Surviscor Canadian Online Brokerage Experience Reviews - Canada's BEST and WORST Mobile Brokerage Experiences

Ranking the Best Online Brokers for Mobile Investing Experiences in Canada

Questrade continues to offer the best mobile investing experiences amongst Canadian Online Brokers

These days, if you're a DIY investor, hopefully you've noticed the struggle of investing solely using a mobile-based platform and maybe you are unaware that bouncing between desktop and mobile platforms is the way to get the most out of your investments. Mobile apps are great for quick trades and checking your account, but when it comes to deeper insights, account management, or educational tools, you still need to switch back to your desktop platform. This gap means you've got to use both digital platforms to really stay on top of things.

Surviscor's 2024 Online Brokerage Mobile Investing Experience Review highlights this exact issue. While firms like Questrade are still leading the pack, others like Desjardins and CIBC Investor's Edge are making solid moves upward. But even with these improvements, there's still plenty of room for growth as many mobile platforms fall short of providing a smooth, all-in-one mobile investing experience.

The reality for DIY online investors is while firms struggle with digital identity clashes between traditional desktop and newer mobile platforms, all level of investors are forced to use both platforms if they would like to maximize their self-directed investing strategy.

Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of Surviscor Group


Review Headlines

QUESTRADE Still #1

For the fifth consecutive year, Questrade's hybrid analysis of its investor-focused QuestMobile platform and legacy mobile platform continues to outperform the big banks.

DESJARDINS ONLINE BROKERAGE Climbs 2 Spots

This no-commission platform breaks into the top 5, offering strong market insights that empower informed investment decisions.

QTRADE DIRECT INVESTING Climbs 1 Spot

Despite the full launch of its newest platform, its overall industry standing remains relatively unchanged.

SCOTIA iTRADE Drops 2 Spots

While 2023 saw significant gains and 2024 brought improvements, competitors are advancing at a faster pace.

RBC DIRECT INVESTING Drops 2 Spots

The one-stop shopping platform remains the lowest-ranked among the bank-owned, commission-based brokerages.

WEALTHSIMPLE TRADE Falls Short

Although popular for its no-commission model, better and more informative alternatives are available at the same price point.

CI DIRECT TRADING - Worst Experience

Since the CI takeover, CI Direct Trading has experienced a significant decline in industry standing.


2024 Online Brokerage Mobile Platform Experience Rankings

Surviscor's annual Online Brokerage Mobile Investing Experience review is the most comprehensive, objective analysis in North America and evaluates key aspects of the customer journey - including Pre-login, User, and Transactional Experiences - across various online brokerage platforms. Here is the list of the Best and Worst firms:

Mobile Platform Experience RankMobile Banking FirmExperience ScoreFull Company Review
1Questrade82 %View Company Review
2BMO InvestorLine81 %View Company Review
3TD Direct Investing75 %View Company Review
4CIBC Investor's Edge74 %View Company Review
5Desjardins Online Brokerage72 %View Company Review
6Scotia iTRADE68 %View Company Review
7Qtrade Direct Investing64 %View Company Review
8RBC Direct Investing63 %View Company Review
9National Bank Direct Brokerage57 %View Company Review
10Wealthsimple Trade55 %View Company Review
11CI Direct Trading52 %View Company Review

This year, 11 Canadian online brokerage mobile investing platforms were rigorously assessed, including 5 bank-owned commission firms, 3 no-commission firms, and 3 non-bank firms. With the use of 380 criteria across six main experience categories, 28 sub-categories and 3,763 objective experience questions, the review aims to help you select the best mobile-based online brokerage experience by highlighting the clear and distinct differences amongst the online brokerage firms.

It's always a good idea to question the status quo and explore new options. Be cautious of marketing messages that focus on cost or minor, often insignificant, platform differences. In most cases, you will get what you pay for, and some small fees can lead to much greater investing success.

Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of Surviscor Group


See the Rankings by Firm Type


Why Surviscor Reviews Are Different

Surviscor Experience Reviews are the largest and most unbiased evaluations in North America, offering uncompromised facts about real customer experiences and digital journeys. Unlike other review firms or individuals, whose rankings are often subjective or firm-sponsored, Surviscor bases its reviews on extensive factual data, not limited or biased sample sizes commonly found online:


KEY FINDINGS

Surviscor believes in giving credit where it's due, and every review aims to highlight a wide range of firms. The goal is for all Canadian DIY self-directed investors to hold their online brokerage partners accountable for their mobile investing experiences. Here's a quick summary of the key findings from the 2024 Online Brokerage Mobile Investing Experience review:

  • Industry focus on mobile-based educational learning
  • Industry improving experience for Options investors
  • 3 Firms improved ranking positions from 2023
  • QUESTRADE hanging on as the best firm
  • CIBC INVESTOR's EDGE steadily improving
  • DESJARDINS ONLINE BROKERAGE moved into the top 5

  • Challenge the status quo, explore new and additional mobile brokerage investing options, and be cautious of marketing that often highlights irrelevant, minor, and insignificant differences.

    Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of Surviscor Group


  • Geographical confusion caused by non-platform functionality
  • Delivery of mobile-based educational learning
  • Not all platform changes resulted in improved investor experiences
  • QTRADE DIRECT INVESTING's new platform didn't move the needle much
  • RBC DIRECT INVESTING made little progress with platform
  • WEALTHSIMPLE TRADE is not the answer for new investors
  • CI DIRECT TRADING provides the worst mobile platform experience

See What Makes Surviscor Different

Go to Lessons Learned

Go to The Bottom Line


Surviscor Personalized Validation and Selection Tool scorChoice for Consumer Bankers and Online Investors to find their own #1 firm


Mobile Brokerage Investor Experience Rankings - By Firm Type

The Canadian self-directed online brokerage market provides a variety of options beyond the traditional big banks. Investors can choose from commission-free platforms for stocks and ETFs, bank-owned brokerages, or independent non-bank firms. Here's a breakdown of the top performers and underachievers in each segment:

COMMISSION-FREE BROKERAGE FIRMS - Mobile Rankings

The key message in this segment is that not all commission-free platforms are created equal as there are clear differences in quality. Here's how they ranked:

Industry RankingMobile Brokerage FirmExperience ScoreLikes & Dislikes
5Desjardins Online Brokerage72 %View Company Review
9National Bank Direct Brokerage57 %View Company Review
10Wealthsimple Trade55 %View Company Review

It's not surprising that commission-free platforms can have a hard time competing with firms that charge fees and bring in more revenue. What's impressive, though, is how Desjardins Online Brokerage's mobile platform delivers a better investing experience than many commission-based firms, especially when you look at the level of market insights they provide.


BANK-OWNED FIRMS - Mobile Rankings

Bank-owned firms tend to be the market leaders in terms of number of accounts due to their history and the amount of complimentary products and services they offer. Here's how they ranked:

Industry RankingMobile Brokerage FirmExperience ScoreLikes & Dislikes
2BMO InvestorLine81 %View Company Review
3TD Direct Investing75 %View Company Review
4CIBC Investor's Edge74 %View Company Review
6Scotia iTRADE68 %View Company Review
8RBC Direct Investing63 %View Company Review

BMO InvestorLine stands out amongst bank-owned firms, consistently delivering a good mobile investing experience. TD Direct Investing and CIBC Investor's Edge aren't far behind either.

On the other hand, Scotia iTRADE and RBC Direct Investing still lag behind, providing average mobile platforms but missing some key features and functionality to keep up with industry peers.

Bank-owned firms often face limitations due to their standardized organizational digital look and feel, which can restrict the features and functionality that self-directed investors need. While each bank offers a decent mobile investing experience, they struggle to fully translate the strengths of their desktop platforms to mobile devices.

Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of Surviscor Group


NON-BANK-OWNED and COMMISSION FIRMS - Mobile Rankings

Here are the 2024 rankings:

Industry RankingMobile Brokerage FirmExperience ScoreLikes & Dislikes
1Questrade82 %View Company Review
7Qtrade Direct Investing64 %View Company Review
11CI Direct Trading52 %View Company Review

Questrade is the clear standout amongst not only this in this segment, consistently delivering a top-notch industry-leading mobile investing experience. Meanwhile, Qtrade Direct Investing is still working to find its footing with its latest mobile platform, trying to bridge the gap between its award-winning desktop experience and its mobile offering.

At the bottom of the segment, and the worst-ranked firm overall, CI Direct Investing is falling short which is disappointing for a platform that performed well before CI took over the reins.

Non-bank firms have always been the disruptors in the industry, standing out by developing innovative digital platforms to compete with the big banks. Kudos to these companies for raising the bar and driving improvements across all digital platforms.

Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of Surviscor Group


Surviscor Personalized Validation and Selection Tool scorChoice for Consumer Bankers and Online Investors to find their own #1 firm


Go back to the 2024 Mobile Experience Rankings


Lessons Learned

There are always general industry lessons to be learned after each review, especially when individual online brokerage mobile platforms undergo detailed Surviscor scrutiny. Here are some of them, and don't be shocked that some 2024 lessons remain duplicates from 2023:

1. Love Mobile Investing? You May be Missing Out

Mobile platforms continue to grow but if you only use your mobile advice, you are missing out on what we would call an optimal digital experience. Sure the platform offer quick view and quick access to place trades with basic account information, basic market information, but key investing items such as traditional account management, educational material, and deeper investment information that is used to form investment strategies are mostly available on desktop platform. Or what about a new account? Same issue. By the way, this is not by accident. Your firm wants you to feel mobile on mobile but they could do so much more.

2. Help - Where Am I? - Where Did You Send Me?

Customer experience (CX) experts are supposed to make things smoother, but sometimes their efforts leave us wondering, Where am I? or Why do I have to log in again? When resources fall outside the platform you're using, it feels lazy. Hopefully, leadership starts asking some tough questions about what these experts are doing.

3. Mobile Learning: Good idea. Bad Execution

Who doesn't love the idea of a quick video or guide to help with investing? While it's great that mobile learning resources are a focus, the execution is frustrating. Many times, these tools aren't even in the app you're using - they're in a re-packaged browser version of the desktop site. It's a bit of a letdown, so maybe go back and re-read lesson one.

4. Options Investing is Growing on Mobile

We've already criticized mobile platforms, but here's some good news: more firms are adding options trading tools, like options chains and research, directly to their mobile apps. This is a win for investors, especially if you're trading both Canadian and US options. Just be ready to learn how to use it - likely within the app itself.

5. Depth of Market Information is Getting Better

Thankfully, the vendors who supply market data are stepping up their CX game. We're starting to see much better mobile-friendly market info that can help you make smarter investment decisions.

6. Notifications Still Aren't Cutting It

Being notified when a stock hits a certain price, the market is moving fast, or your order is filled is crucial for self-directed investors. But, surprisingly, these kinds of alerts are still rare. It's a gap that needs to be filled, especially since banking apps manage to do this so easily.

7-10. Don't Be Fooled by These Claims

Instead of dragging this out every year, let's just sum up the common statements that don't really mean a platform is better:

  • Good App Store Rating - Meh. Unless you're diving into the bad reviews, this doesn't tell you much.
  • A New Launch - It might look nicer, but that doesn't mean it's more useful.
  • Easy to Use - Less is more is rarely true. Are they cutting corners? For sure.
  • It's Free - How generous of them. Cool, but are you actually getting what you need?

In short: Buyer Beware.


The real question is: why are so many firms falling behind in offering complete online investing services on handheld devices? The truth is, they want to promote easy and simple and choose not to provide key resources on mobile platforms that are readily available on their desktop versions, despite the growing importance of mobile device investing for investors.

Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of Surviscor Group


Go back to the 2024 Mobile Brokerage Experience Rankings


The Bottom Line

Most firms think of innovative ways to attract new investors, and of course, the new money. Despite marketing efforts that indicate that online brokerage firms significantly investment in digital strategies, the obvious reality is that most investors cannot rely solely on mobile platforms to maximize their self-directed investing strategy. The lack of key account management, service interaction and educational material that is housed within the mobile platforms, continues to demonstrate that the best investing experiences will require a desktop experience to compliment the lacking mobile experiences.

Surviscor gives credit where credit is due with the hope is that all Canadian consumers hold their digital investing partner(s) accountable in each area of a complete mobile-based online investing experiences. By focusing more on marketing and apparent pricing specials rather than on robust functionality, these institutions risk losing relevance in an increasingly competitive digital investing space.#DemandTheBest


The Surviscor DISCLAIMER

Surviscor takes the ultimate pride in recognizing, and calling out, any firm for both good, and poor, experiences. Canadians work hard for their money and having a compatible digital investing financial partner is necessary and Canadian investors should be holding all firms, big and small, to the highest standards of digital and customer experience. You hold the cards. Don't focus on Free. Focus on Value. #FindTheBestValue

Explore other Surviscor Rankings

This review is only one of many Surviscor yearly digital experience reviews for Online Self-Directed Brokerage and Consumer Banking firms. Take a look at your current firms, firms you always thought about using, and maybe you'll even find a new firm to consider.