Tangerine Business Account vs Wise Business Canada

Tangerine and Wise are two popular online-only alternative business banking solutions in Canada, each offering different approaches to managing money. While Tangerine comes with a familiar online banking environment featuring classic tools, Wise focuses on making international payments and multi-currency management seamless and affordable.

We’ll compare the two in this article, so you won’t have to figure it out on your own.

Tangerine vs Wise Business: Quick Overview

Let’s start with a snapshot of what Tangerine and Wise bring to the table. Here’s a list of the key features, main fees, and primary use cases for both accounts.

Tangerine vs Wise Business: Key Features

Tangerine and Wise Business are both digital money service providers, but that’s about where their similarities end.

Tangerine

There are a total of four Tangerine business accounts to choose from, including:

• Savings Account
• US$ Savings Account
• Guaranteed Investments (GIC)
• US$ Guaranteed Investments

There isn’t a spending account available specifically for business, so funds will have to be sent to other business chequing accounts or a Tangerine personal account for day-to-day expenses. All available business accounts are made to earn interest on idle cash.

Tangerine keeps it simple—users open up an account, put money into it, and watch their savings grow. There aren’t any business features like invoicing available, but there is an app available to keep an eye on your money. These accounts are meant to be relatively untouched, but money can easily be deposited and withdrawn at any point with no fee.

In terms of customer service, Tangerine has a Chatbot and phone numbers specifically for everyday banking, mortgages, investment funds, and business. There’s also a security centre to report fraud or phishing, and a help centre for other queries.

Wise Business

Wise Business offers just one business account—the Wise Business account. It’s an all-in-one international, online money management solution that relieves businesses of the commonly high fees associated with global transfers and FX. With an account, you can get local banking details in 24 currencies to send and receive money like a local in those countries. For example, you could send pounds to UK suppliers rather than worry about costly conversion fees.

In addition to these global banking tools, Wise also boasts features like multi-user access, batch payments, invoicing, accounting integrations, team spending cards, and more.

Wise has a comprehensive help centre with answers to dozens of questions, and chat, phone, and email support so you’re never left in the dark. Through your account, the platform makes it easy to report fraud or scams immediately.

Wise Business Could Help Your Company Save on Global Payments

Target Users

Because their features and accounts are so vastly different, Wise and Tangerine don’t target the same kind of users.

If you’re a sole proprietor or a small to medium-sized Canadian business that wants to grow your idle savings, Tangerine is the right solution for you. Rather than their business accounts stand as all-in-one banking solutions, they’re designed to complement other business chequing accounts at other institutions.

If you’re an e-commerce business, sole proprietor, or even a limited or public company that’s looking for a complete solution for your international dealings, Wise is the way to go. With its many business-specific tools and attention to low-cost global transfers, you’ll make managing these payments simple.

Key Differences Between Tangerine vs Wise

Tangerine’s business accounts are essentially for stowing your cash away and having it grow as you run your business. Meanwhile, Wise Business is an account for businesses that need to be active with their cash. If you need an account to store and manage multiple currencies in and take advantage of payment tools, Wise can do just that.

While Wise Interest is available in certain countries for GBP, EUR, and occasionally USD, the feature hasn’t yet become available in Canada.

Comparing Costs Between Tangerine vs Wise Business

The best part about both Wise Business and Tangerine is their transparent, low- or no-fee structure. Tangerine doesn’t impose any fees whatsoever, given that there are no features or transactions to pay for. Wise Business has minimal fees that are displayed clearly every time you make a transaction, so you’re well aware of what you’re paying in the moment.

Fees and Exchange Rates

If you’re looking to get access to local banking details in 24 currencies and other Wise tools, a one-time fee of 55 CAD applies. From there, sending and converting money comes with a fee of 0.48%+ depending on the currency involved. The beauty of Wise is that it uses the mid-market rate, which is the exact currency conversion rate with no markups.

Tangerine currency exchange doesn’t deal with exchange or transactions in currencies other than USD and CAD. On September 17, 2025, buying 1 USD would cost 1.401 CAD, and selling 1 USD would get you 1.356 CAD. Considering that the mid-market rate listed on the Bank of Canada daily exchange rate is 1.3748, the Tangerine conversion rate has a markup of 1.91% when buying USD and 1.37% when selling.⁵

Payment Methods and Accessibility

Both online banks are incredibly accessible, with desktop and app versions of their digital platform easy to navigate and use. Since Tangerine’s business accounts aren’t made for making regular transactions, the only time you’ll likely make transfers is when depositing money or withdrawing. You can transfer funds from another Tangerine account, a linked external bank account, deposit through cheque, or send funds via Interac e-Transfer. Alternatively, you can also make deposits and withdrawals for free at a Scotiabank ABM.⁶

For Wise, payment methods are abundant. They include direct debits, debit and credit cards, digital wallets, bank transfers, Interac e-Transfer, online bill payment, and more. Note that payment methods will depend on the currency you’re sending in and where you’re sending money to. All these methods come with different fees, but Wise shows you all this information upfront.

Which Platform Is Best For Your Business

So, with all this information at your disposal, how do you make a final decision? Given that Tangerine and Wise business accounts are so different, the choice shouldn’t be too difficult.

Use Cases for Wise

Ultimately, choose Wise if you need a platform for day-to-day money management and transfers. Wise, unfortunately, doesn’t offer interest on your held cash, but it does have plenty of tools that make doing business much easier. If you’re a business that deal with international customers or suppliers, you can cut down on the typically massive fees charged by big banks with a Wise Business account. Not only will you get the mid-market rate every time, but transfers happen in a matter of seconds or hours and you can track them in real time so you always know where your money is.

Use Cases for Tangerine

Tangerine is for the businesses that want their money to grow. For the cash sitting around not getting used in day-to-day operations, Tangerine business accounts offer highly competitive rates that not many other banks can match.

Save Time and Money On Overseas Payments With Wise Business

Wise Business can help you save big time on international payments. Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account is designed with international business in mind, and makes it easy to send, hold, and manage business funds in currencies.

Use Wise Business >>

Some key features of Wise Business include:

• Mid-market rate: Get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees on international transfers
• Global Account: Send money to countries and hold multiple currencies, all in one place. You can also get major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas payments like a local
• Business Debit Card: Invite your employees to order a debit card for free, and pre-set their spending limit. Add them to your Business account with controlled access and track their spending in one place.
• Global Account: Send money to countries and hold multiple currencies, all in one place. You can also get major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas payments like a local
• Auto-conversions: Don't like the current currency exchange rate? Set your desired rate, and Wise sends the transfer the moment the rate is met
• Free invoicing tool: Generate and send professional invoices
• No minimum balance requirements or monthly fees: Canada based businesses can open an account for free. Learn more about fees here

Sources:

1. Business Savings Account | Tangerine
2. US Dollar Savings Account | Tangerine
3. Wise Business | Wise
4. Business Pricing | Wise
5. Exchange Rates | Tangerine
6. How to make deposits and withdrawals | Tangerine