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] It is now Canada’s ninth largest independent bank, with more than $35 billion in assets under management.[2] As of September 2020, the bank had over $16 billion in deposits.[5] Equitable Bank is a member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.

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

Mortgage lender

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 Equitable Group (TSX: EQB).

EQ Bank
EQ Bank
Product typeNeobank (Online 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.[6] As a completely online banking service, EQ Bank has no branch locations and also does not provide debit cards, credit cards, or cheques to its consumers.[7]

As of September 2020, the EQ branch had increased their deposits to $4 billion, just three months after reaching the $3 billion mark.[8] It should also be noted that at that time it has grown its customer base to over 149,000 customers. [3] EQ Bank reaches $4B in deposits following continued growth and surge in demand for a new way to bank [9]

Products and services

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%.[10] The rate was lowered on April 18, just 96 days later, to 2.25%.[6] The rate was lowered again to 2.0% on August 25, 2016.[11] In May 2017 the rate was raised to 2.3%.[12] 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.[13] 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 November 2020, the Savings Plus Account had a reduced interest rate of 1.50%.

EQ Bank began offering guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) in May 2018,[14] and launched an international money transfer service in partnership with TransferWise in 2019.[15] All of EQ Bank's products require a Savings Plus Account.

Criticism

Bank transfer hold periods take anywhere from 5 to 8 business days.[16]

Some customers have encountered issues accessing EQ Bank's website and mobile applications due to planned and unplanned maintenance periods. [17][18] Customers who are unable to access their bank accounts may receive a message such as "something has gone wrong."[19]

EQ Bank periodically changes its interest rates according to guidance set by the Bank of Canada and has been criticized for not giving customers enough notice before this happens.

References
  1. Bouw, Brenda. "How Equitable Bank's CEO invests his own money". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  2. "About | Equitable Bank". www.equitablebank.ca. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. "Equitable Bank Investor Relations - Investor Relations - Overview". Equitable Bank Investor Relations. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  4. "New bank status may boost shares of mortgage lender Equitable". Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  5. Inc, Equitable Group. "Equitable Group Reports Record Quarterly Earnings, Diluted EPS $4.30, ROE of 19.8%". www.newswire.ca. Cision. Retrieved 27 November 2020. Deposits at September 30, 2020 were $16.4 billion, up 10% from $14.9 billion a year ago
  6. Mayers, Adam (May 11, 2016). "EQ Bank's 3% rate gone in 96 days". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  7. Alexander, Doug (January 14, 2016). "Equitable Adds Online Bank to Lure Deposits From Canadian Rivals". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  8. 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 2020-10-23.
  9. "EQ Bank reaches $4B in deposits following continued growth and surge in demand for a new way to bank". Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  10. Carrick, Rob (January 21, 2016). "EQ Bank pitches attractive (but temporary) 3% return on savings". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  11. 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.
  12. "Savings Plus Account Features & Rates | EQ Bank Canada". www.eqbank.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  13. Alini, Eric (12 March 2020). "Say goodbye to high interest rates on savings accounts as lenders cut rates". Global News. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  14. "Canadians' big money dreams not backed up by effective saving habits: EQ Bank poll". Cision.
  15. "EQ Bank partners with TransferWise on international money transfers". Cision.
  16. https://www.eqbank.ca/general-banking/legal/hold-funds-policy
  17. https://downdetector.ca/status/eq-bank/
  18. https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/dgybgg/i_just_think_its_crazy_that_eq_bank_is_down_for/
  19. something has gone wrong
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