Financial group Questrade, known to Canadians as an online trading platform, says it has been approved to open a new bank in Canada.
The company said it received approval to open Questbank from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the federal regulator of financial institutions.
According to Questrade CEO and President Edward Cholodenko, this approval was years in the making. Company first used for a banking license in 2019.
“This is a monumental step in our mission to help Canadians become much more financially successful and secure. Following the successful path established over Questrade's 26-year history, we are thrilled to expand our offering to introduce much-needed competition to the Canadian banking landscape,” Cholodenko said in a statement.
Kholodenko says that while he's not ready to share details just yet, Questrade will be working on a full range of services for its bank. The company, which has millions of Canadian customers, expects to share more details in early 2026.
According to Statistics Canada and a TD Bank survey, Generation Z appears to be more financially engaged than previous generations and is starting to invest earlier through RRSPs and TFSAs, often due to finance becoming more internalized through influencers.
Questbank will become Bank Schedule I is a full-fledged domestic bank, not a subsidiary of a foreign bank, and belongs to the same class as the six largest banks in Canada (Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and TD Bank).
The move comes as other fintech companies are also making inroads into the banking space, most notably Wealthsimple Inc., which has been steadily expanding its offerings to include checking accounts, credit cards and mortgages.
However, according to Marius Zoican, associate professor of finance and Canada Research Chair in Fintech at the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business, Questrade's move is a little different. Wealthsimple is not a bank itself, but rather offers financial services partnership with List I banks and using its banking capabilities, he said.
Having a banAs such, Zoican said, Questrade will have more flexibility to offer services at its own discretion and perhaps at better rates than fintech companies that rely on banking partners. However, he adds that Wealthsimple may have some advantage because it was able to offer banking services earlier through the partnership.
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However, Zoican says additional competition in the banking sector is a good thing, as is the opportunity for Canadians to streamline their finances instead of keeping their money at a Big Six bank and moving it to a digital trading platform like Questrade to invest.
“[Customers] stuck between these two worlds. And I think a lot of people would like to have integrated services where they could deal with one institution, they could transfer money. [easily] from checking and savings to investing,” Zoican said. “I think this, especially for the younger generation who are digital-first… is a very welcome development.”
