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Manulife Bank: Advantage Account, Manulife One, Rates and Fees

Updated

Manulife Bank (institution number 540) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, launched in 1993. It has no branches: banking is online, in the mobile app and by phone. This page covers its two main products: the Advantage Account, an account with chequing features that pays interest on every dollar, and Manulife One, an all-in-one mortgage and banking product where every dollar you deposit reduces your debt. Other banks are compared on choosing a bank.

Who Manulife Bank Suits

  • Homeowners with a mortgage: Manulife One combines the mortgage with your bank accounts, so the income and savings you deposit reduce the loan balance and the borrowing cost
  • People who want interest on an account with chequing features: the Advantage Account pays interest on every dollar with no minimum balance, and has mobile cheque deposit, Interac e-Transfer, debit purchases and bill payments
  • Online banking users comfortable without branches

Manulife Bank is less practical for:

  • People who need in-person service, since Manulife Bank has no branches
  • People who keep less than $1,000 in the Advantage Account, since debit purchases, bill payments, sending e-Transfers and ATM withdrawals each carry a fee below that balance
  • People without a mortgage, since Manulife One is a mortgage and banking product

Advantage Account

FeatureDetails
InterestVariable rate, with promotional rates on new deposits at times; check Manulife Bank’s current rate (below)
Monthly maintenance feeNone, at any balance
TransactionsUnlimited free everyday banking at a balance of $1,000 or more; below that, $1.00 per debit purchase and $1.00 per bill payment
Interac e-Transfer, send$1.00 per transfer below a $1,000 balance; receiving is free
ATM withdrawalFree when your personal Advantage Account balance is at least $1,000 (unlimited free withdrawals); otherwise $1.50 (in Canada) and $3.00 (internationally, including the US); other convenience fees may apply at ABMs that are not part of THE EXCHANGE Network; waived at a balance of $1,000 or more at ATMs in the network Manulife Bank uses across Canada
Debit cardAccess Card (Interac Debit)
Mobile cheque depositYes, no charge
ChequesAvailable
Joint accountsAvailable

The Advantage Account pays interest on every dollar and has the features of a chequing account: a debit card, bill payments, cheques, mobile cheque deposit and Interac e-Transfer. It has no monthly fee at any balance. A balance of $1,000 or more waives the everyday banking fees for debit purchases, bill payments, sending e-Transfers and cash withdrawals at ATMs on THE EXCHANGE network across Canada; Manulife Bank says all other everyday withdrawals and deposits are free at any balance. Other convenience fees may apply at ATMs outside THE EXCHANGE network.

Other fees

ServiceFee
NSF (returned payment)$10.00
Overdraft$5.00 overdraft charge
Overdraft interest21% a year (calculated on the 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

Every service fee is listed in Manulife Bank’s Services and Fees Guide, and Manulife Bank says fees can change with prior written notice.

Savings and GIC Rates

Manulife Bank posts rates for the Advantage Account, the US$ Advantage Account and its Tax-Free, Registered and Retirement Income Advantage Accounts, and lists its GIC rates on the same page. The posted rates are annual rates that can change without notice, and the bank sometimes adds a promotional rate on new deposits. Check Manulife Bank’s current rates 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 an all-in-one mortgage and banking product that combines your mortgage with your bank accounts, short-term savings, income and other debts:

  • Your income and savings are deposited into the Manulife One account, which has one monthly statement.
  • Every dollar you deposit reduces the debt you are charged interest on.
  • Interest on the main account is calculated on the daily closing balance: a negative balance is charged interest and a positive balance earns interest.
  • A paycheque deposited on the 15th lowers the balance charged interest from the 15th until the money is spent.

Example: with an average of $5,000 sitting in the account and a borrowing rate of 5%, the offset cuts interest by about $250 a year, or about $0.68 a day. It works like earning the borrowing rate on cash you’d hold anyway: the “return” is interest not paid.

Manulife Bank posts a Manulife One Base Rate, a variable rate set independently of its prime lending rate and used to determine the rate on the main account and variable-rate sub-accounts; a sub-account can instead lock in a portion of the account at a fixed rate. Whether the offset beats keeping the same cash in a high-interest savings account depends on the borrowing rate against the savings rate. Other mortgage options are covered in the mortgages section.

Deposit Insurance

Manulife Bank is a CDIC member. CDIC protects eligible deposits up to $100,000 per category at each member institution, and eligible deposits in the same category at one institution are combined toward that limit. The categories are explained in CDIC deposit insurance.

Manulife Bank customer service

The main personal banking line is 1-877-765-2265, and live chat is in the mobile app and online banking. 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.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 14, 2026 and September 29, 2026. How we check facts.