Desjardins
Financial Services · desjardins.com
16 out of 20 Trust-aware
The only financial institution measured here that lets you ask what it holds about you from a public web form, without signing in first.
How many clicks to find the privacy policy from the homepage?
Two clicks, through a hub that explains itself. The footer link “Privacy policies” opens a page that names each document and says in a sentence what it covers before you open it: the Privacy Policy, the Cookies Policy, and separate notices for voice authentication, the insurance app and Desjardins Trust. The Privacy Policy is the second click.
Is there a meaningful choice about cookies and tracking before data is collected?
A real choice, and it holds if you ignore it. “Accept all” is a solid green button, “Personalize your choices” is outlined beside it, and a working Reject all sits in the panel behind. What is unusual is the default: the optional categories arrive switched off, and a first load sets bot-defence and the consent record and nothing else, with no Google Analytics, no advertising pixel and no session recording. Most banners here ask permission for tracking that has already started. This one waits.
How hard is the policy to read, how much of it is there, and can you get it in one piece?
Grade 12.4 across 7,583 words, in two documents. Difficulty 2, length 1, access 2. The Privacy Policy runs 5,286 words and the Cookies Policy 2,297, and they are separate pages a reader assembles, though the hub makes them easier to find than most. Measure it yourself.
How many clicks to reach data settings, and can you delete your account yourself?
A request form, two clicks, no login. From the privacy hub, “Fill in the form” opens a public Request for access to personal information offering three types — access, rectification and de-indexing — with portability alongside. No account, no branch visit, no letter. Consent preferences can also be changed self-serve on AccèsD. Every other financial brand here routes a data right through correspondence or a sign-in.
Find the support page. How many clicks, and is there a way to speak to a human?
A human on the front page. 1-800-CAISSES (1-800-224-7737) is printed on the homepage, with “Contact us” in the top navigation and a call-back booking service beside it. No login.
Overall finding
16 out of 20 Trust-aware
Desjardins is the highest-scoring financial institution in the index, and it earns that on the dimension the rest of the sector fails. Ten of the eleven Canadian financial brands measured will answer the phone within two clicks and none of them will let you act; Desjardins built the form. That is worth sitting with, because it removes the industry’s standing defence. Identity verification cannot be what makes self-serve impossible for a bank, since Desjardins verifies identity too. It just does it after the request rather than instead of one. It is also fair to note that Desjardins suffered the largest financial-sector data breach in Canadian history in 2019, and that the best privacy machinery in the sector was very likely built by the institution with the most to be sorry for.
- Scored
- 7 August 2026
- Region
- Canadian site, private window
- Session
- Logged out
Scored from public evidence only. No company can pay to change a score, and paid relationships are disclosed here. Read the independence statement.