Business Banking
Established Firms and Scaling Companies
Banking infrastructure that matches your complexity — commercial deposits, treasury services, and cash management structured for firms whose needs outgrew the Big Five model. Since 2017, over 1,400 professional firms across Ontario have moved their deposit relationships to Saskbank.
Request Your Customized Banking Proposal →Commercial Deposit & Treasury Services
Operating Accounts — Zero Friction, Full Capability
Your daily banking runs smoothly, your payroll disburses on time, and your multi-entity reporting consolidates into a single dashboard. Whether you're a 12-person accounting firm or a 55-employee digital agency, the operating account adapts to your structure — not the other way around. Here's what's included:
- No minimum balance requirement for lending clients (see our lending suite for facility details)
- Unlimited electronic transactions — EFT, bill payments, internal transfers, pre-authorized debits and credits
- Integrated payroll disbursement with same-day internal transfers across all linked entities
- Debit card services with contactless tap-to-pay capability, issued to all authorized signatories
- Online banking portal with consolidated multi-entity reporting — ideal for firms with management companies, holding companies, and operating entities under one view
- Dual-authorization controls for wire transfers and payments above your custom threshold
- Real-time transaction notifications and downloadable CSV/PDF statements for with your accounting software
We provide complete account opening packages within 48 hours of credit approval. Your signing authorities, online access, and debit cards arrive together — no staggered timelines, no follow-up calls asking "where's my login?" Our average onboarding time across all new business accounts in Q4 2025 was 3.2 business days from signed authorization to fully operational access.
Monthly fee: $0 for clients with a lending relationship. $29/month standalone. Full fee details on our Rates & Fees page.
High-Interest Business Savings — Your Surplus Cash, Earning What It Should
Most professional firms hold significant surplus cash during peak billing months — tax season for accountants, closing seasons for lawyers, project completions for engineers. That surplus shouldn't sit idle in a zero-interest operating account. You'll see higher yields on your operating surplus, with quarterly annual percentage yield summaries delivered to your inbox — no hunting through statements, no ambiguity about what you've earned.
| Deposit Tier | Rate (Annual) |
|---|---|
| First $250,000 | 3.25% |
| $250,001 – $1,000,000 | 3.75% |
| Above $1,000,000 | 4.10% |
- Regulation D savings transaction limits clearly disclosed at account opening — no surprise restrictions mid-month
- CDIC insured up to applicable limits per depositor, per insured category
- Automated sweep functionality available — surplus funds move from your operating account at end-of-day, with automatic pull-back for morning disbursements
- Annual percentage yield summaries delivered quarterly in plain language, showing exactly what you earned and how it was calculated
- No penalty for balance fluctuations — your rate adjusts by tier automatically as your balance grows or contracts through the billing cycle
For context, a firm holding an average surplus of $600,000 during peak months would earn approximately $22,500 annually at our tiered rates — compared to effectively zero at most Big Five business accounts. That's real money, and it's yours. Rates shown are Q1 2026. Updated daily for variable products. View today's full rate schedule →
GICs — Business Class — Park Retained Earnings With Confidence
You'll earn rates typically 20–50 basis points above Big Five posted rates for equivalent terms, and you'll know exactly what those rates are before you commit — because we publish them daily. For firms with significant retained earnings, corporate reserves, or planned capital expenditures 6–24 months out, our business GICs offer a disciplined way to earn predictable returns while keeping funds CDIC insured.
| Term | Non-Redeemable | Cashable |
|---|---|---|
| 90 Days | 3.40% | 3.10% |
| 180 Days | 3.65% | 3.35% |
| 1 Year | 4.15% | 3.85% |
| 2 Years | 4.25% | 3.95% |
| 3 Years | 4.30% | 4.00% |
| 5 Years | 4.35% | 4.05% |
- Non-redeemable and cashable options for terms from 90 days to 5 years
- Free laddering strategy modelling for deposits above $500,000 — Anya Kovalenko's treasury team will build a maturity schedule that aligns with your anticipated cash needs
- Interest rate schedules available on the Rates page and updated daily
- GIC rates are not guaranteed until date of purchase — but we'll lock your rate the moment you confirm
- Minimum deposit: $5,000 per GIC certificate
We publish rates daily because opacity isn't a business model — it's a liability. If you're comparing GIC rates across institutions, our Resources page includes a downloadable account comparison guide that makes side-by-side evaluation straightforward.
Cash Management & Treasury — Automation That Matches Your Entity Structure
You'll spend less time managing cash manually, and your surplus will earn interest overnight instead of sitting idle in an operating account. For firms with multiple entities — a holding company, a management co., and one or more operating entities — manual cash transfers between accounts consume hours of administrative time each week. Here's what we build for you:
- Automated sweep accounts — end-of-day movement of surplus cash into interest-bearing accounts, with automatic pull-back for morning disbursements based on your historical payment patterns
- Zero-balance account structures for multi-entity businesses (holding company, management co., operating entities) — each entity maintains its own account for reporting purposes while cash pools centrally
- Custom sweep rules built to match your specific entity structure and cash flow patterns, including seasonal adjustments for firms with cyclical billing
- Consolidated reporting across all related entities through a single online portal — one login, one dashboard, complete visibility
- Wire transfers processed same-day for instructions received before 2:00 p.m. ET — domestic ($15) and international ($35). Full wire transfer pricing on our Rates page
- Foreign exchange services in 14 major currencies with published markup over interbank rate — no hidden spreads
Anya Kovalenko's treasury team designs your sweep architecture during onboarding and stress-tests it against your seasonal cash cycle before it goes live. The result: your firm captures interest on every idle dollar, every night, without anyone touching a spreadsheet. Since 2020, Anya has grown Saskbank's deposit book from $74M to $389M — the majority of that growth driven by clients who discovered how much surplus cash they'd been leaving on the table.
Why 1,400+ Firms Moved Their Deposit Relationships
In anonymized onboarding surveys conducted since 2019, our clients cite five primary reasons for switching their business banking away from Big Five institutions. Understanding these patterns may help you assess whether your current arrangement is serving your firm well — or costing you more than you realize.
Relationship Manager Turnover
34% of clients cited this as their primary frustration. At Saskbank, your named banker stays. Our average relationship manager tenure per account is 3.8 years — and there's no rotation policy. Meet our team →
Surplus Cash Earning Nothing
22% of clients discovered during onboarding that they'd been leaving five figures annually on the table by holding surplus in zero-interest operating accounts. Our tiered savings rates start at 3.25% — see today's rates.
Fee Opacity
19% of clients couldn't decipher their previous bank's fee structure. Saskbank publishes every fee on a single page — view our complete fee schedule. No account analysis decryption required.
Multi-Entity Complexity Ignored
15% of clients needed consolidated reporting and zero-balance structures that their previous bank couldn't or wouldn't configure. Our treasury team builds these during onboarding — not as an afterthought six months in.
For the full analysis — including real-world examples and the institutional patterns behind each issue — read Anya Kovalenko's article: Big Five vs. Boutique: What 1,400 Business Clients Taught Us About Switching Banks →
In Practice: How a 12-CPA Firm Recovered $18,400 Annually
Case Study — Clearpath Accounting Group
Seasonal Cash Compression Solved With Automated Sweep Architecture
Client: Clearpath Accounting Group — 12 CPAs, 22 total staff, two offices (Kingston & Ottawa). $4.7 million annual billings. Clearpath had banked with a Big Five institution for 14 years and had experienced three relationship manager changes in the final two years of that relationship.
Challenge: Severe seasonal cash compression every year from May through October. A $500,000 operating line drawn to 100% capacity annually, triggering margin calls and uncomfortable conversations with their bank. During peak billing months (March through June), surplus cash sat in a zero-interest operating account — sometimes exceeding $800,000 — while the firm paid full interest on their line during lean months. Managing partner Helen Doucette described the cycle as "six months of feast, six months of grovelling."
Solution: Anya Kovalenko structured a deposit-linked operating facility. During high-cash months (March–June), excess funds swept automatically into a high-interest savings account earning 3.85%. During lean months, the operating line — increased to $700,000 — drew against those balances at a reduced rate. The sweep mechanism eliminated manual transfers entirely. The entire architecture was stress-tested against Clearpath's three-year historical cash flow before going live.
"Anya looked at our account and said, 'You're leaving $18,000 a year on the table.' She was right. The sweep account she set up is simple — it just works. For the first time in a decade, I didn't get a margin call during the summer. And the onboarding was seamless — we ran parallel banking for three weeks, and there was zero disruption to payroll or client payments."
— Helen Doucette, CPA, Managing Partner, Clearpath Accounting Group
Clearpath's experience is typical of the accounting and professional services firms we serve. If your firm experiences similar seasonal cash patterns, request a banking review and we'll model the potential impact for your specific cash cycle.
Choose the Right Deposit Product for Your Firm
A side-by-side view of our three core deposit products. Most business clients use all three in combination — an operating account for daily transactions, a high-interest savings account for surplus cash, and GICs for longer-term retained earnings. For the full breakdown — including transaction fee schedules, wire transfer costs, and FX markups — visit our Rates & Fees page or request a printed copy from your banker.
| Feature | Operating Account | High-Interest Savings | Business GIC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Balance | $0 (lending clients) $0 (standalone) |
$0 | $5,000 |
| Monthly Fee | $0 (lending) / $29 (standalone) | $0 | $0 |
| Transaction Limits | Unlimited electronic | Reg D limits disclosed | None (locked term) |
| Interest Rate | n/a | 3.25% – 4.10% (tiered) | 3.10% – 4.35% (by term) |
| CDIC Insured | Yes | Yes | Yes (terms ≤ 5 years) |
| Access Method | Online, debit card, wire, EFT | Online, sweep, EFT | Maturity or cashable option |
| Ideal For | Daily operations, payroll, vendor payments | Surplus cash during peak billing months | Retained earnings, reserves, planned capital expenditures |
| Sweep Compatible | Yes (source account) | Yes (destination account) | No |
Rates effective Q1 2026. GIC rates published daily — view current rates. Download our complete account comparison guide (PDF) or request a printed copy from your banker. Need help deciding which combination suits your firm? Talk to Anya Kovalenko's team — they'll model it based on your actual cash flow data.
Switching Banks Without Disruption: Our 21-Day Transition Process
Moving your commercial banking relationship sounds disruptive — but it doesn't have to be. We assign a dedicated transition coordinator who manages the entire migration, and we run parallel banking with your existing institution until every pre-authorized payment, payroll file, and signing authority is fully operational at Saskbank. Average transition time: 21 days. No transition fees.
Days 1–3: Account Setup
Your operating account, savings account, and online banking access are established. Signing authorities are configured. Debit cards are ordered. Your treasury architecture — including sweep rules and zero-balance structures — is designed and documented.
Days 4–14: Parallel Banking
Both banks run simultaneously. We begin re-routing pre-authorized payments, payroll files, and client payment instructions. Your transition coordinator tracks every item on a shared checklist — nothing falls through the gap.
Days 15–21: Full Cutover
Final items are confirmed. Your previous bank accounts are closed (or kept as backup if you prefer). Your sweep architecture goes live. Consolidated reporting is verified across all entities. You're fully operational.
For a detailed walkthrough, download our Bank Switching Checklist — a 21-step guide covering every element of the transition, from payroll migration timing to signing authority documentation.
Deposits + Lending: Better Together
Your deposit relationship directly impacts your lending terms at Saskbank. Firms that consolidate their operating accounts, savings, and credit facilities with us benefit from a pricing model that rewards the full relationship — not just the loan. Here's how:
Deposit Relationship Benefits
- $0 monthly account fee on operating accounts for all lending clients
- Reduced lending margins — your average deposit balance is factored into credit pricing
- Deposit-linked facilities — surplus savings can offset borrowing costs, as demonstrated in the Clearpath case study
- Faster credit decisions — when we hold your deposits, we already understand your cash flow patterns
Available Lending Products
- Operating lines of credit from $100K to $10M
- Term loans with 3–15 year amortization
- Commercial mortgages up to 75% LTV
- Succession & transition financing
- Letters of credit & performance bonds
Our Saskbank Prime Rate is currently 5.95% (effective January 15, 2026). Operating line margins range from Prime + 1.25% for strong credits with significant deposit relationships to Prime + 3.50% for newer firms. View the complete lending rate schedule →
Scaling Company Owners: Banking That Grows With Your Ambition
We'll review your current deposit and treasury arrangement and model the impact of switching — including projected interest earnings, fee savings, and cash management improvements. You'll have a written comparison within two business days of our first conversation. No obligation, no sales pressure — just a clear, numbers-based analysis of whether Saskbank is the right fit for your firm.
Request a Business Banking Proposal — Response Within 2 Business DaysOr call us directly: (416) 555-0100
Prefer to meet in person? Visit us at 199 Clemow Avenue, Ottawa or our Toronto client office at 200 Bay Street.