Lodavo vs EQ Bank: Honest Canadian Comparison

If you’re comparing Lodavo vs EQ Bank, the honest starting point is that these two aren’t really rivals, because they do different jobs. EQ Bank is the digital arm of Equitable Bank, a real CDIC-member bank that holds your money and pays one of the better no-fee savings rates in Canada. Lodavo is a free savings app that rewards you for saving: connect the bank you already use, and the balance you keep saved earns you free tickets in a weekly cash draw. Which one you reach for depends on the job: a high-interest home for your cash, a free weekly draw on top of it, or both.

What is the difference between Lodavo and EQ Bank?

The one difference that matters: EQ Bank holds your money and pays interest on it, while Lodavo rewards you for saving with free tickets in a weekly cash draw. EQ Bank is a place to store and grow money. Lodavo works alongside it, rewarding what you save.

EQ Bank is custody plus a rate. You open an account, your money sits with Equitable Bank, a federally regulated CDIC member, and you earn a competitive everyday rate while your deposits stay insured up to the usual limits. It’s a genuine high-interest savings home, with notice accounts and GICs if you want to push the rate higher. Your money lives inside EQ Bank.

Lodavo works the other way around. It’s Canada’s first prize-linked savings app, a free app that rewards you for saving: it links to the bank you already use, and the more you keep saved, the more free tickets you get in a weekly cash draw. Your account at EQ Bank carries on doing exactly what it did before, rate included.

How EQ Bank works

EQ Bank is the no-fee digital bank from Equitable Bank, built around a single Personal Account that blends everyday banking and savings. It pays a base rate plus a bonus when you set up a recurring direct deposit, charges no monthly fees, and backs your deposits with CDIC coverage through Equitable Bank. The more of your banking you route through it, the higher your rate.

The everyday rate is the headline. As of 2026, EQ Bank’s own rates page (opens in a new tab) shows the Personal Account paying 1.00 percent as a base rate, rising to 2.75 percent when you add a qualifying recurring direct deposit of at least $2,000 a month. There’s no monthly fee, no minimum balance, unlimited transactions, and free Interac e-Transfers, and the EQ Bank Card reimburses ATM fees up to five times a month. If you’d rather set money aside for a better rate, the Notice Savings Account pays 2.35 percent on 10-day notice and 2.75 percent on 30-day notice, and EQ Bank also sells GICs.

On safety, this is a real bank. Equitable Bank is a CDIC (opens in a new tab) member, so your eligible deposits are insured up to $100,000 per category, per depositor (counted across EQ Bank and Equitable Bank together). For rate context, the Bank of Canada (opens in a new tab) has held its overnight rate at 2.25 percent since April 2026, so an everyday account paying at or above the overnight rate is genuinely competitive. The trade is the one every bank account makes: to earn the rate, your money has to live at EQ Bank.

How Lodavo works

Saving with Lodavo comes with a chance to win cash every week. You connect the Canadian bank account you already have through Plaid (opens in a new tab), which covers over 99 percent of deposit accounts in Canada and gives apps scoped, read-only access (never your bank password), so you can track your savings each week and earn free tickets. The more you keep saved, the more tickets you get. The draw pays up to $10,000, and a guaranteed prize of at least $100 goes to a user every week.

Every draw is checkable. The provably fair page shows exactly how each one is run, and eligibility and odds live in the contest rules.

Can you use Lodavo and EQ Bank together?

Yes, and EQ Bank is close to a perfect pairing for Lodavo. The two aren’t chasing the same job, so there’s nothing to trade off. Keep your savings in EQ Bank, earn up to 2.75 percent with your direct deposit, stay CDIC-insured, and connect that same account to Lodavo so the balance you hold also earns free weekly draw tickets. Nothing about EQ Bank changes. You’re adding a free prize on top of a high-interest account.

EQ Bank does the serious work: a real rate on CDIC-insured savings. Lodavo adds the weekly draw for that same balance. The account keeps paying its rate, the tickets are free on top, and the steady savers EQ Bank rewards are exactly the ones the draw rewards too.

When EQ Bank is the better choice

EQ Bank is the right tool, on its own, if any of these is your main goal:

• You want a real place to keep your savings that actually pays interest, not just a prize chance.
• You want one of the better no-fee everyday rates in Canada, and you can set up a $2,000 monthly direct deposit to reach 2.75 percent.
• You want CDIC-insured custody from a federally regulated bank, up to $100,000 per category.
• You want notice accounts or GICs to push your rate higher or lock it in.
• You want no-fee everyday banking, free Interac e-Transfers, and a card, all in one account.

If you mainly care about a guaranteed return on your money, a high-interest account like EQ Bank does something Lodavo never will: it pays you a rate. The best savings apps in Canada guide lays a few out side by side.

When Lodavo is the better fit

Lodavo is the right fit if any of this sounds like you:

• You want a chance to win cash every week, just for saving.
• You don’t want to move money, switch banks, or open another account just to enter a draw.
• You want zero monthly cost and nothing new to manage.
• You like the bank you already have, EQ Bank included, and just want a reason to save a bit more.
• You’d rather add a free prize to the account you have than open a new one.

Lodavo won’t replace a savings account, so it isn’t the tool if a guaranteed rate is what you’re after. It’s the tool if you want saving to come with a chance to win cash every week, on top of whatever bank or app (EQ Bank included) you already use.

Want a chance to win cash every week, just for saving? Get Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab).

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.