Canada's BEST and WORST Mobile-based Online Brokerage Experiences

Questrade continues to provide the Best Mobile-based Investing experience for Canadian Self-Directed Investors

Canadian Online Brokerage firms have different approaches when it comes to providing self-directed investors with mobile-based platforms. The newest approach, and hopefully not the industry's future stance, is to provide self-directed investors with transactional-based mobile platforms with basic account and market information. The result is traditional account management, educational material, and the deeper investment information to form investment strategies must be performed on the desktop platform. The result is that for a self-directed investor to receive the best digital experiences, the investor is forced to use both handheld devices and desktops.

The two-platform trend is both puzzling and confusing, and the struggle is understanding the why. Could it be to save money? Could it simply be laziness on the part of management teams? Or is it simply a misconception of the new investors' wants and needs or are the firms trying to shape those needs, knowing that the rookie investor doesn't know any better? Whatever the reason, and in our opinion, the needs of an unassuming rookie investor are not being met and the current and long-standing customers are the ones paying for the new approach.

Go to Review Breakdown

Go to Why the Surviscor Reviews are Different

Go to The Storylines

Go to Results by Firm Type

Go to Full Rankings

Review Insights

The Mobile Brokerage Review was introduced in 2015 and explores a typical mobile device-based self-directed investor experience, including both the pre-login and login areas, that evaluates the mobile journey through each investor process and typical investor experience.

For the third straight year, QUESTRADE provides the best overall mobile-based self-directed discount brokerage investor experience through its layered platforms, designed to allow an investor to move along the self-directed investing growth cycle. Conversely, for the third straight year, WEATHSIMPLE TRADE provides the worst overall experience amongst rated firms due to its mainly transactional platform which, unlike QUESTRADE, does not offer a self-directed investor much opportunity for self-growth.

2022 Was a Busy Development Year

It was nice to see some life at several firms in 2022 and it should run into 2023 as several releases are pending. In terms of new or re-designed platforms, BMO INVESTORLINE, CIBC and SCOTIABANK made some moves and NATIONAL BANK DIRECT BROKERAGE and QTRADE DIRECT INVESTING are on the cusp of new platforms.

APP Stores Tell the Story - Or Do They?

Part of the mobile brokerage analysis is to visit the two App stores and look at the releases over the past years. The Apple App Store provides a year of data while the Google Play Store shows the last release and they both indicate the user ratings of Apps. What we learned was that release records indicate that most firms simply record bugs and usability fixes throughout the year which means no real features and functionality improvements.

Firms Talking Biometrics Instead of Investments

When are firms going to stop highlighting Face ID and Fingerprint access to apps as some ground-breaking feature? The misrepresentation is that the firms are the ones who drive this technology while it really depends on the mobile device. Don't get us wrong, these are good features and should be offered at each firm, but they should not replace key investment process features and functionality.

Account Opening Pullback on Mobile

The self-directed brokerage industry is often defined as an ultra-competitive landscape where firms try very hard to retain current customers while trying to attract the new investor. Opening a new account is a process and obviously an important process for new investors. The head-scratcher is that the firms are focused on new investors who they say live on mobile devices but the trend, mainly at bank-owned firms, is to remove pre-login mobile-based account opening processes to go along with scaled-down mobile-based designs.

How Surviscor Evaluates the Firms

The 2022 Surviscor Canadian Mobile Brokerage Experience Review audited 13 Canadian Online Brokers and removed 2 firms from the rankings due to non-mobilized platforms. In each case, the review explores a typical mobile-based online brokerage investing experience, including both the pre-login and secure login areas. The audit took place in October 2022 and evaluated each firm over 6 experience categories, including 28 sub-categories, evaluating just shy of 400 individual usage criteria based on 3900-plus objective questions per firm.

MOBILE EXPERIENCE BREAKDOWN

Click here for a more in-depth explanation of each category and sub-category.

Why Surviscor Reviews Are Different

The Surviscor Experience Reviews are the largest and most unbiased evaluations in North America and known for uncompromised facts, and truth, about true customer experiences and online journeys. The differentiation between Surviscor reviews, other review and ranking firms, and individuals who claim to cover the Canadian consumer banking and online brokerage industries, is that Surviscor reviews are based on facts, and a lot of them, not on subjective, and often firm-sponsored or limited sample size results that are unfortunately all over the internet.

The Storylines

We have all heard of the saying 'no two things are created equal' and the 2022 edition of the annual Surviscor Canadian Mobile-based Online Brokerage rankings demonstrates the validity of the saying. At first glance, placing a trade is a placing a trade. The truth is, there are many differences and Canadians should take notice. Not every stock or ETF transaction experience is the same. The best firms consider each investing process from end to end and maximize the overall experience with supporting features to enhance the functionality and investment journey. The sad reality is that a good portion of Canadian Online Brokerage firms provide very basic mobile-based functionality which downgrades the overall mobile brokerage usage experiences.

The Theme Remains the Same - Less is More

We know we sound like a broken record but as industry firms finally catch-up with improved look and feel designs, less mobile-based features and functionality is a fact.

Is Usage That Low That Nobody Cares?

App Store release records indicate that bugs are the main release items. Bugs are errors with the platform and are typically generated by users. So, if there are bugs every month and a lack of new features, does it mean that usage is up and there's no time or do firms simply not care to improve the whole experience?

Say Goodbye to Free Pre-Login Quotes

There was a day, and not too long ago, that leading firms provided access to free market data prior to a mobile-based login. The newest releases indicate that trend to login pages versus pre-login information. Yet another example of takeaways versus additions

BMO INVESTORLINE Grade: B

We have been tough on BMO INVESTORLINE over the past years because we remember the firm that use to dominate the industry. The much-anticipated re-release is a welcomed sight, and our grade is based on a new and improved design based on the older features and functionality. The reason the grade doesn't get an A is that, sadly, the new release removed some key investing experience items.

CIBC INVESTOR'S EDGE Grade: C

The good news is that CIBC INVESTOR'S EDGE is making changes. The disappointing news is that the recent changes have not improved the overall mobile-based experience. Like it's industry peers, the grade misses the next level due to the removal of items, in this case, a slew of pre-login features.

SCOTIA iTRADE Grade: D

Mobile Brokerage Experience Rankings - By Firm Types

The Canadian Online Brokerage landscape is not very big but is split between bank-owned firms and independent firms. Whatever your preference, here's a look at the best and worst firms in each segment:

BANK-OWNED FIRMS - RANKINGS

Bank-owned firms account for five of the top seven rankings when the focus is on mobile-based platforms. BMO INVESTORLINE is the top ranked bank-owned firm but not completely attributed to its long awaited new mobile platform release. The new look and feel is a bonus for sure but the fact that some features and functionalities were taken away is concerning. TD DIRECT INVESTING rounds out the top three in 2022 based on its traditional platform not its newest TD EasyTrade scaled-down platform.

In terms of the other bank-owned firms, NATIONAL BANK DIRECT BROKERAGE is still succeeding with its mobilized platform and has plans to release a true mobile platform soon. CIBC INVESTOR'S EDGE made some real feature and functionality changes in the past year and RBC DIRECT INVESTING continues its development sleep mode. SCOTIA iTRADE, who use to be the cat's meow in this arena and now sits in the worst ranking, did introduce a newly designed platform in the past year but it proved to be disappointing like most of its parent-company SCOTIABANK's digital development initiatives in the past few years. Something needs to give at Scotia iTRADE.

COMPLETE RESULTS - All Firms under Review

Best Online Brokers Rankings: Canada's Best and Worst Online Brokerage Firms

Commissions and Fees Experience Rankings: Canada's Best and Worst Online Brokerage Commissions and Fees Experiences

Service Experience Rankings: Canada's Best and Worst Online Brokerage Service Experiences

Online Platform Experience Rankings: Canada's Best and Worst Online-based Brokerage Experiences