Simplii Financial Mortgages
Learn what Simplii Financial can offer you.
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About Simplii Financial
Simplii Financial, the direct banking branch of CIBC, is one of the country’s newest banking brands, having launched in 2017.
Simplii came into being following a mutual agreement by CIBC and Loblaw Companies to end their 20-year joint venture of offering low-fee banking services under the brand of President’s Choice Financial.
More than 2 million Canadians bank and borrow with Simplii, which offers services ranging from banking accounts and mortgages to lines of credit, credit cards and a suite of investment products.
What differentiates Simplii from its parent CIBC is that it has no physical branches. Instead, customers can access ATMs across the country to carry out transactions, as well as doing so online or by phone.
In 2019, Forbes magazine named Simplii one of the World’s Best Banks, and the third best in Canada.
Simplii mortgages
Simplii offers a full slate of mortgage products, like most big banks. They tend to be most competitive with more popular terms like the 5-year fixed.
If you're putting down less than 20% on a new home, be sure to ask for their high-ratio discount, which is 0.10 percentage points as of this writing.
One benefit of a Simplii mortgage is that the bank offers pre-approvals at its best-advertised rates. By contrast, certain lenders charge customers higher rates for pre-approvals.
One thing you need to watch out for is the penalty. Like major banks, Simplii is not considered a fair penalty lender. That means you could pay significantly more if you break the mortgage early, relative to many other discount lenders.
Simplii mortgage features
Aside from relatively competitive rates, Simplii also offers clients a good cross-section of mortgage features.
Here’s an overview of some of them:
- 120-day rate guarantees
- This gives you more time to shop for a new home
- Amortizations up to 30 years are available
- Insured mortgages are limited to 25 years
- Amortizations over 25 years may entail a rate surcharge
- 20% annual lump-sum prepayment privileges
- 25% annual payment increase option
- This exceeds the industry standard of a maximum 20/20 prepayment privileges but applies to fixed-rate mortgage only
- For variable rate closed mortgages, you can increase your regular payment amount to any amount as long as the amortization period is not reduced to less than five years
- Skip-a-payment privileges
- Permits one annual skip-a-payment
- Portability across the country
- Although your old and new properties may need to close on the same day (inquire with the lender to confirm)
- Variable-rate mortgages compounded semi-annually
- Many lenders compound monthly, which can cost an average borrower $50$200 +/- on average over a five-year term
- Variable-rate mortgages come with a fixed-payment option
- Online access to your mortgage
Simplii’s variable rate mortgages
Simplii Financial offers clients a 5-year variable-rate product, which rises and falls as prime rate fluctuates.
However, Simplii is a fixed-payment variable rate lender, meaning that even as prime rate rises or falls, your monthly payment generally remains the same. Instead, the amount of the monthly payment allocated to paying interest vs. principal will fluctuate. Fixed-payment variables are better for those who want a predictable budget. Just remember that if rates truly soar, your payment could be increased to ensure you at least cover the interest due each month.
As noted above, Simplii’s variable-rate mortgages compound semi-annually as opposed to monthly, which can result in a small financial saving for borrowers.
Simplii cash back mortgages
Simplii is one of just a handful of lenders that offer a multitude of cash back rates. These may be of interest to those needing cash back on closing, but we don’t recommend them. For one thing, you’ll usually receive too little cash back to justify the high rate premium of a cash-back mortgage. For another, you must pay the cash back (in pro-rated fashion) if you break the mortgage early, on top of any penalties and fees.
Simplii’s cash back mortgages apply to its 5-, 7- and 10-year terms, with cash back amounts ranging from 1.5% up to 5%.
How to get a Simplii mortgage
Simplii sells its mortgages direct-to-consumer, generally through online applications and its call centre.
Simplii Financial products are available across the country, excluding the province of Quebec.
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Shivani Kaul, Content manager
Shivani is a Content Manager at RATESDOTCA, focusing on mortgages. She is an experienced communication and marketing professional who specializes in content strategy and SEO optimization. Shivani ensures that our written materials meet the highest standards of quality and relevance.
She holds a Digital Marketing Management certificate from the University of Toronto, a Business Communications certificate from the University of British Columbia, a Masters degree in Mass Communication from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Delhi.
Shivani has previously worked as a deputy digital productions editor with PMNA-The Canadian Press, and as an editor with The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and the Investor's Digest of Canada. She has also worked in reputed news media groups in India and the Middle East.
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