Wealthsimple launches AI assistant Penny in sweeping product push
“People don’t expect something good to happen at their bank, or with their money. We want to change that,” said Brett Huneycutt, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Wealthsimple, Toronto. “Everything we introduced today, from our AI assistant to advanced trading tools, helps take friction and fear out of money.”
What Penny does
Unlike chatbots that respond only to direct commands, Penny is designed to interpret broader financial goals and map out next steps. A client who asks Penny to “max out my RRSP by March,” for example, would receive a plan that checks balances across linked financial institutions, sets up recurring investments, and adjusts if circumstances change.
The assistant operates entirely within Wealthsimple’s secure environment, with no client data leaving the platform. Wealthsimple also confirmed it is building integrations that would allow clients to connect their accounts to external AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude – with client approval required at setup and additional confirmation required for sensitive actions. Those connections are expected by early 2027.
The launch arrives as Canada’s large chartered banks have moved to restrict third-party AI agents from accessing their systems over cybersecurity concerns, according to reporting by The Logic. Wealthsimple’s approach – keeping all interactions within its own ecosystem while still enabling AI-driven automation – appears designed to address those same concerns on its own terms.
As Wealth Professional has reported, Wealthsimple has steadily expanded its platform beyond its origins as a robo-adviser, now serving more than four million Canadians with assets across chequing, managed investing, self-directed trading, and tax filing.
