For customers of Wise Payments Canada Inc., your money is safeguarded in line with our regulatory obligations in Canada.
This means we keep your money separate from the money we use to run our business, and protect it while we're holding it for you.
If you hold money in your chequing account, your eligible deposits are held in trust with a Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) member institution. You're designated as a beneficiary of the trust, which means your eligible deposits can receive CDIC deposit protection of up to the equivalent of 100,000 CAD.
How we safeguard your money
When you send money with Wise or hold money in your chequing account, we safeguard customer funds separately from the money we use to run Wise, in line with Canadian safeguarding requirements.
This is designed to protect your money in the unlikely event that Wise were to become insolvent, and to make sure your money remains available to you.
If you hold money with Wise in your chequing account, your eligible deposits also get CDIC deposit protection. Your eligible deposits are held in trust with a CDIC member institution and you're designated as a beneficiary.
This means that if the CDIC member institution holding those deposits were to fail, your eligible deposits can receive CDIC protection of up to the equivalent of 100,000 CAD*.
What's the difference between safeguarding and CDIC deposit protection?
They protect your money in different circumstances.
Safeguarding protects your money if Wise were to fail. We keep customer money separate from the money we use to operate Wise, in accordance with the requirements of the Retail Payment Activity Act.
CDIC deposit protection protects eligible deposits if the CDIC member institution holding them were to fail. When you hold money in your Wise account, eligible deposits are held in trust and you're designated as a beneficiary. This means they can receive CDIC protection up to the equivalent of 100,000 CAD*.
So when you hold money with Wise, your money benefits from Wise's safeguarding** and eligible deposits also benefit from CDIC protection.
What about money I'm sending with Wise?
Your money is also safeguarded while we're holding it as part of a transfer.
For example, there can be a period between us receiving your money and paying it out to your recipient. During this time, we safeguard applicable customer funds in line with Canadian requirements.
This means safeguarding isn't only for money you choose to keep in your Wise account, it also protects applicable customer funds we're temporarily holding while completing a transfer.
Is Wise a bank?
No. Wise Payments Canada Inc. isn't a bank, and we don't lend your money out to people or businesses.
Instead we safeguard your money in accordance with the rules set out in the Retail Payment Activity Act which apply to us as a payment service provider in Canada. When you hold money in your Wise account, your eligible deposits are held in trust with a CDIC member institution making those deposits eligible for CDIC protection as described above*.
Who regulates Wise in Canada?
Wise Payments Canada Inc. is regulated in Canada by a number of authorities.
We're registered as a payment service provider with the Bank of Canada under the Retail Payment Activities Act. The Bank of Canada supervises payment service providers like Wise, including how we manage operational risks and safeguard customer funds.
We're also registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a Money Services Business (MSB), under registration number M15193392.
In Quebec, we're licensed as a Money Services Business by Revenu Québec, under licence number 902804.
These regulatory requirements help make sure we manage your money safely and meet the standards that apply to the services we provide in Canada.
*Wise is not a CDIC member institution, however your eligible deposits are held in trust with a CDIC member institution, and you have been designated as a beneficiary. As such, if the institution fails, your funds are eligible for CDIC deposit protection up to 100,000 CAD when CDIC trust disclosure requirements are met. It is our responsibility to meet these disclosure requirements for your automatic protection. cdic.ca/depositors/whats-covered/fintechs/. CDIC limits apply per beneficiary and are subject to CDIC rules, which may aggregate deposits held at the same member institution.
**Your Funds are held in a segregated account in accordance with the requirements of the Retail Payment Activity Act. This means your funds are kept separate from Wise Canada’s own operating funds. Safeguarding is not equivalent to deposit insurance.