The questions people search before opening a Venn account, answered in the first sentence, with every figure checked at venn.ca and help.venn.ca on September 18 and 25, 2026.
Is Venn legit, and is it a bank?
Venn is legitimate, and it is not a bank. Venn Software Inc. describes itself as "a technology company and not a bank or a financial institution", is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (M22941967), and holds customer money in trust accounts at Bank of Montreal, a CDIC member. Its help centre says those funds sit in designated trust accounts at BMO, legally separate from Venn's own assets and recorded to you as the beneficial owner.
Your EFT details show institution number 621, Peoples Trust Company, because Peoples Trust is the partner Venn uses to receive CAD by EFT; it also issues the Venn Mastercard. That number identifies Peoples Trust, the partner that receives CAD EFTs for Venn; once funds clear, the balance is held in Venn’s trust accounts at BMO. Venn's help centre lists its other partners the same way: Zum Rails for Interac e-Transfer, Community Federal Savings Bank for USD ACH and Fedwire, and The Currency Cloud for wires and SEPA.
CDIC coverage applies to eligible deposits held at BMO, and Venn says it covers foreign-currency deposits too: up to $100,000 per deposit category, per member institution, per beneficiary, provided CDIC's disclosure requirements are met. The limit applies across all currencies combined, so your CAD, USD, GBP and EUR balances share it rather than each getting its own.
Venn can pause an account, as any regulated provider can. Its terms say it may suspend or restrict an account over security or fraud concerns, may close, suspend or limit access if it cannot verify your information, reserves the right to close any account for any reason on notice, and may hold incoming funds until they clear and settle. If you try to close an account during an investigation, Venn may hold the money until the investigation is complete; if Venn closes an account, it gives notice and makes unrestricted funds available for withdrawal.
Support runs through in-app chat or email; Venn's help centre says there is no phone number to call. There is an iOS app on the Apple App Store and an Android app on Google Play, alongside the web dashboard.
Our advice, as CPAs: keep a second business account at another institution, even a low-cost Big 5 plan, so CRA remittances and payroll are not stuck if any account, at Venn or at a bank, is under review. We give the same advice to clients whose only account is at a Big 5 bank.
What is Venn banking, and how does it work?
Venn banking is a business operating account run as software: Venn Software Inc. runs the accounts, cards, bill pay, FX and integrations, while regulated institutions hold and move the money. Your balances sit at Bank of Montreal, a CDIC member, so eligible deposits carry CDIC insurance up to $100,000 per category through BMO, and the Venn Mastercard charge card is issued by Peoples Trust Company.
On the regulatory side, Venn Software Inc. is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (M22941967) and is a registered payment service provider under the Retail Payment Activities Act, which puts its payment operations under Bank of Canada supervision. The product itself is a business operating account: CAD, USD, GBP and EUR balances with local account details, a US-domiciled USD account that receives ACH at no charge, Interac e-Transfer, EFT, wires, corporate cards with 1% cashback (capped by plan), and a two-way, real-time sync with Xero and QuickBooks Online that carries transactions, receipts, categories and tax codes.
How does Venn's interest rate compare to other Canadian fintechs?
Venn pays 2% on all CAD and USD balances with no minimum. Its Interest Boost, which paid 2.75% on CAD and 3.00% on USD on net-new money added between July 15 and October 15, 2026, is closed to new money, so a new account earns the standard 2%, below Float's published 2.5% on CAD and 2.75% on USD. Loop and Airwallex publish no interest on balances at all in Canada, so the real comparison is Venn versus Float.
For balances already enrolled in the boost, the rules still matter. "Net-new" means balance above your average balance from June 15 to July 14, 2026 (an account that became active from June 16 has a zero baseline, so everything counts); the eligible amount locks on October 15, 2026; if the balance later falls below your baseline plus that locked amount, the boosted amount shrinks by the shortfall for good and a later deposit cannot restore it; and the higher USD tiers up to 3.50% apply only to balances over $1 million with written approval from Venn sales. Enrolment is automatic for new and existing customers.
| Provider | Interest on balances | Free plan | FX on free plan |
|---|
| Venn | 2% CAD and USD; 2.75% CAD / 3.00% USD on net-new balances added by Oct 15, 2026 | $0 (Essentials) | 0.45% |
| Float | 2.5% CAD and 2.75% USD, variable | $0 (Essentials); Professional from $100 a month for 10 active users | 0.25% between CAD and USD balances; 2.5% on a card purchase in another currency |
| Loop | None listed on its pricing page | $0 (Basic); Plus $79, Power $299 | 0.47% |
| Airwallex | None listed on its Canadian pricing page | $0 (Explore) | 0.5% above interbank on major currencies |
| Vault | Same product: Vault is Venn's former name | See Venn | See Venn |
What does Venn cost, and what is the FX rate on each plan?
Essentials is $0 a month with 0.45% FX, Plus is $40 with 0.35%, and Pro is $100 with 0.25%; Interac e-Transfers and pre-authorized debits are free on every plan, local transfers (EFT, ACH, SEPA) cost $2 each on Essentials and are free on Plus and Pro, and international wires are $10, $8 and $6. Cashback is 1% on all plans, capped at $5,000 of monthly card spend on Essentials and $25,000 on Plus, uncapped on Pro. Essentials includes up to 3 users, 3 physical cards and 20 virtual cards; Plus raises that to 10 users, 10 physical and 50 virtual cards, and Pro to 20 users with unlimited cards. Plus and Pro start with a 14-day free trial, one per business, and a fourth plan, Custom, is priced by Venn's sales team.
The FX figure is the one we tested. A real US$500 conversion in our account settled at 1.3684 while the Bank of Canada daily rate that week ranged from 1.3667 to 1.3752, so our all-in cost was at most about 0.49%, consistent with the published 0.45% Essentials rate; one conversion cannot pin it closer than that. There is no minimum balance requirement on any plan.
| Plan | Monthly fee | FX | Local EFT / ACH / SEPA | International wire | Cashback cap |
|---|
| Essentials | $0 | 0.45% | $2 each | $10 | $5,000 spend / month |
| Plus | $40 | 0.35% | Free | $8 | $25,000 spend / month |
| Pro | $100 | 0.25% | Free | $6 | Unlimited |
Who can open a Venn account?
Corporations and registered sole proprietors registered in Canada, outside Quebec. Venn's help centre states that it "currently only support[s] sole proprietors and corporations registered in Canada" and that "partnerships and non-Canadian corporations are not supported", and both its legal page and its pricing page say Venn "is currently not available to businesses in Quebec". Corporations upload their Articles of Incorporation; sole proprietors need a business number and their name registration document. Directors verify identity online, and most applications are approved within a business day.
Not incorporated yet? Venn also files the incorporation for you, federally or in Ontario, through a separate flow: a one-time fee of $299 (federal) or $449 (provincial) as venn.ca/incorporate shows today, with a $250 or $350 bonus credited once at least $500 is loaded into the new Venn account within 30 days of opening. Provincial incorporation is Ontario only, and for now the flow is open only to Ontario businesses (a federal filing is registered extra-provincially in Ontario only); founders in other provinces should incorporate elsewhere and open the Venn account afterwards.
How does the up-to-$500 Venn bonus work?
A registered corporation that opens a new Venn account through our referral link earns $100 at $10,000 of card spend, $250 at $25,000, or $500 at $50,000, measured within 90 calendar days of account activation, as Venn's referral program agreement sets out. All amounts are Canadian dollars; card spend in other currencies converts at the rate on the day. There is no promo code: the referral attaches to your application automatically when you sign up through the link.
The agreement says the referred customer "must be a registered corporation, not a sole proprietor", so a sole proprietor can open the account but does not get the bonus. It is also new customers only, meaning a business that is not an existing Venn customer and has not started onboarding under any email address. The bonus is paid on top of the account's normal 1% cashback, so the spend that earns the $500 also earns its own cashback within the plan cap.
Venn vs Float: which should you pick?
Venn if you need the bank account, Float if you need the spend-management layer. Venn holds CAD, USD, GBP and EUR with local account details, receives ACH into a US-domiciled account, pays 2% and costs $0 with 0.45% FX. Float's Essentials plan is also $0 (Professional starts at $100 a month including 10 active users), publishes 2.5% on CAD and 2.75% on USD balances and 0.25% to convert between them, and its strength is cards, approvals and receipts for a team rather than receiving customer payments; with no pre-authorized debits or cheques, it runs beside a bank account rather than replacing one. Outside Quebec, Float cards can run on top of a Venn account; the full table is in our Float vs Venn comparison.
Venn vs Loop: which is better for a Canadian business?
Venn for the operating account, Loop for a credit card or cheaper bulk conversion on its paid plans. Both cards avoid FX on USD, EUR and GBP purchases: Venn's charge card spends a held balance in that currency, and Loop's credit card bills the purchase in that currency. Venn pays 2% interest on CAD and USD balances, holds balances at CDIC-member BMO, integrates with Xero and QuickBooks, and converts at 0.45% on the free plan. Loop's Basic plan is $0 with 0.47% FX on conversions, 0.27% on Plus at $79 a month and 0.12% on Power at $299, and its pricing page lists points on card spend rather than interest on balances. Businesses that convert large amounts or want a credit card lean Loop; businesses that hold and receive money lean Venn; our three-way comparison with Airwallex has the line-by-line table.
What does a big bank still do better than Venn?
Cash, cheques, branches and lending. Venn's help centre is direct: "we do not currently support the feature to deposit cash or cheques into your Venn account", and its funding article lists only PAD, EFT, Interac e-Transfer, wires, ACH, Fedwire and SEPA. There is no branch to walk into, and the Venn card is a charge card settled from your balance, with no loan or credit line on Venn's pricing page. A Big 5 account also stays the answer in Quebec, where Venn is not available.
On price the gap is smaller than it used to be at the bottom of the range: RBC's Digital Choice account is $6 a month and Flex Choice $7, rising to $100 for Ultimate. Where the banks lose is FX, which they do not publish as a percentage and which typically lands between 2% and 3% on posted rates, and the time it takes to issue a card or open a second currency account.
