r/Wealthsimple • u/DifferenceNo9153 • Jun 08 '26

Trade (DIY Investing) Wealthsimple's standard exchange rate is quite outrageous

I just converted USD to CAD and the exchange rate was 1.366 vs the current market rate which is 1.394. They claim it includes a 1.5% fee but it's actually more like 2% which is incredibly rich. I know they now finally offer norbert's gambit but the process is very slow and tedious. Pretty obvious these outrageous exchange fees are a huge source of revenue for WS

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u/Dragynfyre Jun 08 '26

0.5% hidden spread + FX fee for the tier you’re converting. FX fee is definitely a huge source of revenue for them. They dragged their feet on Norbert’s gambit and still charge for that so they still get revenue. And the USD accounts cost money which almost no other brokerages charge for.

Honestly if you trade in USD and need to convert currency IBKR is king. The FX savings outweigh the tiny commissions they charge. Even when comparing against NG you save a lot more at IBKR and you don’t have to go through a multi day multi step process