Manulife Bank is a federally chartered Schedule I bank (institution number 540), founded in 1993 and owned by Manulife Financial. It has no branches: all banking is online, in the app and by phone. Two products define it: the Advantage Account, a chequing account that pays interest, and Manulife One, a mortgage-offset account where your everyday cash reduces the mortgage balance you pay interest on. Other Canadian banks are reviewed in the bank and fintech reviews.
Who Manulife Bank Suits
- Homeowners with a mortgage, particularly those who keep large chequing balances or have irregular income, for whom Manulife One’s daily offset can reduce mortgage interest
- People who want interest on a full chequing account, rather than splitting money between a low-rate chequing account and a savings account
- Online banking users comfortable without branches
Manulife Bank is less practical for:
- People who need cash deposits or in-person service
- People who keep less than the balance that waives the monthly fee, or who send many e-Transfers or make many ATM withdrawals, since those carry per-transaction fees
- People without a mortgage, for whom much of Manulife One’s appeal is absent
Advantage Account
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Interest | Variable rate, with promotional rates on new deposits at times; check Manulife Bank’s current rate (below) |
| Monthly maintenance fee | $0 with a $1,000 minimum balance; a fee applies below that |
| Transactions | Unlimited debit and bill payments |
| Interac e-Transfer, send | $1.00 per transfer |
| ATM withdrawal | $1.50 (in Canada); $3.00 (internationally, including the US) |
| Debit card | Access Card (Interac Debit) |
| Mobile cheque deposit | Yes, $0 |
| Cheques | Available |
| Joint accounts | Available |
The Advantage Account pays interest on a fully functional chequing account, with a debit card, bill payments and cheques, rather than forcing a choice between interest (a savings account with limited transactions) and full chequing (a low-rate account). The $1,000 minimum balance only waives the monthly maintenance fee: the per-transfer e-Transfer fee and the per-withdrawal ATM fee apply whatever your balance. THE EXCHANGE Network ATMs waive the ATM owner’s surcharge, but Manulife Bank’s own withdrawal fee still applies.
Other fees
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| NSF (returned item) | $10.00 |
| Overdraft | $5.00 overdraft charge, plus 21%/year interest (calculated on daily closing balance, charged monthly) |
| Outgoing wire | $30.00 ($10,000 or less), $50.00 ($10,001-$50,000), $65.00 ($50,001+) |
| Incoming wire | $15.00 |
| Official cheque (bank draft) | $10.00 (official cheque, in lieu of a certified cheque) |
| Stop payment | $10.00 |
| TFSA, RRSP and RRIF savings accounts | $0 monthly fee |
An EFT to a linked external account through online banking is a lower-cost alternative to a wire for moving a large sum.
Savings and GIC Rates
Manulife Bank’s Advantage Account, TFSA and RRSP savings accounts and 1- to 5-year GICs all have variable posted rates, and the bank periodically runs promotional rates on new deposits. Check Manulife Bank’s current rate on manulifebank.ca before opening or renewing. Posted savings rates at other banks are compared in the best savings accounts in Canada and GIC rates in the best GIC rates.
Manulife One: The Mortgage-Offset Account
Manulife One is a revolving home equity line of credit set up to work as an all-in-one bank account:
- Your chequing balance is held inside the Manulife One account.
- Each dollar of positive balance reduces the balance you are charged interest on for that day.
- Interest is calculated daily on the net balance (borrowing minus cash).
- A paycheque deposited on the 15th lowers the interest-bearing balance from the 15th until the money is spent.
Example: with an average of $5,000 sitting in the account and a mortgage rate of 5%, the offset saves about $250 of interest a year, or about $0.68 a day. It works like earning the mortgage rate, tax-free, on cash you’d hold anyway: the “return” is interest not paid.
Whether that beats keeping the same cash in a high-interest savings account depends on your mortgage rate against the savings rate, and Manulife doesn’t publish a fixed Manulife One rate or spread. Manulife One suits homeowners with high chequing balances or irregular income (freelancers, business owners) who manage cash closely. How HELOCs work more generally is covered in the mortgages section.
Deposit Insurance
Manulife Bank is a CDIC member, so eligible deposits are insured up to $100,000 per insured category, with deposits in your name, TFSA, RRSP and RRIF deposits each counted separately. The categories are explained in CDIC deposit insurance.
Manulife Bank customer service
The main personal banking line is 1-877-765-2265. The general steps for a lost or stolen card are in what to do about a lost or stolen debit card. How to take a complaint further is on bank complaints.
Related Pages
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 14, 2026 and September 25, 2026. How we check facts.
- cdic.ca: What's covered — CDIC
- payments.ca: Institution numbers and clearing arrangements