Find out why I think that Tangerine is a great fit for all you freelance artists out there.
It’s amazing how hard it is for me to change anything.
Like… anything. Let alone changing something like the bank that you’ve been with for years.
Even if I know that the change could be really helpful.
So if you’re anything like me, and the idea of changing banks seems totally daunting, here’s a step by step guide of how to open up an account with Tangerine.
What are you going to need:
Before you start you might want to find a few things (so you don’t have to get off the couch later).
- Ten minutes
- Your social insurance number (it’s a bank account… it’s gotta be legit)
- Your street address, phone number, and email address (in case those aren’t locked down in your noggin… I can never remember my postal code.)
- A cheque from your current bank account (why? I’ll explain later… just grab it now.)
- A pen (it’s for the cheque)
- Your smart phone (like you go anywhere without it…)
Full disclosure: The signup process only takes a few minutes, but it will take 5 – 7 days for your account with Tangerine to be fully active. They’ve got to make sure you’re a real person… and that takes time…
Step One:
Open up the TANGERINE homepage:
It should look a bit like that (ooo… so tangerine-y)! Click on the ‘Sign up’ way over on the right hand side.
Step 2: Pick your account type
You can spend some time browsing the different account types if you want, but I wouldn’t worry about it right now. Once you’re all set up you can open a few more, and find the ones you like.
I say start with a generic chequing account… everyone needs one of those….
Click on that sweet “enrol now” button and we’re off to the next step!!!!
Step 3: Typey Type Type
After telling them that you’re not a Client yet (but you’re soooo close), they’ll send you over to the standard form page.
You’ve totally got this… no real curve balls, but for the sake of a true step by step… here’s what that looks like.
IF YOU WANT YOUR FREE 50 DOLLARS: THIS IS THE MOMENT TO PUNCH IN YOUR FRIEND’S ORANGE KEY/CODE
Step 4: Prove you’re who you say you are
You’re so close to being finished… and you’ve only barely started. All you have to do is prove that you’re the person you say you are (which I hope is easy for most of you).
Here’s where you have a few options:
Option One: Keep your butt on the couch
This is the one that I recommend (due to my dislike for pants). It involves taking that pen and cheque and writing yourself a big fat cheque (at least 1 dollar).
Now you have a choice, you can either mail that cheque to the lovely people at Tangerine, or you can use the Tangerine smart phone app, take a picture of it, and go eat some chips (because doggone it… you deserve it).
The app works with most of the major phones: Android, Windows, and its fruit friend Apple, and Blackberry (another fruit friend). It will walk you through the process of taking the picture. Don’t worry… it’s super easy. 
IF YOU ARE SENDING A CHEQUE BY MAIL: Make sure that you write your ‘client number’ in the memo section. Or they won’t know what that cheque is for.
The other reason sending a cheque is awesome:
With that cheque you’re not only proving your identity, you’re linking your current bank account with your new TANGERINE account. That means that there’s a bridge between the two of them, and you can transfer money back and forth with ease.
So when you’ve finally decided you want to move all your banking over to your new account… it’ll be a simple push of a button.
No pants required.
Option two: Go for a walk
Walks are fun. I like walks. If you’re more of a walking sort, you can check out there options.
You can either go to a Canada Post, or a Tangerine Cafe (if there’s one close to you). The friendly folks at TANGERINE will even show you where the closest locations are:
Just remember to bring some valid ID!
Step 5: Hang out and wait for Approval
If you sent in a cheque: They say it shouldn’t take longer than 5 – 7 business days for the fine people at Tangerine to verify your identity.
After that you’ll be good to go!
That wasn’t so hard was it????
Some Solid Quesions (and their accompanying answers)
I opened an account with a friend’s orange key but I didn’t get my 50 bucks. Where’s my 50 bucks?
It may take a few days, but one thing you have to remember is your account needs to be opened with a MINIMUM OF 100 DOLLARS IN IT to get your free 50 bucks.
How do I make my account a joint account?
Solid ask. In order to make an account a joint account, both of you (the people wanting to share an account) need to have their own separate Tangerine accounts.
So go through this process for each of you (one of you can even use the other’s orange key!), and then once you’ve all been approved you can do the following.
- Go into your chequing account (or whatever account you’d like to make a joint account)
- Click on Account info
- You’ll see that the ‘registration type’ is currently set to single
- Click on ‘change’
- And then follow the instructions to make it a joint account
What other questions do you have about opening an account with Tangerine?
I don’t have a chequing account , only a savings account with BNS ,
How can I open a tangerine savings account ?
What if i have never had a bank account before, and can’t produce a cheque from a previous account?
I need a cheque from my present bank to open n account, i last wrote a cheque in the 20th century.
Hi guys. I already have an existing account with Tangerine, however, I would like for my spouse to have access to this account. How would I do this?
Can another country open this account?
Have been calling the 1-800 line for the last two days. Long wait time and even when I follow the process, get transferred to the incorrect group that can not help me. Asked to speak to a supervisor and that was even a worse experience.
No one seems to want to take ownership when things go wrong and provide some sort of effort to fix the problem.
Brutal. Froze my account, no explanation. Only thing I can think of is that I took a series of cash withdrawals over the course of a 4 days since I needed to buy a car. Trying to talk to a human is near impossible. Closing this account.
People, heed my warning. Don’t the believe the hype and the “easy-peasy” marketing lingo of these adeptly negligent s***hucksters. Sink your cash into crypto or gold or beaver pelts or anything other than this horrible little bank which has been the source of my many headaches and heartaches. Shameful lack of customer service and this shall ultimately spell impending doom a la ING Direct, Tangerine’s predecessor.
The chat, email or Facebook messaging option usually gets me a human within a couple minutes
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH TANGERINE. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS TERRIBLE. AFTER BEING PUT ON HOLD FOR OVER AN HOUR, I GOT SOMEONE IN INDIA WHO I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND AND WHO COULDN’T UNDERSTAND ME. THEY’VE PUT MY ENTIRE ACCOUNT ON A 5 DAY HOLD BECAUSE A MERCHANT REFUNDED ME SOME MONEY BUT TANGERINE CAN’T SEEM TO PRESS A FEW BUTTONS ON A COMPUTER. FOR 5 DAYS I HAVE NO ACCESS TO MY OWN MONEY. NO GROCERIES, NO GAS. MY CAR INSURANCE BOUNCED. DO NOT BANK WITH TANGERINE. EVER!!!!!
The void cheque of my coast capital account will work to open tangerine account?
Suhas.neo@gmail.com
. I can recieve etransfers but can’t send em untill I get my card and activate it. Identity has already been confirm. But account is on hold till card activation. I want my money!!!
Micheal I would advise your remove your PIN and Client number from this comment
The process for changing an account to Joint does not appear to work. Maybe this article was written a while back. With the new format of Tangerine, I am unable to find anywhere in the Account Details that shows the current stats of Single/Joint and the ability to edit this.
Yup. I’m having the same issue.
HI, I have recently created a Tangerine bank account. The card is said to be in the mail. So far without the card I can log into account and I have already made a direct deposit.
Question: I tried sending an email transfer and everything looked good but transfer said pending. I kept checking and calling my friend to see if he got it and he didn’t. Do you have to wait for access card before you can do any banking?
What a load of crap. I can recieve etransfers but can’t send em untill I get my card and activate it. Identity has already been confirm. But account is on hold till card activation. I want my money!!!
So happy I found this! I thought I was going insane. No calling service or live chat is working. I opened up an account put my full PayPal balance in it hoping to etransfer to my bmo account and nothing, it just won’t work. But it doesn’t say anywhere online or on the app that my account is on hold. So I have an initial etransfer of $10 I received from my BMO account (which couldn’t be linked to PayPal for reasons unknown to PP employees) I put in $60 from Pyaypal to test the time (2 days it said pending) it showed in the account so I dumped $300 into the account and saw it on my balance so I put on $260 (Opened on Thursday – deposited Thurs, Fri, Sun, Mon respectively) All that money I put into a locked account. I am sure there was a warning (I have flashes of a South Park episode where someone didn’t read the agreement lol) anyways not impressed so afr my I will remain patient for another (up to) 7-8 business days lol
Yeah i applied and account opened right awY I deposited 600 no issues was able to transfer to savings tangerine also, no issue. I didnt receive my card even after ten days so I had it replaced and a new one sent. Now it has been almost 10 days again and I still don’t have a card. And likewise I cannot send etransfer. I’m sorry I get they need to verify identity but I thought that wasn done and its not my fault that the card hasn’t showed the details I’ve given are accurate. And its a pobox so nobody is getting into my mail. Why the card hasn’t come im not sure but its a long long wait on hold to get ahold of anyone and no branches so yeah I’m not impressed.
I just opened Tangerine because it was the only bank account I could make in the middle of the night, but with the card taking 10 days to come in am I able to use Apple Pay instead until the card comes in??
What happen if you dont check your identity and let your account inactive ?
Hello,I was wondering on opening two accounts one tfsa and a savings account are they both eligible for the current rate of 2.80 percent. Thank you
No, you can’t make your account “joint” online. You have to call in for that. Before that, and this is information Tangerine should post on their website, the person you wish to be on the joint account should sign-up/register on the website. This entails creating a profile, similar to what the original account holder has initially done. Do note that there is no need to add an account for this profile even though the process leads in that direction. Having created the profile you can call in to request the joining of the two profiles under your account. The other profile holder must be available for this call.
I had an account with tangerine a long time ago. I believe it is still open. I have lost all my information. Can I still use
This account.
I am an existing client of Tangerine. I have a Single checking and Single savings account already open with them.
My mom is also an existing client of Tangerine. How do I make my checking account or savings account – JOINT with her by logging online?
I don see the ” Change ” option anymore! I don’t think you can make it Joint online anymore. You probably have tocall in. Am I correct?
——
Click on ‘change’
And then follow the instructions to make it a joint account
You may need to call them.
I would like to open an account
What do I have to do
Pls advise
this is literally an article on how to open an account.
Hello, my son tried to open an account but was told to send proof of 2018 income. He did that but recv’d a call saying that they needed more info? What else do they need to prove that it is his sin #? This has not been easy for him…very frusterating…I hv had an account wth ING/Tangerine for over 20 yrs, and never had to go through these kinds of hoops!
We have a US address can’t get past the address part of application for an account?
Don’t worry! Your daughter is allowed an account here in Canada even though she is a teenager. My 13 year old has a bank account. And they don’t have to pay fees if they are under 18 years old so you can use any bank, not just a cheap one like Tangerine.
how long does it take to activate the account after successful Identification at Canada Post.
Where can i call to replace a bank card ?…when i started with Tangerine i was able to speak with a person ,now no people at aĺl !!
Hi, my 14-o daughter is going to attend high school at Blyth Academy – Burlington, ON for 3 years. She is Brazilian and is going to live in a homestay. She already has a custodianship. I am going to Canada with her in September/19 to make sure she will be fine.
May I open a chequing account to send money for her needs?
Is this account under my name or her name? How does it work?
If Tangerine doesn’t accept teens as clients, could you please suggest me another option?
Kindest regards,
Lila Kuhlmann