

FAQ

EQ Bank vs Tangerine: What’s Best for You?

We covered all the bases when comparing EQ Bank to Tangerine, putting them head-to-head across a variety of categories: accounts, product offerings, fees, interest rates, mobile app quality, user experience, promotions/referrals, and more.

So, who comes out on top—EQ Bank or Tangerine? While Tangerine won in the areas of credit cards and cheques, and might have a slightly better app, it wasn’t enough to surpass EQ Bank.

The clear winner in this comparison is EQ Bank. With significantly higher interest rates on their high-interest savings account and their prepaid Mastercard bank card, EQ Bank has become an even more compelling choice. Plus, EQ offers features like international money transfers and the ability to open an FHSA, which Tangerine doesn’t currently provide.

EQ Bank has also been much more innovative than Tangerine over the last few years, as they have rolled out Canada’s first 30-day Notice Savings Account, in addition to their EQ Bank Card and Small Business Accounts.

After considering all factors, we recommend EQ Bank as Canada’s #1 online bank. Check out our full EQ Bank Review to learn more about why they came out on top.