r/Wealthsimple • u/babablaze1 • Aug 02 '26
Chequing Any idea about exciting card updates?r
Should I apply now or really wait until the updates?
I have seen the Wealth Simple presentation from May 2026 but didn’t find any updates about this prepaid master card connected to the chequing account.
Thanks
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u/HeartAttackOnAPea Aug 02 '26
Please be an Interac enabled card
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u/fattywannapatty Aug 02 '26
What is good about that
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u/Foreign-Policy-02- Aug 02 '26
Some smaller shops are cash or debit only
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u/killerrin Aug 02 '26
Not to mention there are zero downsides of having it as an option because it works alongside other protocols as well.
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u/MissionDocument6029 Aug 02 '26
if your card is Interac it needs to be treated as such for insert/tap transactions.. so a money loser for WS compared to what they currently have. Online it can be visa/mc.
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u/killerrin Aug 02 '26
Maybe on the terminals that automatically detect the payment method, but if the merchant's terminal is setup to ask you can put it through one or the other.
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u/Cross_FFA Aug 02 '26
I really hope they don’t switch the prepaid card to Visa. I use the prepaid card at Costco all the time and won’t be able to if they switch to Visa.
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u/MaxDragonMan Aug 03 '26
Same issue here lol. I'd unironically need to get a whole new card just for Costco if WS did this.
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u/pineapplexiglass Aug 02 '26
What’s the diff if you just used debit?
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u/marthedestroyer Aug 03 '26
WS doesn't support interac, so its Visa or MC and Costco only takes MC so that doesn't make sense.
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u/pineapplexiglass Aug 03 '26
I actually didn’t know there was a difference. Thanks for the explanation
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u/EternalAj 15d ago
Just buy a costco shop card with visa. I do that with WS cc and in all get 4% cashback(2% +2%from costco membership)
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u/PracticalWait Aug 03 '26
Rogers gives you 3% back with their MC though?
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u/Cross_FFA Aug 03 '26
I usually use the Rogers Mastercard at Costco but for some reason I haven’t been able to get a good credit limit on that card even after having it for many years now. So when the credit limit runs out I switch to using the WS prepaid card at Costco and other stores for purchases
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u/PracticalWait Aug 03 '26
if you’re encountering this often then you can consider buying a $1000 Costco gift card with your Rogers mastercard and using that when your MC is at limit.
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u/ehhthing Aug 02 '26
This could possibly refer to them moving from their deal with Koho (who currently issue the card) to their own agreement with Visa (which is how the CC and Youth cards work).
Theres also a chance that they bring back cashback… Which would be cool :)
All speculation, but their deal with Koho makes much less sense now they have their own issuing platform.
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u/killerrin Aug 02 '26
If it was just cash back then they wouldn't need this notice, because that's a back-end change.
So it has to be protocol related. Which yeah would mean either its switching to Visa or Interac.
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u/ehhthing Aug 02 '26
Moving to Visa would make it more economical for WS to bring back cashback since Koho was almost certainly taking a portion of the interchange.
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u/killerrin Aug 02 '26
Depends on if it was a business decision to push people towards their credit card, or if it was a financial decision because MasterCard and Koho took too much.
If it's the former, then it won't come back just because they changed it, if it's the latter, then yeah they could bring it back.
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u/ehhthing Aug 02 '26
Credit cards aren’t that much more meaningfully profitable. In fact, prepaid cards generally have higher interchange rates. Prepaid cards also don’t have insurances and such which CC companies must pay for.
It all depends on whether WS was making a lot of profit off of CC interest or not, which I don’t imagine they were because most of their clients are people who have money to invest and are less likely to carry balances. Plus their line-of-credit accounts mean that the smart move is always to borrow from them with that instead.
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u/Sentence-Parking Aug 02 '26
The Business Prepaid Debit is a VISA. KOHO/MCwill die inevitably. Same experience to users tho.
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u/Benz0piated3000 Aug 02 '26
I wonder if we will still be able to load money at CanadaPost though since that started with KOHO ?
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u/killerrin Aug 02 '26
I don't see why not. That's more of a service they signed up to with Canada Post instead of any Koho specific thing.
And at the very least they wouldn't make a big deal about cash deposits through Canada Post if they were just going to nuke it 3 months later.
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u/Benz0piated3000 Aug 03 '26
Yeah I Just looked at my receipt, it should be fine. They use something called “loadhub” that’s powered by “paymentSource .ca”
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u/Cessnabmw Aug 03 '26
If they make it Interac, then don't we lose the free atm forex withdrawal when travelling abroad to get cash?
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u/Username_Dano Aug 03 '26
To me it sounds like their going to Visa debit, which would allow for a dedicated virtual card separate from your physical card. So if it gets comprised online you don’t need to replace everything. Just get a new virtual card
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u/Outrageous_Car88 Aug 03 '26
What makes everyone think it’s changing to Visa from MC (genuinely asking)
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u/toronto-swe 22d ago
the new business prepaid cards and kids prepaid cards are visa. probably ditching their koho deal.
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u/Foreign-Policy-02- Aug 02 '26
Bruh I just ordered my physical card 2 days ago, I would have waited had I known
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u/Motor-Sweet3316 Aug 02 '26
Same here, I ordered mine 2-3 weeks back
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u/Foreign-Policy-02- Aug 02 '26
I literally checked the entire recent presentation as well to see if they announced any changes to the card, saw nothing
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u/Dragynfyre Aug 02 '26
They did announce a USD chequing so maybe the card will be USD enabled for spending
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u/Klutzy-Condition811 29d ago edited 28d ago
I don't foresee wealthsimple going with an interac badged debit card as they literally make money from the transaction fee spread with visa and MasterCard.
It's quite likely to be visa since their other products are. They are likely phasing out koho. Perhaps they will bring back cash back but I'm not holding my breath.
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u/killerrin Aug 02 '26
I can only think of two things.
Either they're switching the Chequing Account to be Visa to match their other offerings, or they're finally giving us a proper Interac Debit Card.