Desjardins vs Tangerine (2026): fees, rates and ATMs compared

For most adults weighing Desjardins vs Tangerine, Tangerine is the cheaper place to bank. Its chequing account has no monthly fee and no minimum balance, while a Desjardins plan costs $3.95 to $23.95 a month unless you keep a minimum balance for the whole month ($1,500 on the cheapest plan). Desjardins is the better pick if you’re 18 to 24, a full-time student up to 30 or new to Canada, since its Unlimited plan is then free. It also wins if you use cash or want a caisse nearby. On savings, Tangerine’s new-client rate wins for five months, and Desjardins pays a little more after that.

What’s the difference between Desjardins and Tangerine?

Both cover everything most people need from a bank: chequing, savings, a TFSA and an RRSP, in French or English. The difference is the price and what comes with it. Desjardins charges a monthly plan fee, which you can avoid by keeping a minimum balance, and gives you caisses, the largest ATM network in Quebec and a share of its surplus. Tangerine charges no monthly fee and has no branches.

Desjardins is a cooperative. Its caisses are owned by their members, and the group has more than 10 million members and clients, with 189 caisses and branches and 547 points of service in Quebec and Ontario.

Tangerine is Scotiabank’s online bank, the former ING Direct. You bank through its app and website, and it works the same way anywhere in Canada.

Desjardins: four plans, each free above a minimum balance

Desjardins prices its everyday account by how many transactions you make. Basic is $3.95 a month for 12 transactions, Intermediate $10.95 for 30, Unlimited $15.95 and Unlimited Plus $23.95, per its everyday account page (opens in a new tab). Withdrawals, payments and some transfers count as transactions.

Each plan is free in any month your balance never drops below its minimum: $1,500 for Basic, $3,000 for Intermediate, $4,000 for Unlimited and $5,000 for Unlimited Plus. Fall short for a single day and you pay that month’s fee.

Who gets the Unlimited plan free

Desjardins’ youth offer (opens in a new tab) gives the Unlimited plan free to anyone 18 to 24, and to students 25 to 30 who study full time and confirm it every year. Newcomers to Canada get it free for two years after opening their account. Members 60 and over get $4 off their plan each month.

What Desjardins pays on savings

The regular savings account and the RRSP savings account pay 0.55%, the TFSA savings account 0.35% and the FHSA savings account 2.00%, per Desjardins’ savings account rates (opens in a new tab) as of November 2026.

In Quebec, deposits are insured by the AMF

Quebec caisses are authorized deposit institutions under Quebec law, so the Autorité des marchés financiers insures their deposits instead of CDIC. The limit is $100,000 per person, per category, the same as CDIC’s, as Desjardins explains on its deposit insurance page (opens in a new tab).

What being a member gets you

Opening an account makes you a member of your caisse. You get a vote at its annual meeting, and when the caisse has a surplus and its members vote to share it, you get a member dividend, generally paid in early June. In 2025, Desjardins gave $638 million back to its members and the community, per its who we are page (opens in a new tab).

Tangerine: no monthly fee, and no branches

Tangerine’s chequing account (opens in a new tab) has no monthly fee and no minimum balance. Transactions are unlimited, Interac e-Transfers are free, and so is your first book of 50 cheques.

The promo rate, and what you earn after it

New clients get 4.50% for 153 days (opens in a new tab) on a regular savings account, and 5.00% for 153 days (opens in a new tab) in a TFSA, RSP or RIF savings account, on up to $1,000,000 per account type. The current offer covers client numbers created between July 28 and November 30, 2026, with the account opened within 60 days of becoming a client.

When the 153 days end, the balance earns Tangerine’s posted rate (opens in a new tab): 0.30% on savings, TFSA and RSP accounts, and 0.35% on a RIF, as of November 2026. The offer is for new clients, so you only get it once.

Cash and ATMs without a branch

Tangerine has no branches. Its Client Card works free at more than 3,500 Scotiabank ABMs across Canada, where you can also deposit cash, and at 44,000 machines worldwide through the Global ATM Alliance. A withdrawal from any other ATM in Canada costs $1.50. Cheques go in through the app.

Covered by CDIC, separately from Scotiabank

Tangerine Bank is a CDIC member (opens in a new tab) in its own right, so its $100,000 of coverage per category is separate from anything you hold at Scotiabank. Our guide to CDIC deposit insurance explains what counts as a category.

Which is better for everyday banking?

Tangerine, for most adults. Its chequing account has no monthly fee, whatever your balance. At Desjardins, a year of Basic costs $47.40 if you don’t keep $1,500 in the account. Past about 34 transactions a month, Unlimited is the cheaper plan, at $191.40 a year unless $4,000 stays in the account every day of the month.

Desjardins wins when its Unlimited plan is free for you: if you’re 18 to 24, a full-time student up to 30, or in your first two years in Canada. You pay the same $0 as at Tangerine, and you get a caisse to walk into. It’s also a tie if you’d keep $1,500 in chequing anyway and make 12 transactions or fewer a month, since Basic is then free.

Which is better for your savings?

Tangerine, for the first five months, if you’re a new client. After that Desjardins pays more, 0.55% against Tangerine’s 0.30% on a regular savings account, but the gap is small.

Take $10,000 in a regular savings account. Tangerine’s 4.50% pays about $189 over the 153 days, and with the rest of the year at 0.30%, you’d have about $206 in the first year. Desjardins’ 0.55% pays about $55 over the same year. After that, Desjardins earns about $25 a year more on the same $10,000, so it would take about six years to make up the difference, if both rates stayed where they are.

In a TFSA, the promo counts for more. Tangerine’s 5.00% on $5,000 pays about $105 over the full five months, while Desjardins’ TFSA savings account pays 0.35%, about $18 a year.

Neither bank’s posted rate is a good place for savings you’ll leave for years. Our list of the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada has accounts that pay more without a five-month limit.

Which is better if you use cash or want a branch?

Desjardins. It has 1,215 ATMs in Quebec, the largest network in the province, and 189 caisses and branches in Quebec and Ontario. Tangerine has no branches, so cash goes in at a Scotiabank ABM, and anything that needs a person happens by phone or online. Both charge $1.50 when you withdraw from another bank’s ATM in Canada.

If you’re paid in cash or tips, or you’d rather sort things out at a counter, Desjardins is the easier fit.

Can you use both?

Yes. You could keep your caisse for your mortgage and the member dividend, and use Tangerine for the promo rate and free day-to-day banking.

Watch your Desjardins balance as you move money over, though. If a transfer takes it below your plan’s minimum for even one day, you pay that month’s fee. Once most of your everyday banking is at Tangerine, you can switch to Basic, or drop the plan and pay $1.25 a transaction instead.

A weekly draw that works with your caisse and with Tangerine

We make Lodavo, a free app that rewards you for saving, and it connects to Desjardins and Tangerine accounts. Every $25 in the savings or chequing account you connect gets you a free ticket in a weekly cash draw. Someone wins at least $100 every week, and the jackpot is $10,000.

Nothing moves out of your account, so the fee waiver or promo rate you picked above isn’t affected.

Neither Desjardins nor Tangerine paid to appear in this comparison.

Should you leave Desjardins for Tangerine?

If you pay Desjardins a monthly fee you can’t waive, rarely handle cash and don’t need a caisse, moving your everyday banking to Tangerine saves you that fee. Stay if your plan is already free, if you use cash, or if you’d want a caisse for a mortgage or advice. If you might move away from Quebec and Ontario, Tangerine works the same everywhere in Canada, and there are no caisses elsewhere. For options beyond Tangerine, see our page on Desjardins alternatives. Fees and rates change, so check both banks’ pages before you open anything.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.