About bank
Equitable Bank is a Canadian bank founded in 1970 as The Equitable Trust Company. Now operating under the name Equitable Bank, it has become Canada’s eighth largest Schedule I bank and offers many different financial services.
Equitable Bank operates across Canada and provides competitive services and deals to its consumers through digital banking. In 2016, it launched a digital banking platform called EQ Bank. As well, to further broaden its services, Equitable Trust, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equitable Bank, now offers deposit products to help Canadians reach their financial goals.
Features
Equitable Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of EQB Inc., manages over $45 billion in assets. It is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under “EQB” and “EQB.PR.C.”
Customers enjoy a variety of ways to approach the bank, whether they visit one of the bank’s offices or their website or use the mobile app or ATMs.
Equitable Bank has developed its mobile application - EQ Bank Mobile Banking - to simplify customers' approach to their accounts without visiting the office. The app can be downloaded from App Store or Google Play.
This bank provides customers with a wide range of financial products and services such as residential and commercial mortgages, GICs - savings accounts with different terms and interest rates, insurance financing services, and individually created financial solutions for businesses.
Pros and cons
Pros
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The bank offers many different financial products and services for individual and commercial use alike;
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Equitable Bank has a mobile application that can be used on Android or iOS smartphones;
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The bank serves the whole country;
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Equitable Bank is a member of FDIC, a corporation that guarantees deposit protections;
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Customers from French-speaking provinces can switch the website’s language to French;
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Customers have different ways to approach the bank: through the website, ATM, the bank’s office, or the mobile app.
Cons
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Several financial products like reverse mortgages will not be available for the majority of customers;
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The bank operates only in Canada;
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The bank doesn’t offer credit or debit cards;
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There are only five offices across Canada: Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Atlantic Canada.
As a result, we see that Equitable Bank has some advantages. For example, there are many different types of financial services and products. Also, customers from the whole country can apply for one of the bank's financial solutions.
Nevertheless, several significant disadvantages must be noted. The bank has only five offices across the country and doesn’t serve anywhere except Canada. Also, some financial products, such as the reverse mortgage, will not be available to most customers.
Products
As it was noted above, Equitable Bank provides customers with different types of different financial products. These are:
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Mortgages. The bank offers a wide range of residential mortgages and lets customers talk to a broker to determine which option suits their needs. In addition, Equitable Bank provides regular mortgages, reverse mortgages, and home equity lines of credit.
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Commercial loans. The bank provides Canadian business people and entrepreneurs with different business enterprise solutions. They have commercial and specialized finance groups that provide extensive industry expertise and in-depth commercial knowledge to find a mortgage that works for customers. Also, Equitable Bank offers customers commercial equity lines of credit.
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Invest and save. Equitable Bank allows customers to open savings accounts to grow their finances. Clients can open long-term, short-term savings accounts, GICs, and high-interest savings accounts. They can be opened in US dollars and Canadian dollars.
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Insurance lending solutions. Equitable Bank has insurance lending financial products that allow customers quick access to tax-free cash. These products are represented by the CSV FLEX Line of Credit, CSV MAX Line of Credit, and Immediate Financing Arrangement.
Services
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The list of approved appraisers. Customers can use the list of approved appraisers on the bank’s website. The list contains all the national appraisers in the Canadian cities with phone numbers.
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Calculators. If customers want to find out what payments they should make for their mortgages, they can use the online reverse mortgage calculator or prepayment calculator on the bank’s website.
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Loan customization. Customers who consider a commercial loan can use the services of the bank’s commercial finance group that can customize a solution tailored to construction, bridge, or long-term financing. Also, the bank has a specialized finance group that offers structured financing solutions designed to help Canadian private lenders fund their growth and liquidity needs.
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The mortgage switch. Suppose customers decide to switch their mortgage from another financial institution. In that case, Equitable Bank has a specialized option called EQB Evolution Suite that makes it easy to find a mortgage at Equitable Bank that’s right for them.
Several free online services are also provided by Equitable Bank glossaries, video tutorials, documents, forms, and useful links.